DT Swiss has added a new 38mm depth rim to its ARC Dicut aero road wheel range. Previously available in 50mm, 62mm and 80mm depths, it calls the new, shallower wheel the ultimate climbing wheel, with a claimed weight of 1,292 grams. That’s 180g less than its next-lightest ARC 1100 Dicut 50.
DT says that it’s had to hit the balance between aero and low weight. A shallow rim will weigh less but be less aero, while a deeper rim will be more aero but heavier.
It settled on the 38mm depth, hooked bead rim as it’s still aero-efficient while allowing the weight of the top-spec wheels to drop below 1,300g. The brand had to develop a new carbon lay-up to meet its design objectives for the wheels and hit the weight sweet spot.
At low yaw angles, DT Swiss’s testing shows that the new 38mm depth has close to the aero performance of the deeper Dicut 50 wheels. It’s only at higher yaw angles that there’s a few watts difference in drag, due to the sail effect acting on the deeper rims.
We took ten wheelsets to the Silverstone wind tunnel last year, with the 62mm deep ARC 1100 Dicut wheels the most aero in our own tests.
DT has also tested its wheels against the competition from the likes of Enve, Hunt, Lightweight and Fulcrum, concluding that the wheels with the lowest weights had the highest drag, with the Dicut 38s coming out with the lowest weighted drag of the seven wheelsets tested. All wheels were tested with a Continental GP5000S 25mm TR tyre, according to the attached press release.
Hub options, weights and pricing
The new ARC 38 rim is available on two different hubs, the DT 180 hub, designated ARC 1100 Dicut 38 and priced at £2,499.98 / $2,999.80 / €2,499.80 and the DT 240 hub, designated ARC 1400 Dicut 38 and costing £1,864.98 / $2,399.80 / €2,049.80.
Both the 180 and 240 Dicut hubs have a 36-tooth Ratchet EXP freehub and are available with Shimano and SRAM XDR freehubs. There's no Campagnolo option.
The wheels differ in the hub shell design and the spokes used. While the claimed weight for the ARC 1100 Dicut 38 is 1,292g, for the ARC 1400 Dicut 38 wheels, weight increases to 1,361g.
The new wheels have already seen action under the Tudor Pro Cycling and Uno-X Mobility pro teams.
According to Tudor Pro Cycling’s Michael Storer, who used the new wheels at the 2024 Giro d’Italia: “The difference in weight is immediately noticeable, especially on the steep climbs such as the Mortirolo. I also feel very stable and secure on the wheels which helped me have confidence on fast descents.”
