Spada Wheels, based out of a small town in Northern Italy has some deep heritage in cycling and will now be selling their light weight wheels here in the U.S. through their UK distributor. Dan Evans (above), took the UK National Hill Climb title in 2014 on a pair of light weight Spada wheels, and this year he defended his title on an on a pair that were 100g lighter!
Roll past the break to see the details on what makes these wheels so light at a price that is somewhat light on the wallet…..
Spada, though not a well known brand here (yet), is based out of Tirano in northern Italy close to the valley of Valtellina which is in the heart of some of the more famous passes that the Giro d’Italia has passed through since the 1950’s. Spada Wheels’ founder Corrado Spada, comes from a family of artisan frame builders beginning with his grandfather. Corrado started working first with steel then aluminum frames before he started working with hubs to make them lighter and more efficient. Over time, this would lead into him building what would be some of the lightest wheels on the market.
Their Crystal hubs have a carbon body and alloy flanges and use their “2 bearing technology” where the bearings are spaced 115mm to keep the hub’s axle as stiff while keeping the weight down to a scant 178g for the rear and 52g for the front.
Spada’s flagship 870g Spillo carbon tubular wheels are built around Corrado’s own hand-built lightweight Crystal hubs (above), and their 27mm deep carbon rim with 20 bladed spokes in the front and 24 in the rear. The wheelset retails for £1399 and will be shipped to the U.S. through their UK distributor VAM Performance. The Spillo Wheels have a 185lb (83kg) weight limit which is understandable based on who these wheels are made for.
Their best seller is the Stiletto aluminum tubular wheelset. Also built onto their Crystal hubs, the Stilettos use a 23mm deep aluminum rim and come in at a respectable 1270g. The Stilettos also have a slightly higher rider weight limit of 200lbs (90kg), and retail for £699.
