Halo Evaura 6D 700C wheelset

The Halo Evaura 6D 700C wheels are a decent first upgrade from stock wheels, or if you have good wheels you'd like to keep for summer 'best' the Halos make a good winter training set. With a good wide rim and a fairly bombproof setup, they run smoothly without letting too much buzz through. Just watch out for the rim tape, and be prepared to force tyres on.

At this time of year people are often looking for a set of winter wheels or to upgrade the wheels they got on a bike picked up in the end of season sale. This is where I think the Halo Evauras sit in the market, offering an upgrade from the standard fare you would normally find on entry-level and some mid-level bikes.

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Helping with their ability to perform well in rougher conditions is their width: the rims are 24mm wide, 19mm internally, meaning that should your bike have the clearance, they're ideal for 28mm tyres. That means more comfort on rougher surfaces and you can also run wider tyres at lower pressures, again helping to increase comfort. (Wider tyres are faster, too – find out why, here.)

I used 25mm tyres on the test wheels and found that they let little buzz through, even at 110psi. I was comfortable using them all day in even the wettest, windiest conditions, their relatively low 22mm rounded profile helping here as it doesn't catch crosswinds too badly.

Both front and rear run on Halo's own sealed-bearing hubs, which spin up nicely and maintain speed fairly well for an inexpensive set of wheels. The hubs work effectively and the fact that they're sealed, combined with the alloy body, means upkeep is kept to a minimum and they are likely to be durable – something that is always encouraging when running wheels on long, wet, muddy winter rides.

The freewheel on the rear has a 30-tooth engagement and a nice loud click. This is a personal preference, but I like to have a loud freewheel so that if I'm behind somebody I can let them know I'm there by simply stopping pushing the cranks, which seems much more gentlemanly than ringing a bell or bellowing at them.

The front wheel has a 20-spoke radial spoking which maintains decent lateral stiffness, and the wheels feels robust and strong when cornering at speed. At the rear Halo has created a 2:1 ratio of 16/8 to maintain lateral stiffness evenly across the wheel, given the additional pressure placed on the drive side because of the cassette reducing the angle of the spokes. Both are set on attractive looking anodised red nipples at the rim, giving them a high quality and pleasing look.

With the front wheel coming in at 673g and the rear at 899g, it gives the wheels a 1573g total weight (with tape but without tubes or skewers), which is fairly impressive for a set of sub-£300 wheels. This weight helps not only with acceleration but also in the hills, where although you might not fly up like Froomey, you shouldn't find your legs burning unnecessarily.

The Halos also come tubeless-ready and taped so you can ditch your inner tubes if that's your preference. I used them as clinchers with Continental Gatorskin tyres, which I struggled to fit given the width of the rims. It also led to the only issue that I had with them, which was that the rim tape – needed so the wheels are ready for tubeless tyres – shifted as I was trying to force the tyre on. That resulted in a spoke through my tube, although after stripping off the tape and replacing it with a more hardwearing version, I had no more problems.

>> Check out our guide to upgrading your wheels here

With an RRP of £298.98, the Halos are a really good value wheelset offering impressive stiffness, durability and comfort. They perform at a level higher than many would expect at this price point.

Overall, I was very impressed with this wheelset. Despite the issues with the tape and the initial difficulty in fitting clinchers, once out on the road there is little not to like. They spin up well, they're very durable and are relatively light, making them a great option for a low-budget upgrade or winter training wheels.

Verdict

Great sub-£300 wheels, ideal for winter training