DT Swiss GRC 1400 carbon wheels Open up aerodynamic gravel bike possibilities

Written by Cory Benson May 30, 2019 7:47 p.m. ET

DT Swiss Gravel road wheel lineup, 650b & 700c, 24mm internal width, GRC 1400 Spline 42 aero carbon gravel bike wheels

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Did you happen to notice the wheels on that new OPEN WI.DE. gravel bike? They are DT Swiss’ latest aero optimized tubeless carbon ‘road’ wheels, again ready to break away from the asphalt. The new gravel wheels follow up on the same SwissSide lessons learned in the wind tunnel starting with their endurance wheel lineup – that you can always optimize your wheels to be faster, no matter how wide the tires.

DT Swiss GRC 1400 aero carbon gravel wheels

What did we learn back in 2016 with the introduction of the ERC 1100 Aero+ wheels? Aerodynamics will save you energy at any speed, but especially on long days out racing solo, aero gains can come in handy.

Sure these aren’t going to say you minutes on your hour long weekend trail ride with 2.4″ tires on your new Open Wi.De. gravel bike. But don’t forget about crazy gravel racing like the Dirty Kanza this weekend.

Pop some 700x 35mm tires on your endurance gravel, and not only will you get added comfort, better sidewall stability & a wider contact patch thanks to the new 24mm internal width, but the blunt-nosed 33mm outer width of the rim will be easier to push through the wind all day.

Besides a bit of comfort boost, rolling resistance tests show a 5% reduction with the same 35mm tire on the new 24mm internal rim vs. on DT’s similar 22mm cross road offering at 51psi. That even jumps up to a 7% rolling resistance savings at 65psi (a reminder that while lower pressures in the range of 65-75psi might be lower rolling resistance than 150psi, it isn’t a linear scale where resistance continues to drop by letting air out. Note to self: we really need to see more concrete pressure to resistance to tire size & profile data.)

New DT Swiss Gravel category details & pricing

When DT introduced their Road Revolution line-up overhaul last year, we were wondering how gravel got left out (RR18 included: aero, performance, endurance, cross road & track.) Well now Gravel is added too, bumping up a couple extra mm, and importantly adding 650b options to the otherwise 700c heavy lineup.

From the start that means three new wheels across a broad spectrum. GRC 1400 Spline 42 is the top (Gravel Race Carbon) at $2438 / 1938€ in carbon with a 42mm deep, 24mm internal, 33mm external rim – 1562g for 650b, 1634g for 700c.

GR 1600 Spline 25 brings some more all around affordability with an alloy rim at $694 / 558€ in aluminum with a 25mm deep, 24mm internal rim – 1723g for 650b, 1811g for 700c.

Then, G 1800 Spline 25 builds that same alloy rim into even more affordable wheels for $483 / 388€ in aluminum with a 25mm deep, 24mm internal – 1806g for 650b, 1895g for 700c.

All of the new gravel wheels are centerlock disc only, with modular thru-axles based on 240, 350 & 370 hubs, and get 130kg (286lb) rider+bike weight limits. They are all built with 24 2x straight-pull DT spokes, and available with Shimano 10/11 & SRAM XDR 12-speed freehub bodies.

DTSwiss.com

Cory Benson

4,156 articles

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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con

4 years ago

There are new DT Swiss alloy “gravel” rims coming too:

DT Swiss GR 531db with internal width of 24mm – but (like the GR1600 wheels) with 535 gr. quite heavy…
(there will be aswell a G540 gravel rim too)

Thesteve4761

4 years ago

Reply to con

It’s 24mm inner width. Not shallow section. How much lighter could it really be?

con

4 years ago

Reply to Thesteve4761

GR 531db – inner width 24mm -> 535gr.

Why not Mountain section?
for example Dt Swiss Mtn-rims:
XM 401 – inner width 22.5mm -> 460gr.!
XM 421 – inner width 25mm -> 465gr.!
(both possible to ride aswell with “high” pressure up to 6bar)

Bryan

4 years ago

Reply to con

My guess: mountain rims generally don’t have the deep, aero section that road rims have because of the relatively slower riding speeds compared to road/gravel riding. Want a wide, light(er) rim? Use a mountain rim. Want a wide, aero(er) rim? Try one like this.

DingDang

4 years ago

Reply to con

So how is this a debate? If the 401 is your jam because of the weight, then ride it.

4 years ago

Why on earth would you test gravel wheels at 45km/h? Be realistic and test them at 20-25km/h. Also the test doesn’t tell us anything as it’s not comparing the wheels to for example their alloy gravel wheels.

Lyford

4 years ago

Reply to MK

Well, my last mixed-surface ride included being in a fast paceline on pavement, and some long paved descents.
I used to think that “aero gravel” was a dumb idea until I realized how comfortable my “gravel” bike was on the road. Compliance over bad pavement isn’t slow but wind resistance always is.

Tom

4 years ago

Reply to Lyford

choosing the right tire makes all the difference. For a bike that’s truly dual purpose, look at a tire like the WTC Exposure 34c. Acceptable off road (just don’t try to carve with it) and acceptable on fast group rides.

gef

4 years ago

Reply to MK

I don’t get why most stuff is tested at that speed. The higher the speed, the bigger the gains, but realistically, only the strongest riders on the flattest roads will average that. I’d like to see the gains at 20-30 km/h like you said, even for road stuff. I think that if they test at that speed it won’t make sense to spend all the extra $ though.

Brad Comis (@BradComis)

4 years ago

Reply to gef

I would imagine racers would be the target market here. Generally racers ride really fast in groups. I don’t see why 45km/h is a problem. The gains/losses are the same either way. 45km/h is certianly in the right range anyway. If they tested at 100km/h or 15kmh now that would be ridiculous.

Tom

4 years ago

The notion of an aero gravel wheel set is daft. Look at the data they provide for each tire size/type on test. The biggest, knobbiest tire has twice the aero drag of a smaller slick. It’s all in the tires, the rim is a very small contributor to the result.

DingDang

4 years ago

Reply to Tom

It’s not daft. DT doesn’t make tires. They are simply optimizing and improving on what they can in their product. Can’t fault them for that.

Tom

4 years ago

Reply to DingDang

let me rephrase – If DT can convince consumers that aero gravel wheels are a good idea, more power to them. I’ll save my $ for other things.

LOL at aero gravel goofballs

4 years ago

Reply to DingDang

Actually it is daft on DT’s part because regardless of whether they make tires or not they know darn well these things are being marketed as gravel wheels. They also know darn well that the vast majority of gravel tires that will be run on these wheels suck aerodynamically. They also know darn well that in such a situation the supposed aero gains from the rim will be virtually nothing of consequence versus the non aero tires the wheels will be typically wrapped in. They are not stupid. It’s just another way to sell multi thousand dollar wheel sets to amateur goofballs, who will convince themselves they should be all giddy about the half watt they just saved. LOL

Brad Comis (@BradComis)

4 years ago

Pretty darned interesting that the aero drag chart has NO baseline for comparison. The only thing it really shows is that narrower tires have less aero drag, which is not a revelation in any way.

Mic

4 years ago

Nobody’s riding gravel or trails at 45 km h, LMFAO, only reason I can see for deep rims might be mud but come on…

Jim Rawson

4 years ago

Reply to Mic

Who is nobody? Most Cat 1 or Pro riders can or will hit 27 + mph several times on a ride.

Laughing at aero gravel wheels

4 years ago

Reply to Jim Rawson

If you think DT is creating an entire production line of high zoot wheels to be sold only to CAT 1 quality racers I have some great swamp land real estate for you to buy in Florida. These wheels will ultimately be marketed to amateur goof balls with deep pockets, who by and large on average do not get close to those speeds on a typical ride. LOL 🙂

Michele La Rocca

4 years ago

Barely enough to require “aero” rims be real

Greg

4 years ago

You test at a higher speed because it increases resolution. It’s already been proven that the percentage aero gains at 30mph will be seen at 20mph.
There is a limit, of course. Go fast enough (any localized air speed approaching 200mph) and the air changes behavior, compressing and expamding…
The wind tunnel people are experts at what they do. They wouldn’t pick a non-representative speed.

Dustytires

4 years ago

the 2 fastest gravel racers this year, absolutely the fastest, barely averaged over 30kph at Kansa. Pros, not joes. Sure they musta hit descents well over that, but they also ground along on almost 10k feet of climbing where this aero advantage would have been immeasurable. Add in the fact that several of the photos of winner Colin were with a Camelback.. those are anti- aero to start with, and his was wide open like a wind sock! With over 80% of a cyclists aero drag being the riders body and the shit they have on their back and their flapping clothes, these so called gains on a wheelset are extremely exaggerated when applied to the average joe with fatter tires and speeds well under 30kph. Yeah, more power to the wheel companies for creating a demand, and selling a massive rolling billboard for their products, but in the whole of the bike and rider, the gains are single digit at best and tightening the jersery and empying the pockets will save way more watts.