Miche Syntium Aero Wheels

The Miche Syntium Aero Wheels are the Italian brand's 'high performance' aluminium hoops. With a rim depth of 29mm, an internal width of 19mm and a claimed weight of 1,746g, the spec sheet isn't ablaze with eye-catching numbers, but they feel well built and durable.

> Buy now: Miche Syntium Aero Wheels for £414.99 from Amazon

For more options, check out our guide to the best road bike wheels.

The Syntium Aeros use 29mm-deep rims that seem to offer a slight aero benefit on flatter terrain and handle crosswinds without drama – not that I would expect a rim of this depth to be particularly troubled by crosswinds anyway.

The rims are mated to WR series hubs with bladed straight-pull double-butted spokes, laced in a 2:1 pattern for optimal stiffness.

They certainly feel like they offer good lateral stiffness when riding out of the saddle. Spoke count in both wheels is 24, which should ensure they stay true for many miles to come. The rear wheel is asymmetric, with 16 spokes on the drive side, eight on the non-drive side, evening out the forces going through the rim.

Looking closer at the hooked rim, it's been given a sandblasted type finish that seems to have shrugged off any grit and grime from the roads. I struggled to find the seam joining the rim together, which is testament to the tolerances Miche is working to.

As you can see from the photos, the graphics are very subtle, with the light grey 'Miche' on opposite sides, and a small tricolore around the valve. They look great and give the impression of costing much more than they do.

That's all the good stuff; on to the less good...

The internal width is only 19mm; this would have been considered bang up to date a number of years ago but the trend for wider rims has continued to gather pace. While an extra millimetre or two might not be that noticeable, the ever increasing tide of wider rims is hard to ignore.

The idea behind a wider rim is that it provides a larger volume of air and greater support for the tyre, meaning lower pressures can be used, which in turn results in more comfort as the tyre can absorb more vibration. A previously held view with regards to speed was to pump your tyres up rock hard, but this was actually causing riders to go slower as the tyre was unable to absorb vibrations from the road surface, which would then be transmitted through to the rider. There's been a huge amount of research into rim widths, tyre pressures and rolling resistance in recent years and it's become a hot bed of innovation.

> How to choose the best bike tyre pressure – balancing speed, comfort and grip

A wider rim also allows for a more aerodynamic profile with a wider tyre, so improving both speed and comfort.

The Hunt 4 Season Pro Disc wheelset, for example, has an internal width of 22mm; the Hunts do cost a little more, but I'd argue it's worth it for the extra comfort alone.

> Why are modern bike wheels so wide, and should I buy direct from China?

Running tubeless also greatly improves comfort, because you can use lower pressures without the risk of an inner tube falling victim to a 'snakebite' puncture as a result of an impact. With inner tubes you need to run higher pressures to reduce the risk of the tube being punctured by the rim.

Despite these Miche wheels being labelled as tubeless ready, you don't get tubeless valves or tape included, so factor that into your costings. I set them up with tubes.

The aluminium hub bodies (AL 7075 T6) run on sealed steel bearings. The steel freehub uses three pawls, with 30 teeth for engagement, resulting in a 12-degree engagement, which I found to be adequate. Being steel, the freehub body should be more resistant to the splines on the cassette eating into it than alloy bodies, which are often used to save weight at the expense of durability.

One aspect of the design that did frustrate me was the requirement to use the Shimano SM-HB20 lockring. A 'normal' disc rotor lockring has the splines on the inside and can be tightened and removed using a typical cassette tool, but because of the design of the Miche rear hub, a special lockring with the splines on the outside of the ring has to be used. This requires a slightly niche tool and, even more disappointing, the lockring isn't even included in the box.

In use

Ride impressions are generally good, though nothing stands out particularly. Their reasonable heft (1,720g on the road.cc Scales of Truth, 790g front, 930g rear) means they don't have the same snap of acceleration you get with lighter wheels, but once up to speed it's possible to clip along at a good pace. Likewise when climbing, they don't encourage you to give it the full Pogacar or Roglic when the gradient ramps up.

With so many variables, including tyres, pressures, road surfaces and so on, ride feel is tricky to comment on. But I couldn't help thinking that a few extras millimetres added to the rim width would make a large difference in terms of comfort and being able to run wider tyres at a lower pressure to cope with rough roads.

Value

With an RRP of £429, the Miche Syntium Aero wheels are stuck in a bit of a no man's land. They could make a good upgrade to a pair of stock wheels, but when you starts to assess the options it becomes clear there are better options out there.

The Scribe Race Disc wheels, for instance, weigh a claimed 1,470g and cost £60 less than the Miches. We haven't managed to review these wheels yet but they look to be an update on the Race-D Wide+ wheels that received glowing praise, culminating in a heady combination of light weight, stiffness, durability and good value. 

If you're looking for something that offers a degree of customisation, the Ryan Builds Wheels Club Road/CX Wheelset comes in at a similar price (£455) but with the added bonus of being handbuilt, so you can choose different hubs, spokes and colours. Stu was impressed by the ride quality of these wheels.

Overall

The Miche Syntium Aero wheels offer decent performance and build quality, but their average weight contributes to a generally uninspiring ride compared with wheelsets of a similar price.

> Buy now: Miche Syntium Aero Wheels for £414.99 from Amazon

Verdict

Well-built and solid feeling wheelset but a little heavy and a little narrow