RESERVE 52|63 – FAST ON FLATS, EASY ON YOUR WALLET
The Reserve 52|63 aero wheelset has a clear priority – go fast on flat terrain.
It’s also a great comparative value at US$1600, £1600, and €1800 when built with the DT Swiss 350 hubset that came in the wheelset Miles and I tested. You can get the Reserve 52|63 with DT Swiss 180 or 240 hubs for considerably more, though it’s hard to see why you’d want to do that if you’re looking for a dedicated aero wheelset to economically add to your quiver.
Yes, it performs on par with the average aero wheelset in other characteristics. But when it’s raw speed you’re looking for on a flat ride or crit race, the Reserve 52|62 really shows up.
That’s what Miles found when he rode this wheelset on his Propel in a straight line, going down rollers, and through corners. He could start a descent at the back of a group, not even pedal, and float by everyone ahead of him, even grabbing the brakes along the way.
I rode the 52|63 on the new Trek Madone Generation 8 light aero bike, replacing the similarly priced Bontrager Aeolus Pro 51 stock wheels. The increased speed with the Reserves was immediately and consistently noticeable whenever I rode on flatter terrain.
Those of us who are traditional cycling nerds might look at the 52mm front wheel depth (actually 52.5mm, per my calipers) and wonder how this wheelset can carry its momentum better than those that are 60mm or deeper.
Nerds trying to learn new tricks or into tech marketing mumbo jumbo might look at how much wider these wheels are than other aero wheelsets and whether that explains where some of the Reserve’s added speed comes from. The front rim measures nearly 26mm between its hooked beads and 35mm at its widest externally.
Despite or because of the different rim dimensions and profiles between the front and back wheels, together they are stable on windy days, cutting through breezes and gusts as well as shallower wheels though not as well as the best, deeper aero wheels.
The same goes for the Reserve 52|63’s compliance, at least with the 28mm benchmark Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR we use to remove one variable from our wheelset comparisons.
Given the Reserve 52|63’s internal and external widths, riding them with 30mm or even 32mm wide tires and at lower pressure would likely make them even faster and more comfortable, with fewer road vibration rolling resistance losses and without giving up much aero performance of the rim-tire interface and width ratio.
It would also calm ETRTO safety adherents.
Note that these rim and tire widths might make the Reserve 52|63 a hard wheelset to fit into some aero and racing bikes more than a few years old.
The Reserve 52|63 is quite stiff side to side and handles well in corners for an aero wheelset. Yet it isn’t as responsive as the narrower and lighter wheelsets in this aero category. We held our speed well enough to stick with groups going up smaller rollers but on longer climbs, it’s more of an average wheelset.
It’s important to remember what aero wheels are focused on and not ask them to be an all-around, more versatile one. This Reserve’s greatest strength is pure speed on flats and getting that speed at a good value.
If you’re a big power rider, a long-distance time trailer or triathlete, or an enthusiast who just likes to ride fast on the flatter terrain where you ride, the Reserve 52|63 is a wheelset that will suit you and your wallet well.
You can order them from BTD (BikeTiresDirect) and Sigma Sports.
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Check out my review of The Best Aero Bike Wheels to compare this wheelset with our reviews and ratings of competitively performing models.
I’m sorry, but this review is disappointing. Generally I find the ITK cycling reviews better than most in terms of detail, objectivity and focussing on the things that really matter, but statements suggesting that just due to a wheelset, a bike can be transformed into something that ‘floats’ past everything else, and is faster even when braking compared to other aero wheelsets are just silly. Endless aero testing has shown that the difference between the best and worst performing aero wheelsets is in the (very low) single figure watt range, so let’s not pretend that by some sort of unique alchemy, a set of wheels can suddenly hand you hitherto undiscovered aerodynamic advantages. I’d be quite happy to believe that Miles shot past everyone else on a descent due to benefits of drafting / adopting an aero tuck / sitting on his top tube or wearing a bunch of aero clothing, but that’s not what the article suggests, and I’d respectfully suggest that instead attributing this ‘free speed’ to a set of hoops isn’t entirely honest. By all means say they’re a fast feeling wheelset, but let’s not get carried away eh?
David, thanks for your feedback. Miles is Cat 1 racer and podiums in his age group at USA road nats so I value his input. I did ask him to confirm his comparative evaluations and comments about his experience before writing up the review. He undoubtedly does some of the things you mention and perhaps others don’t do them as well but both he and I (not a Cat anything racer) noticed a marked difference between this wheelset and other aero wheelsets’ ability to hold their momentum when riding at high speeds. That’s the key takeaway. Steve
Hi Steve. Thanks for taking the time to reply. My main issue is with the risk of straying into statements that sound like hyperbole / marketing exaggeration to me. It’s a bit like the ‘I changed my wheels and all of a sudden I’m getting PRs everywhere and claiming KOMs on Strava’ statements you get on pretty much every forum when someone has spent a lot of money on a new bit of kit. As noted, I like the emphasis you have on objective detail and the in-depth nature of your reviews, so I guess I’m holding you to a higher standard in that respect. I can compute that a wheelset feels ‘fast’, but I still find it hard to believe that what is being described is actually based in reality. Surely if it was, Reserve would be publishing wind tunnel data showing how these wheels outperformed other 60mm plus wheelsets by 15 / 20 watts and shouting from the rooftops about how you would be needing to apply your brakes to stop dropping your riding buddies like flies. Like I said, every bit of actual data I’ve seen suggests that the actual difference between aero wheelsets is very small. Perceptible maybe, but not ‘wow, I’m suddenly 5 mph faster for the same effort’. Having said all this, I’ve never ridden these wheels (although I have ridden lots of wheels in the 40 – 90mm depth range), so I’m undoubtedly less qualified to comment than you are. Also conscious that it isn’t great form for my first comment on your website (which I’ve read a lot) to be a negative one, so in the interests of setting the record straight, I should again mention that the vast majority of your content I like and value a lot. Cheers, Dave
David, No worries. I appreciate your efforts to keep me honest. As with all of our reviews, the results are anecdotal. Typically a couple of us who are different kinds of riders (speed, skill, weight, race vs. ride, etc.) ride a set of wheels for long enough and across enough different terrain, weather, ride situations to reach independent points of view about the performance factors we feel are important. We don’t do science or consider things like wind tunnel tests others have done for our reviews and we don’t get compensated by companies whose gear we’re testing. Miles described and I included an anecdote about his experience riding the wheels on a descent. You may be extrapolating to suggest we are saying this one anecdote means that they are x watts or y mph faster. So yes, we experienced that these wheels feel fast and our reality is that they are faster in maintaining their momentum than other aero wheels we’ve tested. It’s our unquantified reality based on the experience of riding these and other aero wheels. Others may do science, wind tunnel testing, etc. but we report our comparative anecdotal experience. Don’t read into it more than that. Best, Steve
I have these wheels with dt swiss 240 exp with ceramic speed bearings and a 54t ratchet and they are super fast on rolling hills and climbing too. I love these wheels they are the fastest aero wheels I have tried.
I bought these wheels, and I have to disagree with the review. For me they weren’t good in sidewinds or gusts at all, feeling very unpredictable and unstable with minor to moderate wind gusts. And I even got very unnerving front wheel shimmy on downhills a few times, which I’ve read about but never experienced before in decades of riding many different bikes and wheels.
With most aero wheels I can feel the ‘push’ from sidewinds pretty hard but it’s predictable and I can lean into the wind, then straighten up when the wind changes direction. I’ve ridden Reynolds 40mm deep wheels without any issues. I don’t think I’m particularly sensitive to sidewinds and gusts, as I ride in those conditions often. But these wheels were just all over the place in gusts or sidewinds, especially downhills, so much so that I didn’t feel comfortable with their unpredictability, and I decided it was a safety issue for me.
I do agree they were very fast wheels, I set flat TT Strava segment PR’s with them and I wasn’t even at my limit. They are blazingly fast in a straight line with no wind. But “no wind’ is just not something that happens much where I live, aero wheels gotta perform well with gusts and sidewinds here. I suspect a few reasons for the performance I experienced, 1) rider weight — I don’t think they perform as well for lighter weight riders like me (66 kg or less), and 2) my particular bike’s geometry and rider weight distribution. I ride a small bike and there are always geometry compromises with small or extra-small bikes. I think we get used to those compromises as smaller riders and we optimize our handling to adjust for it, but it can really affect handling when you tack on super deep-dish wheels like this, 3) they are very deep dish wheels and simply more vulnerable to sidewinds. I can’t say if other deep dish wheels would cause the same problems for me, as this is the only deep-dish wheel set I’ve owned (and probably the first and last deep-dish wheelset I’ll try unless someone wants to give me other pairs to try out :). I ended up selling these wheels on eBay at quite a big loss after only a few months, which wasn’t much fun.
I talked with Reserve about it and they graciously offered me a deep discount on a set of 40/44 wheels. Those wheels are so much more predictable and manageable in sidewinds and gusts for me, I’m very happy with them. They aren’t as fast as the 52/63’s but they are still pretty fast, and no handling problems at all. As a bonus they weigh quite a bit less too, with the DT240 hubs.
How do these compare to the ENVE SES 4.5 in comparable conditions?
They’re comparable on flats but less capable on other terrain.
Nice write up. For what it’s worth, Cycling News recently tested 11 different aero wheels in a wind tunnel. While not exactly the same wheels, the Reserve 50/65s were the slowest of the bunch with the DT Swiss Arc 1100s being the fastest. An interesting finding, however, was that the difference between the fastest and slowest wheels in the test was less than 4 watts at 40 kph.