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review
£1,999.98
VERDICT:
Exceptionally good carbon clincher wheels that hold their speed well and provide impressive stability
Weight:
1,630g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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They might be a lot of money but these DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clincher wheels are fast and stable, and they offer a good braking performance too.
These wheels are at their best when slicing along at high speed. They maintain pace beautifully with an appreciably lower resistance than shallow section rims. The RRC 65s also accelerate well, especially considering their 65mm rim depth. Weighing 745g (front) and 885g (rear) – excluding skewers; combined weight is 1,630g (DT's official total weight is 45g lower) – they spin up to speed with little fuss. For comparison, Zipp's 58mm deep 404 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers have claimed weights of 725g and 895g (1,620g total).
> Find your nearest dealer here
Some people might consider 65mm a little deep for general road use but I've been riding with these wheels on both a road bike and more occasionally on a TT bike for the past six weeks and they've been superb. I really rate these wheels highly, and not just for racing against the clock.
Okay, they've been a bit of a handful on a couple of very windy days when the front wheel has become hard to control, but I'm talking about conditions where the trees are blowing all over the place. In general, these are impressively stable in crosswinds for their depth. I'm pretty large by cyclists' standards and I probably find it easier to hold a line than a lot of smaller riders, but you won't get buffeted about any more than usual when an HGV overtakes too close.
The RRC 65s might not be your first choice for an Alpine climb but they handle the hills we get in the UK just fine and they're excellent over rolling terrain, where my impression is that you gain much more in efficiency than you lose in a little extra weight. Get out of the saddle for a tough climb or to sprint and the wheels feel remarkably stiff. It's the same going into a fast corner where the high spoke tension makes for barely any detectable flex when you lean the bike over hard. That's always reassuring.
The rims are made from unidirectional carbon fibre. As with many aero wheels these days, the spoke-side of the rim is fairly blunt, although the profile isn't as wide or as U-shaped as that of a Zipp Firecrest rim, for example.
The internal rim width is 18mm while it's 25mm measured from outer to outer. This means the contact surface of the tyre and the road will be just a smidge larger than it is with a narrower rim. The idea is that you can fit wider tyres with more stability, less pressure, and lower rolling resistance.
> Read our buyer's guide to the best road bike wheels
I've been using these rims with both 23mm and 25mm tyres. I can't say I've noticed any difference in speed although, as you'd expect, 25s are the better option in terms of comfort. The rims are tubeless ready so you can go down that route and run compatible tyres at lower pressures without the risk of pinch flats.
The braking performance is good too. The SwissStop carbon-specific pads included bite well and I've found the feel to be consistent during prolonged braking, although I've ridden these only in the UK, not on long Continental descents. Wet weather braking lags behind aluminium and it's not as impressive as that of the Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon SL C wheelset we reviewed recently either, but it's still pretty good when compared to most other carbon rims.
The DT Swiss 240 hubs feature SINC ceramic bearings as standard and the freewheel is equipped with the DT Swiss Ratchet System 36 T. This uses spring-loaded star ratchets that disengage when you stop pedalling and move together again when you resume. It's a smart design that works really well to ensure you drive the rear wheel almost as soon as you move the pedals.
I wouldn't normally get too excited about QRs but the RRC 65s are held in place by RWS (Ratchet Wheelmounting system) skewers which have been around for a few years now. There's no cam, you just wind the skewers tight. They are super-secure. Once you have the tension set, you can easily move the lever to the resting angle you like without altering it.
I've really enjoyed my time with these wheels. They've performed well on the flat and in still conditions, but don't make the mistake of limiting their use too much. They're almost as impressive in a breeze and over rolling terrain. Plus, they look badass, and that's a definite bonus!
Verdict
Exceptionally good carbon clincher wheels that hold their speed well and provide impressive stability
road.cc test report
Make and model: DT Swiss RRC 65 Dicut clinchers
Size tested: n/a
Tell us what the wheel is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
These carbon clinchers are designed for racing/high performance.
DT Swiss says, "The RRC 65 Dicut was developed together with the IAM World Tour Team in the wind tunnel and during the Tour de France. Perfect aerodynamics, good performance in crosswind and top-quality braking performance were the key points. SINC ceramic ball bearings, wide-based tyres and tubeless-compatible rims provide excellent rolling performance and comfort. The RRC 65 Dicut therefore guarantees perfection in both the Tour de France prologue and team pursuits. Equipped with the 36T DT Swiss Ratchet System for quicker engagement, it is made for powerful acceleration and direct power transmission."
This write up (above) only mentions races against the clock. The RRC 65s are definitely suited to that but I've found them equally good for general road use over rolling roads. A lot of people are reluctant to use rims deeper than about 50mm for this kind of riding, but stability is about more than just rim depth. These rims feel more stable than many that are considerably shallower.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the wheel?
The rims have an 18mm internal width, 25mm external width. The idea is to better support wider tyres which allow for lower pressures and increased comfort.
DT Swiss also says that a wider rim used with a wider tyre has lower air resistance than a narrow rim used with a wider tyre because fewer and smaller vortices are formed: "The air flows more smoothly past the tyre and rim; the system creates less drag."
Rate the wheel for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the wheel for performance:
9/10
Rate the wheel for durability:
8/10
The high quality build should result in good durability. I've only been using these wheels for about six weeks so it's difficult to comment, but they still look pretty much box fresh.
Rate the wheel for weight
8/10
You can get much lighter wheels, obviously, but these are a very good weight for the 65mm rim depth.
Rate the wheel for value:
7/10
A set of 65mm deep full carbon clinchers is never going to be cheap, but these aren't as expensive as wheels of a similar depth from Zipp or Enve.
Did the wheels stay true? Any issues with spoke tension?
They've stayed perfectly true. The spoke tension is pretty high.
How easy did you find it to fit tyres?
I fitted Continentals in both 23mm and 25mm width easily enough.
How did the wheel extras (eg skewers and rim tape) perform?
The RWS skewers are great, allowing you to get the right tension and then move the levers to whatever angle you like. You also get tubeless valves, wheel bags and SwissStop carbon-specific pads.
Tell us how the wheel performed overall when used for its designed purpose
The wheels accelerate quickly and hold their speed really well.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the wheel
Their ability to maintain speed.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the wheel
Of course, we'd like them to be cheaper. Always the way.
Did you enjoy using the wheel? Yes
Would you consider buying the wheel? This is clearly a lot to spend on a pair of wheels, but I'd consider it.
Would you recommend the wheel to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your score
I've loved using these wheels in a variety of conditions over the past few weeks and the performance is clearly exceptional. That warrants a 9. You could argue that £2,000 wheels of any quality are never going to rate highly for value, but it's only fair to rate these against deep-rimmed carbon clincher wheels from the likes of Zipp and Enve.
About the tester
Age: 43
I usually ride: My best bike is:
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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34 comments
Great riposte. Most punters want a Tarmac because that's what they think wins green and pink jerseys and a Rapha kit because it looks good and tells a story. Even no-nonsense brands like Canyon are now diverting you through sepia-tinged videos in order to sell you their bikes. Costumers, millennials in particular, buy experiences, not engineering variables. VeloNews has a quantitative section in their bike reviews that they seem to ignore themselves, even though it seems well thought out. Because the one thing Lance was right about was that it's not about the bike. I overheard a pretty good WorldTour rider quote that line almost verbatim, with a little curse word thrown in for good measure, not that long ago. Someone had asked him about the difference between the aero model and the lightweight model of their sponsored brand. Hayman won Roubaix on a Foil, Sagan won plenty of sprints on a bog-standard Tarmac, Schurter wins World Cups on a fork no one else seems particularly keen on. A good review serves to take those expectations back down to earth.
Of course testers will embellish and over-extrapolate from a small sample. What else are they supposed to do? But also, no one wants to hear it's all about the legs, the rest is just over-wrought tinsel. Cognitive dissonance precludes it. And it takes the fun out of it. You want to hear the Sky line every other pro rider sniggers at that if you just buy the right chain and the right degresaser and the right bottle cage you can beat your scouse mate, the one that rode his elephant bike to Cardiff for the weekend because his PX-10 was proper devoed. And good for you, thinking you can do something is the most important step towards getting it done. At least it will annoy him so much he'll push himself just enough to give you and your spindly legs the ripping they deserve.
In any case I quite enjoy most Road.cc reviews because they're mostly quite well written, don't average 4.5 like other sites do, don't have a light finger on the scales (the Cervelo C5 -or C3 more likely- I'm eyeing came at over half a kilo heavier on this site than on BikeRadar), and as an added bonus reviewers will at times answer the readers on key stuff. I think they do a pretty good job, all things considered.
For the vast majority of punters actually buying the kit though, it's bollocks. Claims of a wheel being x amount faster over y distance when ridden at z speed or x watts saving over competitor product y or whatever is completely meaningless to most people who have real world riding conditions of junctions and traffic lights and shit road surfaces.
A much more important and realistic test would be to go to a bike shop and try and buy a replacement spoke for it, get the bearings replaced or get it trued up. Then you find that spokes come in boxes of 17 from one guy in Siberia who makes them out of fossilised mammoth hair because that's stiffer/stronger/lighter/more aero or whatever other marketing buzzspeak is fashionable that week. And they'll cost £800 and be here in 4 months.
Or the bearings are only made in one factory which burnt down last week and would Sir care to buy these £2000 wheels to replace your now-obsolete £2000 wheels...
Has anyone seen reliable scrutiny of the fashionable claim that some wheels "hold their speed well"? It seems like this year's "vertical compliance" or similar buzz phrase but how much rigour is there behind it? I appreciate that an aerodynamic profile will help at higher speeds but beyond that...?
Shush, don't you know cycling retail is the new hifi?
You can of course improve how any set of wheels will "hold their speed", by colouring the rim with a special marker pen. I'll be selling those soon
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