Deep Rim Wheels - Yes or No? Advantages and disadvantages of using them on gravel bikes

Advantages of using deep rim wheels on a gravel bike

Easier to maintain cruising speed on paved roads

Since gravel bikes are equipped with very large wheels (700C), they generate air vortices around the wheels as they spin. This vortex becomes a factor in impeding propulsion at higher speeds.

Deep-rimmed wheels can be expected to have an aero effect because the higher rim is recognized to reduce the effect of propulsion and the air vortex generated by the wheel.

The aero effect is generally said to occur at speeds in excess of 30 km/h, and is more pronounced at high speeds. Therefore, deep rim wheels are especially beneficial when cruising at high speeds on flat paved roads.

In fact, when driving at speeds of 35-40 km/h on deep-rim wheels, you will feel a “speed increase” that was not present on narrow-rim wheels.

Conversely, there is not much benefit from deep-rim wheels in situations where you are not cruising at high speeds, such as gravel and hills.

Can reduce the weight of the vehicle.

This is a benefit of carbon wheels rather than deep rims, but deep rims are very heavy on aluminum, so carbon rim wheels are basically the way to go.

Since carbon wheels are very light, they are very effective in reducing weight on gravel bikes, which are even heavier. Most wheels that come with complete bikes weigh around 2 kg front and rear, but the standard weight for carbon wheels is 1,500g front and rear, even with deep rims. It is not impossible to reduce the weight of wheels alone by 500g, and by about 1kg if tires are also included.

Disadvantages of using deep rim wheels on gravel bikes

High risk of damage.

On a road bike on pavement, there is very little impact to the rim of the wheel other than falling off the bike. Modern carbon wheels will not crack from anything more than a pebble bounced off the pavement. However, when riding on

However, if you are riding on gravel, you may hit a larger stone on a gravel road or a branch growing out of the road. There is also a greater risk of falling off the bike on gravel, forest roads, and trails than on paved roads.

However, carbon wheels are solidified with epoxy or other resins, so cracks can form.

Once a crack is formed, it is dangerous to ride the car as it is because the crack will spread every time force is applied. In other words, when cracks appear, it is time to replace the carbons.

Price.

While aluminum-rimmed wheels are manufactured by machine, carbon rims are basically all done by hand. In other words, they are very expensive compared to aluminum-rim wheels because of the human cost involved.

Although the manufacturing technology of carbon has recently improved and the price has come down, most aluminum-rimmed wheels cost $1,000 even for high-end models, while carbon deep-rimmed wheels cost $1,000 to $3,000 at the list price.

Compared to aluminum wheels, they are inevitably more expensive.

Very few ultra-wide rim products are available.

Since gravel bikes are often equipped with wide tires such as 38C or 45C, ultra-wide rim wheels with wheel rim inner widths of 23 mm or so are common.

However, most deep-rimmed wheels designed for paved road riding have an inner rim width of about 19 mm and a recommended maximum Ties of about 32C. There are no types of deep rim wheels with ultra-wide rims as wide as gravel wheels.

Recently, carbon wheels for “both road and gravel” have been increasing, but it will be a while before gravel road users have more options for carbon wheels.