RSP Calavera Carbon CC35 Wheelset

On the whole the RSP Calavera CC35 Carbon wheelset has plenty of things going for it. The wheels are a decent weight, offer a comfortable ride and their price makes them accessible to plenty of riders, but the build quality was a bit disappointing – something that needs addressing before they are shipped.

• Pros: Smooth ride quality, great braking surface
• Cons: Irritating freehub buzz, out of true straight out of the box

Let's kick off with the positives. Priced at £809 for the pair, they are some of the cheapest carbon fibre wheels we've tested and they come with a weight of just 1,510g. As a result they're responsive, especially with the rear freehub having a 150 point mechanism – which means that the pawls can engage drive in just 2.4 degrees of rotation.

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Climbing is taken care of efficiently thanks to plenty of lateral stiffness in the rims, and I had no issues with brake rub or anything when really pushing hard up the hills or under heavy acceleration, which I was pleasantly surprised with. They're way stiffer than the AERA AR55 wheels I tested previously.

The braking surface was very good in the dry, offering plenty of stopping power when paired with a set of carbon-specific pads, and I didn't get any squeal either. Braking in the wet is always a bit of a lottery, but I wouldn't say that the Calaveras struggled any more than most alloy sets I've been riding lately.

As you can probably guess by their name, the rims are 35mm deep and use a wide, U-shaped profile. You get a little bit of an aero advantage over a box section rim once the speeds increase above about 23mph, but not by a massive amount. It's a good compromise, though, for speed versus handling in crosswinds.

On the whole, out on the road they feel pretty efficient and durable enough for a bit of cyclo-cross and light gravel riding.

The downsides, though.

I'd be a little bit miffed if I'd just blown 800 quid on some shiny new wheels and as soon as I put them on the bike realised that both the front and rear were at least a millimetre out of true; it's just not something I'm used to seeing when test wheels turn up.

After fitting the tyres (which was simple and easy) and heading out for a quick shakedown ride, I was met with about half a kilometre of pinging coming from the spokes as they settled. This left the rear around 2mm out of true and I'd barely left the estate.

Since that settling in period they haven't got any worse, so if you are a confident home mechanic then a quick fettle and they should remain good and straight.

The wheels are tubeless-ready: I used them with Panaracer Race C Evo Classics in a tubed setup, and I fitted the Pirelli Cinturatos as tubeless. Both went on fine and I could fit them with just thumb pressure.

Another thing I learnt on that shakedown ride was that the freehub could/will drive you insane every time you stop pedalling. All of those engagement points mean that freewheeling sounds like a bluebottle trapped in a jam jar, especially when the speed increases.

The actual components used in the build seem to be decent quality.

The Chosen hubs use sealed bearings and seem to spin without much in the way of resistance.

Spoking-wise, RSP has gone with 20 double-butted stainless steel ones laced in a radial pattern up front, with the rear using 24, radial on the non-drive side and two-cross on the drive to cope with the loads. They are attached to the rim via brass nipples.

As standard the CC35s come with a Shimano/SRAM freehub, although you can get hold of a Campagnolo option if you need it and swap them over.

The body itself is anodised aluminium and removing the cassette after 500 miles sees a little indentation from the cassette biting in but nothing that would worry me; I've seen much softer in my time.

> The pros and cons of carbon fibre wheels

Value-wise, they stand up well against the likes of the BORG50C carbon clinchers, which are available without the tubeless tyres for £800. Their weight is a claimed 1,670g bare, which is a fair bit heavier than the CC35s.

Liam really liked the Prime BlackEdition 50 carbon wheels when he tested them, and the RSPs do pretty well here too: slightly lighter but nearly £300 cheaper.

> Buyer's Guide: 34 of the best road bike wheels

Overall, if it wasn't for the trueness issues straight out of the box, these wheels could have scored higher as their performance is promising.

Verdict

Initial truing issues aside, the CC35s make a very competent set of carbon wheels