Miche Syntium DX Disc Wheels

Miche creates components in certain ranges, with Syntium – which these DX Disc Wheels are part of – sitting at the upper end of the catalogue, hence the £459.99 price tag. They are the Italian company's flagship aluminium disc wheelset and they're solid all-rounders, offering strong build quality with an acceptable weight, but they do look pricey compared with the competition.

• Pros: Well built, stiff
• Cons: Pricey against some of the competition, narrow rim width won't suit those who like to run wider tyres

At 1,650g on the road.cc Scales of Truth, these aren't the lightest wheels we've tested at this price point, but out on the road they feel responsive when you accelerate or start ascending a steep climb. The pawl engagement inside the freehub is rapid, too, so drive is engaged instantly, which you notice after track standing at the lights or in a line of traffic.

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Miche aims the Syntiums at racing or endurance, and these characteristics help to give you what is basically a very quick set of wheels that are fun to ride.

Rim width is quite narrow for what is a pretty new wheel design, measuring just 20mm across the outer faces with an internal width of just 15mm. Hunt's 4 Season wheels, for example, are 24mm outer and 19mm inner. A lot of riders are going with tyres of 28mm plus for road use, and a wider rim bed works better with these, giving a smooth transition from wheel and tyre. They can often stretch the tyre's width out a touch too.

The Syntiums worked fine with both 25mm and 28mm tyres (the website actually states 23mm to 28mm), and I'd say that is plenty wide enough given their speedy performance criteria, although you may prefer wider.

The rims have quite a boxy profile and are just 24mm deep, so if you want aerodynamic assistance, look elsewhere. Both front and rear use an offset rim bed to even out the dishing angle of the spokes on each side of the wheel.

Ever deeper cassettes have really reduced the angle of the spokes from hub to rim so they are virtually vertical compared to that of the non-drive side, so by offsetting where the spokes sit on the rim you can increase the angle to create a stronger wheel.

It's similar on the front wheel, but to offset that of the brake rotor side of the hub.

The Syntiums use 24 spokes front and rear with a radial/two-cross setup and that is pretty much the norm on wheels of this type.

The spoke tension feels tight throughout and this is a very stiff set of wheels – out-of-the-saddle efforts didn't show up any lateral flex.

The hubs run smoothly, especially once they've bedded in, and you get a reassuring click from the freehub when you let the bike roll. Any play can be adjusted on the rear hub by way of the adjustment collar. The only downside to this is that its outer diameter makes it impossible to fit a standard lockring to the Centerlock rotor mount. You'll need to get something like Shimano's SM-HB20 lockring, which instead of having the teeth on the inside has them on the outside and is tightened using Shimano's bottom bracket tool. It's a bit of a faff, and they cost about a tenner each.

You can get the Syntiums in either a Shimano/SRAM fitment or Campagnolo.

Both the front and rear come set up for 12mm thru-axles, although our wheels here have the optional quick release adaptor fitted to the rear wheel, which will work for a few bikes, as we see quite a few that are running QRs at the rear with thru-axles up at the front.

Tyres fitted fine with no need to apply anything more than thumb pressure, and rim tapes are included. If you want to go tubeless you'll need to add a proper tape to seal the bed.

When it comes to value, you can't talk about price of a good quality alloy rimmed disc wheel without mentioning Hunt. Its wheels offer decent weights, great build quality and impressive pricing.

Hunt's 4 Season Aeros are slightly deeper rimmed at 27mm and, as I mentioned earlier, are 24mm wide yet they still manage to be around 80g lighter but, more importantly, are £140 cheaper.

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The similar weight Fulcrum Racing 5 DB wheelset is more expensive than the Hunt set but is still £110 cheaper than the Miche pair.

It's this pricing that I'd say is the real thorn in the Syntiums' side as they are very good wheels. Performance is great, reliability feels top notch and they are really well put together so you are getting what you are paying for, but there are cheaper options out there.

Verdict

Solid wheels that offer plenty of performance but at a fairly hefty price