British cycling wheel brand Parcours unveil their fastest ever wheelset options, developed following a ground-breaking research project in association with Nottingham Trent University and Dr Steve Faulkner.
The brand new range is designed using Parcours #thinkwider principles, developed using scientific data from a detailed study of wind speed and direction.
Offering a fusion of speed and stability, the new Chrono wheelset (68.6mm front, 75.7mm rear) is an extremely versatile race day wheelset option for triathletes, time trialists, or road racers.
Maintaining the class-leading aerodynamics of the previous generation wheelset, the new Chrono offers an improvement of over 17% in way of crosswind stability when compared with the previous iteration, achieved thanks to #thinkwider technology.
Aerodynamically optimised around a 28mm tyre, the Chrono wheelset is also tubeless-ready and disc-brake specific to accompany a wider rim profile.
Offering maximum aerodynamic benefit while maintaining handling stability, the Chrono Max (83.6mm deep), is Parcours’ fastest ever front wheel.
Developed specifically for a 28mm tyre, the Chrono Max is also tubeless-ready and disc-brake specific. Saving over 4W versus Parcours’ previous generation front wheel, the Chrono Max handles like a shallower rim profile thanks to the #thinkwider technology, allowing it to maintain the handling stability of the older 77mm model, despite the extra rim depth and increased straight-line speed.
This makes it the perfect option for the athlete seeking outright performance and speed, without compromise.
Parcours also launch the first full carbon rear disc wheel to be truly optimised for wide tyres, the new Disc2. With an internal rim width of 22.5mm, the Disc2 rear wheel can also be run with a tyre up to 30mm wide with no aerodynamic penalty. The Disc2 saves over 120g in weight over the previous Parcours disc wheel, making it the ideal choice for riders wanting to maximise their aerodynamic advantage.
All three models have been designed from the ground up using #thinkwider technology, developed following the results of an in-depth scientific study carried out by Parcours in association with the Sports Engineering department at Nottingham Trent University and Dr Steve Faulkner.
This revolutionary research showed that the Real World Yaw angles – the angle between a cyclist’s direction of motion and the relative wind vector – experienced by the front and rear wheel are consistently different by an average of 1.5 degrees, giving rise to the engineering of differential profiles for the front/rear rims.
The front, U-shaped, blunt rim design provides optimal aerodynamics at the higher yaw angles observed at the front wheel while having the added benefit of enhancing cross-wind stability. The rear, V-shaped, sharper rim profile is used to optimise aerodynamics at the lower yaw angles it would experience.
Dov Tate, the founder of Parcours, said “We’re really excited to be launching our new Chrono, Chrono Max and Disc2 wheel lineups, bringing the fastest wheels we’ve ever ridden to market.
This is the culmination of our biggest and most in-depth development project to date, bringing together a number of partnerships with leading names in both the academic and athletic worlds. We can’t wait to see how our riders get on this week in Kona on our #thinkwider wheels”
The new range is already tried and tested in elite-level racing, with the Parcours athlete roster helping to provide feedback on the prototype models throughout the 2022 season.
Parcours athlete and long-distance professional triathlete from New Zealand, Kyle Smith, was the first rider into T2 at the IRONMAN World Championships in St. George, Utah, riding the new Chrono Max and Disc2.
Kyle said “The new wheels have been absolutely amazing. The width of the rims makes the ride super smooth and comfortable.
Paired with a set of 28mm GP5000’s Tubeless, it makes the ride seamless. The confidence I have in them is unbeatable. I know I’m riding on the fastest wheels and that’s an amazing feeling.
It’s an amazing thing to be able to trust the wheels when you rack them in transition too. Knowing that the build quality on the wheels, Tubeless tyres and Ceramic bearings is so good, it’s one thing I don’t need to worry about failing when I get out onto the bike.”
To find out more about the #thinkwider project, please visit: https://www.parcours.cc/pages/thinkwider
And for more information about the full range of Parcours wheels, please visit www.parcours.cc.