Modern-looking wheelset for riders who like big tyres

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Halo’s new Evaura RD2 wheels are designed to appeal to riders who prefer larger-volume tyres. They’re intended for use with modern road bike tyres from 25mm to 35mm in width.

Their glossy tubeless-ready rims with black-on-black graphics are described as Stealth Black Anodised and have a strikingly modern look.

The Evauras’ dimensions continue the modern theme. The shallow T10 Nobium heat-treated alloy rims boast a 19mm internal width and are just 22mm tall.

Halo gives a 100kg recommended maximum rider weight for the wheels.

Both front and rear rims have 24 J-bend, double-butted, black, stainless-steel spokes with black brass nipples.

They’re laced in Halo’s 16/8E pattern, with 16 spokes, crossed twice, on one side, and eight spokes, crossed once, on the other, meeting the rim in a 2:1 arrangement.

The Halo RD2 front and RD2 Supadrive rear hubs have generously sized, well-spaced flanges, sealed bearings and Center Lock disc rotor fittings.

The Supadrive freehub includes a 120-point pick-up, which minimises the transition time from freewheeling to engaging the drivetrain.

It’s available for Shimano HG, SRAM XDR and Campagnolo users, all at no extra cost.

A front dynamo hub option is also available.

Supplied with tubeless tape already installed, the wheelset’s weight, including the tape and 12mm thru-axle end caps is 771g front and 917g rear, for a 1,688g total.

For alloy wheels with modern internal dimensions, this is quite respectable.

Tyre fitting was thankfully a simple process.

A pair of 26mm tyres slipped into place without wrecking my thumbs, and then inflated first time with a track pump. With sealant added, they retained pressure well, and were leak-free after the first ride.

Their internal width spread these tyres out to a useful 27.5mm, allowing them to be run with a little less pressure.

This complemented the RD2’s in-built compliance because, when spoke tension allows, a shallow rim will be more inclined to flex in the vertical plane.

With larger tyres fitted, this would have been harder to feel, so I kept the tyre volume down, but still found the ride quality better than average over my usual broken roads.

The most obvious trait of the RD2s is how smoothly and quickly they seem to roll, due largely to their hubs.

This is countered by the fairly high-pitched buzz of the Supadrive freehub, which is a soprano to the tenor notes produced by the majority of freehubs. I learned to live with it, but it’s an acquired taste.

Halo has created a modern, attractive-looking wheelset with the Evaura RD2, but the noisy freehub will put off some potential buyers.

As a wheelset that aims to offer plenty of compliance, you might expect it to feel a bit sloppy. Yet, on the contrary, the RD2 responded keenly to accelerations and felt positive, if not fast, when climbing.

These wheels are quick enough to produce a decent sprint, with little lateral deflection, and can sustain speed over lightly rolling terrain pretty well.

They slow quickly on longer climbs, though, favouring lower-gear spinning to muscular heaving.

Robin Wilmott is a freelance writer and bike tester. He began road cycling in 1988 and, with mountain bikes in their infancy, mixed experimental off-road adventures with club time trials and road races. Cyclocross soon became a winter staple and has remained Robin's favourite form of competition. Robin has always loved the technical aspect of building and maintaining bikes, and several years working in a bike shop only amplified that. Robin was a technical writer for BikeRadar for nearly a decade, and has tested hundreds of bikes and products for the site. He has also written extensively for Cycling Plus, Velonews and Cyclingnews.

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