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The British wheel manufacturer Parcours says its latest aerodynamic road wheelset is its fastest ever version.
Parcours’ new Chrono wheelset was designed based on the result of an in-depth scientific study carried out by Nottingham Trent University, to optimise aerodynamics and stability.
The Chronos Wheelset comes in three models – the Chrono, Chrono Max, and Disc2 – each with their own strengths.
Dov Tate, the founder of Parcours, said: “We’re really excited to be launching our new Chrono, Chrono Max and Disc2 wheel line ups, bringing the fastest wheels we’ve ever ridden to market. This is the culmination of our biggest and most in-depth development project to date, bringing together a number of partnerships with leading names in both the academic and athletic worlds. We can’t wait to see how our riders get on this week in Kona on our #thinkwider wheels.”
For riders looking for versatility, the Chrono wheelset comes with 68.6mm front rim depth and 75.7mm on the rear, and is designed for triathletes, time triallists, or road racers. the new Chrono offers an improvement of over 17% in way of crosswind stability when compared with the previous iteration, is optimised for 28mm tyres is tubeless-ready and disc-brake specific to accompany a wider rim profile, Parcours said.
The Chrono Max front wheel is an 83.6mm-deep rim, designed for 28mm tyres, tubeless ready and disc-brake specific. It offers a four-watt saving over the previous generation of Parcours front wheels, according to the brand.
Parcours also launched the full carbon rear disc wheel to be optimised for wide tyres, the new Disc2. With an internal rim width of 22.5mm, the Disc2 rear wheel can also be run with a tyre up to 30mm wide and saves over 120g in weight over the previous Parcours disc wheel.
All three models have been designed from the ground up using #thinkwider technology, developed following the results of an in-depth scientific study carried out by Parcours in association with the Sports Engineering department at Nottingham Trent University and Dr Steve Faulkner.
This research showed that the real-world yaw angles – the angle between a cyclist’s direction of motion and the relative wind vector – experienced by the front and rear wheel are consistently different by an average of 1.5 degrees, giving rise to the engineering of differential profiles for the front/rear rims. The front, U-shaped, blunt rim design provides optimal aerodynamics at the higher yaw angles observed at the front wheel, while having the added benefit of enhancing cross wind stability.
The rear, V-shaped, sharper rim profile is used to optimise aerodynamics at the lower yaw angles it would experience.
The new range is already tried and tested in elite level racing, with the Parcours athlete roster helping to provide feedback on the prototype models throughout the 2022 season.
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Parcours athlete and long distance professional triathlete from New Zealand, Kyle Smith said: “The new wheels have been absolutely amazing. The width of the rims make the ride super smooth and comfortable. Paired with a set of 28mm GP5000’s Tubeless, it makes the ride seamless.
“The confidence I have in them is unbeatable. I know I’m riding on the fastest wheels and that’s an amazing feeling. It’s an amazing thing to be able to trust the wheels when you rack them in transition too. Knowing that the build quality on the wheels, Tubeless tyres and Ceramic bearings is so good, it’s one thing I don’t need to worry about failing when I get out onto the bike.”
The wheelsets will retail at:
Chrono wheelset (68/75mm): £1,199
Chrono Max front (83mm): £600
Disc2 rear: £1,049
With Chrono front: £1,599
With Chrono Max front: £1,649
