American Classic Road Tubeless wheels review

At a featherweight 1,290g without skewers, the American Classic Road Tubeless wheels are a seriously light pair of hoops and are able to stand toe-to-toe with other lightweight wheels such as the Edco Neggias despite a price-tag that is comfortably below a grand.

The aluminium rims are incredibly light, made all the more impressive by the fact, as their name suggests, that they are tubeless ready — something that often adds weight. For our test we ran them as standard clinchers, but there is no doubting that the total weight could be reduced if a tubeless system was employed.

Thanks in part to outrageously light rims, these wheels spin up super-quick. Other features include a wide 22mm rim width (19mm internal), which allows the tyre to sit wider, improving comfort and handling — 23s sit like a 25mm and 25s sit like 28mm, without adding the extra weight.

The American Classic Road Tubeless wheels are really designed for climbing instead of sprinting, yet the lateral stiffness was still impressive, with no brake rub detected during testing. Rider weight limit is 91kg, confirming these are suited to lighter riders on mountainous days.

Braking is decent in the dry but did not inspire confidence on wet descents. Looks-wise, the graphics are likely to divide opinion. Yes, they are £700 cheaper than the similarly lightweight Mavic R-Sys SLR wheels, but they could be more bling.

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