The team at ISON Distribution were at CORE Bike earlier this week, showing off the latest carbon hoops to emerge from UK brand, Halo Wheels. Their roots lie very much in the dirt, but recent years have seen Halo branch out to Road and Gravel disciplines. We got the low-down on the new Halo Carbaura XCD35 Carbon, a gravel-dedicated wheelset weighing a claimed 1765g. Also on show were their new 21mm internal width deep-section carbon rims for road. Here’s what we know so far.
Halo Carbaura XCD35 Carbon Gravel Wheels
This is the first carbon wheelset we’ve seen from Halo that is dedicated to gravel riding. It borrows technology from the Carbaura Road line, adapting it for a 26mm internal rim width able to accommodate a 50c tire (28c minimum), or even a 2.2″ mountain bike tire. As the name would suggest, rim depth comes in at 35mm, with an external width of 30mm.
The 700c Carbaura Carbon Gravel Wheels are shipped pre-taped, ready for a quick tubeless setup, though their hooked rim design permits the use of an innertube should you need to use one in an emergency. The rim gets a standard symmetrical profile, as opposed to the asymmetric rim bed you’ll see on Halo’s gravity-oriented wheelsets that need to be a fair bit tougher.
The rims are laced to Halo’s 120 POE GXC hubset that was developed 2-3 years ago for the Vapour GXC Tour aluminium gravel wheelset. There are 32 double-butted J-bend spokes in the rear wheel and 28 in the front, ubiquitously available and thus easy to source should you need to replace one.
The hubs are center lock only, designed to run a standard 12mm thru-axle. Shimano HG and SRAM XDR freehub bodies are available. The 1765g claimed weight pertains to the Carbaura XCD35 Carbon wheels with a steel Shimano HG freehub body. The SRAM XDR version is said to be around 25g lighter.
The Halo Carbaura XCD35 Carbon wheelset will retail at £950. The maximum system weight is 110kg.
Halo’s new 21mm wide deep-section Carbaura Carbon Rims
Russel Downing, former Team Sky rider, has been helping Halo develop the new line of deep-section Carbaura Carbon rims for road cycling. The most notable update to these is the increase in internal rim width from 19mm to 21mm, allowing riders to run up to a 32c tire. The external width grows to 28mm. These changes are in line with the bigger tire clearances we’re seeing on modern road bike frames.
There are three rim-depth options; 35mm, 50mm and 80mm, adapted for regular road riding, road racing, and time trial or triathlon racing, resepctively. Sixteen stainless, butted, bladed spokes on the drive side and just eight spokes on the non-drive side helps to keep weight down; weight for the 35mm option is a claimed 1500g.
At the centre of these hoops is Halo’s CL RD2 hubset, the rear of which incorporates their Supadrive technology boasting 120 POE for near-instant engagement.
Retail pricing for complete wheelsets is as follows:
- 35mm Deep – £999.99
- 50mm Deep – £1049.99
- 80mm Deep – £1099.99
Shimano HG, SRAM X-R and Campagnolo freehub bodies will be available.
