Aero rims or light weight for gravel

[wheelsONfire]

I am looking at a custom 650B wheelset for gravel riding.
I constantly hear how great Nox rims are, among the stiffer and more durable.
With this in mind, these rims (Skyline 275) are fairly shallow at 22mm (weight 335g).
Boyd also released Jocassee which are 36mm deep (430g) while width of both rims are quite close.

I am unsure the 100g extra for the aero future of Jocassee is of any gain?

Any opinions worth considering from you guys?

[RussellS]

I'll give an opinion. I believe in the aero philosophy. Aero makes you faster. And with weight, once you get it up to speed, its immaterial. It takes the exact same power/force to keep a 2 pound wheel and 20 pound bike at a constant speed as it does a 1 pound wheel and 15 pound bike. But your rims are 22mm shallow rectangular and 36mm slight V rims. Probably not much difference in real world aeroness. Couple seconds over a century? And on gravel you are bouncing all over the road anyway so not sure aeroness really applies that much. Or at least not the aeroness of the wheels. Aeroness of the body of the rider still applies. I doubt it makes much difference either way. 190 gram weight difference. Might be more fun to ride and sprint with the lighter wheels. Maybe. About the only thing I am positive about is the heavier 36mm wheels will be much stronger than the shallow light rims. Rim strength may be something you want to consider on gravel roads.

[justaute]

The only one I'm aware of, through a friend, is Enve M50. They are light and have a rim depth of 28mm, but pricey. I do have a set of wheels with Nox Farlow 650b rims, which I really like; though, as they are my mtb wheels, so I can't provide any feedback on gravel.

Another brand I'm exploring is Nobl, a Canadian company that has gained some pretty good reputation. The model is TR33. Its rim depth is only 23mm. Also, the mtb forum I visit seems to speak quite positively about Nextie, a Chinese company. It has options around ~28mm depth.

[jemima]

If you're fairly lightweight and will be running the pressures at around 50psi max, I'd suggest having a look at the new 650b rim from LightBicycle (around 280gm). Build up with cx-ray and something like Carbon-ti hubs.

Looking at under 1200gm.

i.e. I'd just go lightweight, over aero, for a gravelbike.

Recently purchased an alu 650b wheelset from R2; 1315gm, for around a grand. Light enough for me.

[wheelsONfire]

Thanks for suggestions.

The latest aero-tests i have seen consindering wheel/tire combo, shows the rims should be as wide, or rather wider than the tire.
This would seem rather impossible using a gravel/ mtb tire.
No matter how we look at it, what's facing the wind, will be the wider knobbed tire.

What i got stuck on talking Nox, is the layup.
If not for that, i could easily go for Nextie or i have also seen an Italian company selling "their own" rims and ready built wheelsets.
Soul Kozak Magnetic hubs and Carbon Ti with Ultra low weights, and costing less than half of a Enve build and much less than a Nox build.

As always with carbon composites, we have really very little insight to what we buy.
Much more easy with Ti, Al or steel. Carbon is pretty much a mix of ingredients and what we do with it.

Anyway, i currently ride Ryde trace 22 based wheels (Rim is only 335 gram).
This is super light alu rims, so it's just as light as Nox (probably much less stiff), but nox is a wider rim (externally).