Bontrager Aeolus XXX 2
Ifeel like I’ve said, “A new set of wheels can transform your bike,” many, many times. Still, I always find it striking when I feel that transformation. That’s what happened when I swapped out my old hoops for the a set of Bontrager Aeolus xxx 2 clinchers. My pedal strokes seemed a little more powerful. My bike seemed to have a bit more get-up-and-go. The Bontrager xxx line debuted at the end of March. It replaced the Aeolus D3 group, which the Trek house brand released in 2015. The xxx 2, with its rim depth at 28 mm and inner widths of 21 mm, is the climber’s wheelset, while the xxx 4 and xxx 6 are built more around aerodynamics. “With the xxx 2, we mostly focused on stiffness and weight,” says Claude Drehfal, Bontrager design engineer who oversees carbon products. For all the xxx wheels, he was behind the composites and the shapes of the new wheels. He adds that while aerodynamics weren’t a focus for the xxx 2, they were tested in a wind tunnel. Trek’s research shows the xxx 2 peformed better than the Zipp 202 nsw and the Enve 2.2.
The optimum-compaction, low-void ( oclv) carbon-fibre formula used on the wheels helps to give the wheels their stiffness and keep their weight down to a claimed 1,305 g. “oclv xxx level products are made in Waterloo,” Drehfal says referring the Wisconsin city where Trek’s headquarters is located. “We do use some aerospace materials and other higher-end materials that are not used in our other products.”
Another design goal for the Aeolus xxx clincher wheels was a better brake track. With the Aeolus D3 wheels, Bontrager already had a track that performed almost as well aluminum in the dry. But with the Aeolus xxx, the company’s testing shows its carbon brake track performs almost as well as alloy in the wet.
Bontrager not only recommends the xxx 2 wheels for climbing but for gravel roads and even cyclocross. So, I took the hoops on some unpaved roads where they rolled well. These wheels have snap, whether on small stones or smooth pavement. ($ 3,100; bontrager.com)—mp