The Bontrager Aeolus RSL line introduced their impressively light road wheels a couple months ago, and now that weight-saving rim design has made it’s way to gravel and cyclocross. Available in tubeless clincher and tubular, the Aeolus 37v gets a wider profile to match the wider tires, but keeps its 37mm rim depth.
The idea is to better support the wider tires we’re all running on dirt roads and gravel riding adventures. The TLR clincher rims are designed specifically for 35-50mm gravel tires, but can handle 28-32mm road tires just fine, too.
They also keep the lightweight build, lacing 24 spokes per wheel to a set of custom hubs with DT Swiss 240 internals. This means DT’s latest Ratchet EXP drive ring system, plus Aerolite bladed spokes.
They’re tubeless compatible, and disc brake only. The key difference is the width. The RSL 37V jumps to a 25mm internal width, up from 21mm on the road wheels. External width is 31mm, and they keep a hooked bead for maximum tire compatibility.
So, weights… the clinchers are 1,355g for the pair. That’s just 30g heavier than the road version. Considering they’re built with the same hubs and spokes, that means the extra width here only adds about 15g per rim.
What about the Aeolus RSL Tubular rims?
Realistically, the tubulars were designed with cyclocross in mind. Their recommended tire width range is 28-33mm. That’s because the rim has a 28.4mm width (at its widest point) with a rim bed width of 21.3mm and a radius of 28mm. That’s a wider bed and larger radius than the road wheels, designed specifically to match the shape of an inflated tubular cyclocross tire. Claimed weight for the Tubulars is 1,250g for the pair.
Pricing & other specs
Like the rest of Bontrager’s wheels, they come with their TLR rigid, pop-in rim strips that make tubeless setup super easy, and tubeless valve stems are included. They also send along regular rim strips in case you want to use tubes, or you can use 27-29mm tubeless tape and set them up tubeless the old fashioned (and lightest) way.
The other bits you need to know are:
- 12×100 front thru axle, 12×142 rear thru axle
- Centerlock disc brake format
- 10/11 speed Shimano/SRAM freehub body (XD-R 12-speed available separately)
- RSL 37V TLR Disc Clincher price: $2,400
- RSL 37 Tubular Disc: $1,149.99 – $1,249.99
- Front: $1,149 / Rear: $1,249
- Carbon Care Lifetime Warranty for original owner
They’re available now through Trek dealers and online…here are the landing pages for the Clincher and the Tubular.
Learn more at Trekbikes.com/bontrager
