DT Swiss has given the Mon Chasseral designation to the lightest of their climber’s road wheels for almost fifteen years. Named after the highest peak in the Jura mountains just outside of their Swiss HQ & factory, the new special edition DT Swiss PRC 1100 Dicut 24 Mon Chasseral wheels form the lightest clincher road wheelset that DT has ever produced, and the first disc brake wheels to get the lightweight designation…
DT Swiss PRC 24 Mon Chasseral carbon road wheels
DT Swiss calls these latest lightweight carbon wheels a continuation of their Mon Chasseral story – an ongoing goal to put their precision Swiss engineering to the test of creating the ultimate climbing wheelset for road riders. And now that many road cyclist are moving towards both disc brakes and tubeless tire setups, it was clear that was the direction that the Mon Chasseral project needed to take as well. Then, adapting DT’s recent progress in carbon rim construction, in-house steel spoke refinement, and updated hub internals meant a wheelset lighter than anything comparable they’ve built before.
How light?
1266g! That would have been impressive anytime in DT’s wheel development of wheels built from standard components, i.e. separate rim+spoke+hubs. So far, only the rim brake carbon tubulars that made back in 2016 topped that (down to 1210g).
But with centerlock disc brake hubs and a fully tubeless-ready clincher rim, 1266g is impressive (578g front, 688g rear).
So how did DT Swiss trim ~200g off their next lightest road wheels?
Of course a low profile carbon rim is a good place to start for a climber’s wheelset. So DT used their new 24mm deep asymmetric carbon rim debuted last summer in limited edition 1283g wheels, with a 18mm internal width and a hooked tubeless-ready bead for the new Mon Chasserals. Saving weight, the Swiss-made UD carbon rim requires no additional finishing out of the mold, using a UV & weather stable resin. All the get are water transfer Chasseral graphics.
The wheels spin on a new straight pull aero 180 Dicut Disc hubset that feature’s DT Swiss’ latest EXP freehub internals and a 36T ratchet. The aero alloy 12mm thru-axle hubs look similar to other recent top-spec 1100-series wheels, but further machine away excess material (like from 1/3 of the centerlock interface) and get slimmer overall to reduce weight by a claimed 13%.
They even use smaller SINC ceramic bearings that DT says helped save weight without sacrificing durability.
Even the Swiss-made spokes that are used incorporate new tech. Each wheel pairs twelve DT Aerolite and 12 DT Aero Comp straight-pull spokes (on alternating sides front & rear to handle braking vs. drivetrain forces), laced 2X to the new 180 hubs. Both type of aero spokes use the unique forge T-head first launched on the ERC 1100 wheels to optimize aero alignment, and are tightened down with hidden DT Pro Lock alloy internal nipples.
DT Swiss Mon Chasseral – Tech details, pricing & availability
With an 18mm internal, the latest Mon Chasseral wheels are designed for 25-30mm road tires (min. 23mm), set up tubeless or clincher, and get a max rider+bike limit of 110kg/243lb. But officially DT lists a max tire width of 56mm, meaning these could be one insanely lightweight gravel wheelset.
All the weight savings and handmade Swiss tech doesn’t come cheap. The PRC 24 Mon Chasseral carbon road wheels retail for $3734 / 2948€, with realistic availability expected around mid summer 2020. The wheels ship with tubeless valves & tape installed, come with both a Shimano HG freehub installed as well as a SRAM XDR driver (Campy available separately), include QR endcaps, and DT Swiss wheelbags.
