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PRODUCT REVIEWS: ON TEST: REYNOLDS DV 46C UL
Road Bike Action
August 26, 2009
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THE STORY
Reynolds Cycling is quickly becoming a popular choice for carbon racing wheels. Their newest road-racing clincher wheelset, the DV 46C UL, fits smack in the middle of the present “ride as big a wheel as you can get away with” trend among pro racers. With a 46-millimeter profile, the DV 46C lets competitors know that top speed is your intention, and at 1410 grams for the pair, you won’t have to give up the sprints or climbs to bring an aerodynamic advantage to the finish line. The $2750 hoops are pricey, but very competitive in the speed-at-any-cost club.
TECH
Reynolds lays up the 19-millimeter-wide DV 46C UL rims using a process they say employs a continuous width of unidirectional carbon material that is impregnated with a stronger resin—one that was chosen to dissipate heat more efficiently. Reynolds places no weight limit on the wheelset, and the 458-gram clincher rim is certified for tire pressures up to 150psi. Unlike cheater aero clinchers that utilize a standard rim profile with an aero shell bonded to it, the DV 46C UL rim is the real deal. Reynolds’ spoke interface is at the apex of the deep-profile rim, allowing a shorter, lighter-weight spoke and providing a more obtuse spoke angle to better support the wheel.
Rims are laced using the neo-classic radial-front and radial-left-two-cross right-side rear pattern. The spokes are DT Swiss, with bladed 15-gauge for the front and non-drive side of the rear wheel, and butted, 14/15/15 round spokes on the drive-side of the rear hub. Reynolds’ oh-so-smooth-rolling hubs are also made by DT Swiss. You can buy the wheels configured for Campagnolo or with Shimano-compatible freehubs, and the set comes with Reynolds carbon-specific brake pads, valve extenders, plastic tire levers (steel levers are a Reynolds no-no) and a special spoke wrench that fits deep into the rim’s cross-section. The overall construction of the wheel is beautiful. There are no ragged carbon layers, and the braking tracks are pre-surfaced. The supplied quick-releases use titanium shafts, but with ordinary levers (eccentric levers that ride on cupped washers), which can make for slow wheel changes should the washers refuse to cooperate.
THE RIDE
We fitted the Reynolds clincher wheels with fast-rolling Vredestein Fortezza SE tires and a ten-speed Campagnolo Record cassette for ready-to-rock weights of 1032 grams front and 1454 grams rear. While the Vredestein tires are tagged at 160psi max, and the rims are good for 150psi, we found that the wheels rolled faster at more moderate pressures in the 110psi range. With moderated pressure, the Reynolds DV 46C UL wheels had an energetic near-tubular feel and could even out all but the roughest patches of pavement.
Braking was strong, but never aluminum-rim-smooth. Unless we were traveling at a high rate of speed, there was always a noticeable degree of pulsing as the carbon-specific brake pads searched for friction on the laminated carbon braking tracks. This phenomenon was once thought to be a byproduct of all carbon rims, but we have tested rims from at least one competitor that have disproved the pulsing carbon theory. With that said, we had no problems hauling down the bike to cornering speed on 40 mph descents. Where we did find issue was when we were descending in strong, buffeting crosswinds. In this situation, the Reynolds aero wheels wavered off-line and required some concentration from the rider and a degree of muscle to maintain position in the pace line. To put this in perspective, the 46-millimeter-profile DV 46C pulls about 25- to 30-percent harder than the 58-millimeter deep Zipp 404, which is its direct competitor.
RBA’S VERDICT
Reynolds bills the DV 46C UL as a climbing/racing wheelset, and if you choose to compete on clincher tires, we’d agree. At 1454 grams a set, you get real aerodynamic efficiency from a wheel that compares favorably with its non-aero competition (Mavic Ksyrium: 1480 grams, Campagnolo Shamal: 1493 grams) and slips in below Zipp’s 1615 grams, 404 clincher wheels. Wind tunnel data and real-time competition results have clearly shown that an aero-profile wheel is more beneficial than a lighter-weight, non-aero wheelset. Reynolds has been saying this all along. The buy-in to the big-as-you-can-ride wheel trend is that you must learn to ride aero-profile rims in cross-winds—something that ProTour riders mastered in less than one season. If you are ready, start with the Reynolds DV 46C UL wheelset.
PRICE: $2750
INFO: www.reynoldscycling.com
BONUS POINTS: Weight, and aerodynamics efficiency
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