I was ALWAYS going to spec my Quick Pro ER:One with Chinese carbon wheels, it was just a matter of which brand and how deep! In the end, deciding on wheels and tyres for my “Chinese Bike Build” was pretty straightforward. I’ve got some experience with Chinese wheel brands, having already owned multiple sets for my other bikes.

I’ve got ICAN wheels on my Trek 5200, Elite wheels on my rim-brake Aeroad, and FarSports wheels on my Trek Checkpoint gravel bike. All three sets were direct from China and have been 100% faultless over many hours of use and abuse.

Wheelset: ELITE Drive 50D II

In the end, it came down to either ELITE or ICAN wheels. The price difference was only small once shipping and import duties were included (with ICAN being slightly cheaper). The ICAN Aero wheels were also slightly lighter (we’re talking a handful of grams) but were an older design. The ELITE Drive II wheels have recently been updated to a more modern design with a wider internal rim.

Older model ELITE Drive 40D (rim-brake) wheels on my Canyon Aeroad

The claimed weight was only 1300 grams for the 50mm version! I didn’t bother weighing them on arrival so you’ll just have to take their word on that claim. Elite are also one of the few Chinese wheel brands with published aero testing. A 50mm depth is a good all-rounder and ticks all the boxes. Speaking of boxes…

The delivery driver left my expensive wheelset unattended at the gate!

Tyres: Continental GP5000 30mm clincher tyres, TPU tubes.

What?!?! A WHOPPING 30MM WIDE?!?! Yep, I’m finally going modern (or soft). To me, wider should be heaver and less aero, but all the testing results show wider tyres rolling faster, especially on less than perfect roads. There is a weight penalty of course, roughly 90 grams extra per pair compared to 25mm tyres. The Drive II wheels have a 23mm internal width optimised for 30mm tyres.

Why not tubeless? Well, I actually ordered the wrong tyres by mistake! I did intend of purchasing the tubeless-ready GP5000 tyres, but must have clicked on clinchers instead when adding to cart. They’ll do for now, but I’ll likely go tubeless next time.