DT Swiss launch £3k superlight wheels to mark 25th anniversary

It’s been 25 years since DT Swiss began making wheels and to mark the occasion, it has developed the new PRC 1100 DICUT 25Y Edition wheels which at  1283g are its lightest every disc brake wheels. The price is a bit more hefty though, costing as they do £2,999.98.

The new PRC 1100 DICUT 25Y Edition wheels owe their scant weight to new 180 hubs utilising the Swiss company’s latest generation Ratchet EXP. This is a new freehub that is said to be lighter, stiffer and more precise than its existing Ratchet system.

DT Swiss was founded in 1994 by Frank Böckmann, Maurizio D'Alberto and Marco Zingg who started creating spokes, which for a long time was the company’s core business. In more recent years it moved to producing complete wheelsets.

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DT Swiss's freewheel system has long made use of two ratchets featuring various numbers of teeth (18, 36 and 54-tooth versions). Two springs push the ratchets against one another so that all the teeth engage when you pedal, while the teeth move apart when you're coasting.

The new Ratchet EXP system is based on a similar concept but one of the ratchets is now threaded into the hub shell. A single spring pushes the second ratchet into the first one so that the teeth engage when you pedal. 

Inside the hubs are SINC ceramic bearings and outside the hubs are designed for the asymmetric rims they’re laced to, with straight pull spokes. The spokes in question are DT aerolite and aero comp bladed spokes for a bit of extra aero.

Carbon fibre rims also contribute to the low mass. They are 24mm tall with an 18mm internal width and are tubeless-ready. DT reckons these rims create its “fastest accelerating wheel saving you 15% energy when accelerating from 0-30 km/h compared to our lightest wheelset in the current line-up,” says the company.

A rather cool feature we’ve not seen before is the debossed logos that are created in the mould. That’s not the only unique feature, they’re also made in Europe - most carbon wheels are made in the Far East.

More at www.dtswiss.com/en/25thanniversary