While we love looking at the latest wheels from the biggest brands, shows like Eurobike allow us to see lots of smaller brands' offerings alongside the big dogs of the wheel world.
We went for a wander, in search of the weird, the whacky, and the sometimes rather beautiful.
Princeton Carbon
Let's start with a brand that we stumbled upon in the startup area of the show. Princeton Carbon is a relatively new company, with EuroBike being their first trade show. That's not stopped them quickly gaining some decent riders that are using their wheels. Cameron Wurf, elite triathlete is currently rolling on these boutique wheels.
We took a look at their Wake 6560 and Grit 4540 wheelsets which can each be built up from White Industries or Tune hubs. Both are tubeless-ready, though the Grit 4540 rim bed is holeless, meaning that no tubeless rim tape is needed. Both wheels feature rims with "variable depth sinusoidal cross-section", which Princeton says offers unrivalled crosswind stability.
One thing that we can't help noticing is the similarity of this rim to that of the latest Zipp rims. Princeton say that they have aero data to support their wheels so we'll be delving into that if we get a set in for testing.
If you're thinking that they sound expensive, then yes, you're right. Both sets will cost you $2,800.
Right now, they're only available in the US, but Princeton is looking for a UK distributor so we'll be keeping an eye out and grabbing a test set as soon as we can.
PrincetonCarbon.com
XeNTis
Another brand that we've not come across before is Austrian brand XeNTiS.
These fabulously whacky designs are handmade in Austria and the rims are covered in aero trip layers. The carbon five-spoke wheels were the most eye-catching for us and you'd certainly turn heads rocking up to a sportive on these.
The fact that their website doesn't list a price and instead says 'contact us', suggests that they'll be slightly out of our price range.
Xentis.com
Fulcrum
There wasn't a lot new on the wall of Fulcrum wheels but we did spot this set of Wind 40 DB wheels.
This disc-specific rim is a shallower version of the Wind 55 and should a wider range of terrains and weather conditions.
Your complete guide to Fulcrum road wheels
As the name suggests, the rim is 40mm deep and has no brake track. Losing the brake track has allowed Fulcrum to make these 27mm wide externally and 19mm wide internally. They also feature Fulcrum's 2-Way Fit that is their way of saying 'tubeless ready'.
fulcrumwheels.com
VelTec
German brand VelTec had some seriously deep carbon wheels on display.
The 4.5, 6.0, and 8.0 models of their Speed range are all new and come as rim or disc brake builds. Each rim works around an internal width of 19mm and all come tubeless as standard.
They're already available in the UK and the prices are pretty attractive, with the Speed 6.0 set costing £1,199.
cookecomponents.co.uk
Ritchey
Ritchey isn't a small brand and while we were chatting gravel bars and folding bikes with the Ritchey staff over a beer or two, we noticed these new Zeta Classic wheels.
These are designed to provide modern performance, with beautifully classic looks. The rim measures 17mm internally for better support of wider tyres, but the devil is in the detail with brass nipples being used to ensure long, maintenance-free mileage.
They come in at a rather good price too, just €399 for the pair.
ritcheylogic.com
Scope
The team of Dutch engineers behind Scope sent us a pair of their R4c wheels earlier this year and here we have their deeper R5 disc hoops with the CeramicSpeed bearing upgrade.
Read Stu's review here
These 55mm deep tubeless rims kick out to 26mm at their widest point and come in at a claimed 1,632g for the disc brake version.
scopecycling.com
No Limited
This oddly-named brand from Poland was another stand that caught our eye, thanks to this bonkers hub design.
Communication was limited and we can't find these on their website, so they could have been a custom set. Whatever the case, we weren't going to leave without taking a close look.
These look rather like Lightweight wheels and we'd love to know how much a set will set you back.
no-limited.pl
So, which ones should we get in for testing? Let us know in the comments below!
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