New aero carbon Parcours FKT gravel wheels hope to set new Quickest Recognized Occasions each in your native gravel tracks and on the massive gravel races, due to distinctive knobby tire aerodynamics. With a bulging form fairly totally different than what we see in most aero street wheels, Parcours says the FKT is quickest out on gravel roads with a 40mm tire. And that quickest tire is the most recent Gravel King from Panaracer…
Parcours FKT aero carbon gravel bike race wheels
It’s a uncommon feat to design an actual aero gravel-specific wheelset. The few manufacturers which have accomplished so have opted for actually huge rims on the bead to get as near the width of the narrowest, most minimal tread gravel tires you’d count on for somebody obsessive about optimizing their CdA. After which, they form of admit that wider, kobbier tires will probably imply noticeably extra drag. And constructing wider wheels inevitably means heavier, too.
However Parcours appear to take a barely totally different method.
They recognized the brand new 40mm Panaracer Gravel King X1 tire as knobby-enough and huge sufficient that it could be a flexible all-rounder gravel tire you’d count on to indicate up at newbie and professional races alike. After which, they created what they name the optimum aero gravel bike race wheel for that tire. Curiously, what probably makes that new Gravel King the best aero gravel tire are its low-height shoulder knobs.
In actual fact, surprisingly, Parcours CFD after which wind tunnel information, reveals that even barely narrower variations of this similar gravel tire, are certainly barely slower.
Distinctive aero gravel rim form
However the true secret sauce appears to be the mix of a super gravel tire with a barely unconventional aero profile. And the consequence, a digital airfoil profile that smooths airflow from either side.
Parcours isn’t sharing the FKT rim form explicitly, a bit to guard the effort and time refining this aero gravel form. But it surely’s fairly obvious that that is one thing fairly totally different than most aero wheels, even when it’s only a few millimeters right here or there.
The 47mm deep tubeless rim is huge at 27mm hookless inner. But it surely’s not exceptionally huge outdoors, measuring simply 32mm exterior on the prime of the tire bead.The widest level of the rim is 40mm huge (like the best tire) however that’s virtually precisely in the midst of the general rim depth.
The Parcours description appears to me to recommend that this narrower ‘waist’ the place the tire meets the rim simply goes alongside to help some ‘good turbulence’ that retains airflow connected to the wheel within the wind. Additionally, because the rim+tire form mixture is kind of comparable from both aspect, each the entrance half of the wheel with the tire slicing into the wind and the rear half of the wheel led by the rim, each have equally good aerodynamic efficiency.
Parcours information reveals fairly constant efficiency for a 35mm as much as a 45mm tire. So it appears such as you received’t endure massive penalties in case you stray a bit from their quick 40mm tire setup. Learn extra concerning the Parcours aero growth and browse explanatory white papers at their Aerodynamics Lab data web page.
Tech particulars
- Inner width: 27mm hookless
- Outer dimensions: 47mm deep x 40mm max width… 32mm exterior on the tire
- Tire sizes; ETRTO tubeless tire compatibility from 35mm tires and wider
- Spokes: 24 Sapim CX-Ray straight-pull bladed aero, with exterior alloy nipples
- Hubs: Street Centerlock Disc, 6-pawl with 2 factors of offset engagement per pawl on a 44T ring for 88 POE at 4° engagement
- Weight, wheelset solely: 1500g (claimed)
- Weight, able to mount tires: 1561g (precise) on our scale with rotor lockrings, tape & tubeless valves put in
Parcours FKT – Pricing & availability
The all-new Parcours FKT aero carbon gravel race wheels can be found to pre-order beginning at this time by way of the top of July, with supply slated for subsequent month – August 2024. Wheelsets promote for £1200 / $1600 / 1560€. And all wheels purchased within the pre-order interval will embrace a free set of 40mm Panaracer Gravel King X1 tires, saving you $130.
We simply acquired a set of the wheels in to check. And we plan to get out within the coming weeks to see how briskly they really feel!
