Miche Kleos RD 50mm Tubeless Wheelset

At first glance, nothing particularly stands out about the Miche Kleos RD 50 wheelset, for the money, but both their ride and build quality mean you are going to be impressed with your purchase. Especially when you include the four-year warranty.

Buy now: Miche Kleos RD 50 wheelset for £1,699 from Chicken CycleKit

As their name suggests, the Kleos RD 50s use a 50mm-deep carbon fibre rim to bring an aero advantage to your ride while also focusing on lateral stiffness and responsiveness.

At just over 1,500g on our scales (including tubeless rim tape and valves) they aren't by any means in the superlight category, but the weight is low enough for the Kleos to feel nippy under acceleration and on the climbs; they certainly didn't feel like they were holding me back.

Lateral stiffness feels very good, although a little flex is always hard to notice in the real world, and not really a problem anyway on disc-equipped bikes.

Their rounded U-shape rim feels like it cuts through the air well and I never had an issue when riding with strong crosswinds. On windy days I could feel the handlebar reacting to the slight pressure on the side of the rims, especially when passing a gateway in a hedge or something, but the front end of the bike was never twitchy.

The ride quality of the Kleos RD 50s feels very good. When riding many different wheels with the same tyres fitted, I can detect very slight differences between them. Some can be buzzy and a bit harsh, some have a smooth, solid sort of feel to them. The Kleos 50s have the latter.

The build quality also looks and feels top notch, boosted by Miche offering a four-year warranty once you've registered them. Trueness was spot on when they arrived, and they'll be going back in the same condition. Hitting the odd pothole and being used on rough roads has caused no ill effects.

The wheels are designed and manufactured at Miche's factory in Italy, and come with a 109kg (rider + bike) weight limit.

The rims are constructed from a mixture of carbon fibre grades, Toray T1000 and T700, and I'm pleased to say that Miche has stayed with a hooked lip to seat the tyre, giving you the option to run tubed clincher style tyres as well as tubeless. Also, if you do want to run your tyres above the 73psi hookless limit then you can.

The Kleos have an inner width of 21mm which Miche says makes them optimised for 28mm tyres. I tried them with 25mm, 28mm and 30mm tyres from various brands and they all fitted with relative ease. I needed to use a lever to pop the last bit of the tyre on, on all three, but each sealed with a track pump alone, or a bit of a blast from an Airshot.

The hubs are constructed from Ergal 7075 T6 aluminium alloy and are spinning on bearings using RR-C (Racing Replica Ceramic) technology, which Miche says is something created in collaboration with CeramicSpeed – double-shield ceramic bearings to be precise. The wheels spin very smoothly and after what has been a pretty damp June and July, everything remains the same.

The hubs allow for plenty of adjustment to keep things spinning just as smoothly as they should be.

The freehub is available in Shimano HG, SRAM XDR and Campagnolo (Classic & N3W) options and use a three-pawl carrier made from titanium.

The spokes are stainless steel, double butted and with an aero profile. They are laced in a crossed/radial 16+8 configuration front and rear, with aluminium alloy nipples.

Brake rotors are secured by way of Center Lock rather than six-bolt, and the lockrings are also included – not something we see on all wheels these days.

Also included in the box are wheel bags, tubeless tape and valves, plus a cassette lockring.

Value

At £1,699 they are up against some tough competition in terms of price – and weight – though the 'manufactured in Italy' label will demand a premium compared with some brands who use Far Eastern-manufactured components.

Ere Research's Genus II CL45 wheels impressed Matt a lot when he reviewed them at the beginning of the year. They are 5mm shallower than the Miches, but nearly 80g lighter and £300 cheaper. There are no ceramic bearings, though.

Reserve offers its road wheels in a range of rim depths, like the 40/44 I recently reviewed. Their ride quality is very similar to the Kleos and they are great quality. With the cheapest hub on offer, DT Swiss's DT350, they cost £1,799 and weigh a claimed 1,646g.

> Buyer’s Guide: Best road bike wheels

If it's the performance you want but you don't have the budget for these Kleos RDs, you can go for the standard Kleos. They have the same rim depth but use slightly different hubs, and the rim is made from Toray T700, plus the overall weight isn't that different. They are priced at £1,299.

If that's still too steep for you, the recently reviewed Velocite Hyperdrive Carbon wheelset with their 50mm deep rims cost £699 and weigh 1,449g. I am also currently reviewing a set of the Ultra versions with ceramic bearings, which cost £999.

Conclusion

Yes, you can get cheaper and lighter wheels, but Miche hasn't gone for the budget end of the market. These are manufactured in Italy using some top-quality components, all of which is backed up by an impressive warranty, and the build quality and ride quality are both excellent.

Buy now: Miche Kleos RD 50 wheelset for £1,699 from Chicken CycleKit

Verdict

Not the lightest, but a stunning ride quality and a high-end build