New aero carbon Parcours FKT gravel wheels hope to set new Quickest Identified Instances each in your native gravel tracks and on the huge gravel races, because of 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 newest 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 finished 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 anticipate for somebody obsessive about optimizing their CdA. After which, they type of admit that wider, kobbier tires will possible 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 will be a flexible all-rounder gravel tire you’d anticipate to point out up at beginner and professional races alike. After which, they created what they name the optimum aero gravel bike race wheel for that tire. Apparently, what possible makes that new Gravel King the best aero gravel tire are its low-height shoulder knobs.
In reality, surprisingly, Parcours CFD after which wind tunnel knowledge, reveals that even barely narrower variations of this identical gravel tire, are certainly barely slower.
Distinctive aero gravel rim form
However the actual secret sauce appears to be the mixture of a super gravel tire with a barely unconventional aero profile. And the outcome, 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 just some millimeters right here or there.
The 47mm deep tubeless rim is huge at 27mm hookless inside. But it surely’s not exceptionally huge outdoors, measuring simply 32mm exterior on the high of the tire bead.The widest level of the rim is 40mm huge (like the best tire) however that’s virtually precisely in the course of the general rim depth.
The Parcours description appears to me to counsel that this narrower ‘waist’ the place the tire meets the rim simply goes alongside to assist some ‘good turbulence’ that retains airflow hooked up to the wheel within the wind. Additionally, for the reason that rim+tire form mixture is kind of comparable from both facet, each the entrance half of the wheel with the tire chopping into the wind and the rear half of the wheel led by the rim, each have equally good aerodynamic efficiency.
Parcours knowledge reveals fairly constant efficiency for a 35mm as much as a 45mm tire. So it seems such as you gained’t undergo huge penalties for those who 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 in the present day by 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 embody 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!
Parcours.cc
