The new Dura-Ace wheels are here
Shimano has replaced its whole Dura-Ace wheel range. The new series is called WH-R9370, and the C50 is on the display stand in the shop now.
This is the first Dura-Ace wheel update in five years, and it is a bigger change than the model number suggests. Here is what changed, what it means once the wheels are on a bike, and where the trade-offs are.
What actually changed
Carbon spokes. This is the headline. The steel spokes are gone, replaced by flat carbon spokes (4.0 × 1.1 mm). That is where most of the weight saving comes from: the C50 set drops to 1,302g, 159g less than the previous C50. The C60 drops 220g. On the road, lighter spokes show up as a wheel that comes up to speed with less effort, which you notice most on rolling terrain and on repeated accelerations out of corners.
A wider rim, built for 28–30C tyres. Internal width goes from 21mm to 23mm. Shimano designed the rim around 28 to 30mm tyres, which is where most road riding has landed anyway. A 28mm tyre on a 23mm rim sits in a rounder, more supported shape than it did on the old rim, so you can run lower pressure without the tyre squirming. On the coarse asphalt and expansion joints of the riverside paths, that is the difference you feel first.
Front- and rear-specific rim shapes. The front rim is slightly narrower on the outside than the rear (31mm vs 32mm on the C50). The front wheel is the one that gets pushed around by crosswinds, so Shimano shaped it for stability; the rear, sitting behind your legs and the frame, is shaped for drag. Shimano's own figure is up to 2.7 watts less drag than the previous generation at 48 km/h on 30mm tyres. That is a small number, and Shimano says so; the point is that the rim got wider without giving anything back.
The hubs stayed the same, on purpose. Shimano kept its cup-and-cone bearings instead of switching to cartridge bearings. Cup-and-cone hubs can be adjusted and serviced with basic tools, and this generation adds replaceable bearing cups and better seals. That matters here: Korean summers are wet, and a hub you can open, clean, re-grease and adjust is a hub that lasts. We service these in the shop, and service is free on anything you buy from us.
The rest. Hooked tubeless rims, Center Lock disc mounts, 12mm E-Thru axles, and Shimano's Direct Engagement freehub for the rear wheel.
The range
Three wheelsets, plus two specialist wheels.
Weights and dimensions are Shimano's published figures. "Lighter than before" compares with the previous WH-R9270 model of the same depth. The C50 is on the display stand at Platoon Cycles; C36 and C60 are available to order.
In the shop now
The C50 wheelset is on the floor.
Dura-Ace C50 WH-R9370 — ₩3,950,000
To mark the launch, every C50 wheelset comes with two Pirelli P Zero RS tyres (₩145,000 each) included. That is the tyre size the rim was designed around, so you leave with the wheels set up the way Shimano intended.
The C36 and C60 are available to order. Come and look at the C50, put it next to your bike, and we can talk through which depth fits the way you ride.
Platoon Cycles
157, Paengseongdaegyo-gil, Paengseong-eup, Pyeongtaek-si
070-8845-7351
Open daily — walk in any time, or message us before you come.
