VEL 35 GRL Carbon Gravel Wheelset Review
potiriadis
Posts: 3
in Road general
A quick review after 1,000km on the VEL 35 Carbon Gravel Wheelset.
I swapped these onto my gravel bike as a set of commuter / winter wheels. At a purchase price of £379 with an XDR freehub these were very competitively priced. They are currently retailing at a more sensible price of £549. For me the tipping point for purchase was that these were purchased direct from Sigma Sports, and while I had never come across VEL as a brand, Sigma were a shop i trusted from a customer service point of view.
Unboxing the wheels my first impression was that the free hub was relatively draggy and very loud compared to the DTSwiss 350s they would be replacing. Following recommendations from an online video review of the VEL wheels I opened up the rear hub. As predicted there was virtually no grease in either the bearing races, or indeed the pawl and ratchet mechanism in the freehub. Given that these were to be winter wheels, the grease gun got a work out and I reassembled the rear hub.
After greasing the drag was notably reduced and noise less intrusive.
Weight wise, these were as advertised, and on the bike I struggle to feel the extra 60g these weigh over the stock wheels on my bike. Tubeless setup was a doddle, and tyres (Continental TerraSpeed) went on with a track pump and minimal dramas.
So what has 1000k of riding told me of these wheels. Honestly, I'd struggle to find a reason not to use them recommend them. They roll nicely, they hold speed, they give gravel tyres a nice supported shape, they look smart on the bike. They have shrugged off gravel rides and commuting with equal indifference. Under power they feel taught, no bagging or deflecting. I'm on the hefty side of athletic, so they have a job to do to support me.
In a blind test could i tell the difference from my stock wheels. Yes, emphatically yes. This is not a case of bargain bucket carbon wheels are giant slaying in performance and quality. They do not raise the question of why would you spend over £1,000 on a set of carbon wheels (if you are in a position to do so). However do they raise a question of do you need to spend over £1,000 on a set of carbon wheels to get a benefit? Emphatically no. These get on with the job of being a fast dependable and good looking set of wheels with no fuss or drama.
There is however a different question to ask. If these had cost £549 or even their rrp of £749, would I have bought them? No, I would have gone for a set of Hunt, either the Carbon or Alloy Gravel Race wheelset that aligned with the above price points. The Hunts are significantly lighter, have a better pair of hubs, and from personal experience their build quality and longevity are first class.
So do I recommend these wheels at a price point of £549. If your heart is set on sticking some mid depth carbon hoops on your bike, yes. Your head however should tell you to save £100 and put on a set of alloy Hunt Gravel Race wheels.
I'll give this an update after Christmas once I've put some dirty autumn and winter miles under them.
I swapped these onto my gravel bike as a set of commuter / winter wheels. At a purchase price of £379 with an XDR freehub these were very competitively priced. They are currently retailing at a more sensible price of £549. For me the tipping point for purchase was that these were purchased direct from Sigma Sports, and while I had never come across VEL as a brand, Sigma were a shop i trusted from a customer service point of view.
Unboxing the wheels my first impression was that the free hub was relatively draggy and very loud compared to the DTSwiss 350s they would be replacing. Following recommendations from an online video review of the VEL wheels I opened up the rear hub. As predicted there was virtually no grease in either the bearing races, or indeed the pawl and ratchet mechanism in the freehub. Given that these were to be winter wheels, the grease gun got a work out and I reassembled the rear hub.
After greasing the drag was notably reduced and noise less intrusive.
Weight wise, these were as advertised, and on the bike I struggle to feel the extra 60g these weigh over the stock wheels on my bike. Tubeless setup was a doddle, and tyres (Continental TerraSpeed) went on with a track pump and minimal dramas.
So what has 1000k of riding told me of these wheels. Honestly, I'd struggle to find a reason not to use them recommend them. They roll nicely, they hold speed, they give gravel tyres a nice supported shape, they look smart on the bike. They have shrugged off gravel rides and commuting with equal indifference. Under power they feel taught, no bagging or deflecting. I'm on the hefty side of athletic, so they have a job to do to support me.
In a blind test could i tell the difference from my stock wheels. Yes, emphatically yes. This is not a case of bargain bucket carbon wheels are giant slaying in performance and quality. They do not raise the question of why would you spend over £1,000 on a set of carbon wheels (if you are in a position to do so). However do they raise a question of do you need to spend over £1,000 on a set of carbon wheels to get a benefit? Emphatically no. These get on with the job of being a fast dependable and good looking set of wheels with no fuss or drama.
There is however a different question to ask. If these had cost £549 or even their rrp of £749, would I have bought them? No, I would have gone for a set of Hunt, either the Carbon or Alloy Gravel Race wheelset that aligned with the above price points. The Hunts are significantly lighter, have a better pair of hubs, and from personal experience their build quality and longevity are first class.
So do I recommend these wheels at a price point of £549. If your heart is set on sticking some mid depth carbon hoops on your bike, yes. Your head however should tell you to save £100 and put on a set of alloy Hunt Gravel Race wheels.
I'll give this an update after Christmas once I've put some dirty autumn and winter miles under them.
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Comments
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I got some VEL 30 Gravel RSLs for about £480. RRP was more than double that. They come with DT Swiss 240 hubs and are my favourite gravel wheels (Got Hunts and DT SWISS GR1600s as well).
Very happy with them, but at full RRP I probably wouldn't have taken the plunge.0
