Dura-Ace WH-9000-C75 Tubular Wheelset Information

The Shimano Dura-Ace WH-9000-C75 Tubular Wheelset are not for every day. They are a serious set of aero wheels, which will probably not be what you’ll need to kick ass on your Saturday morning group ride. But if you are committed to your triathlons or you have a particularly important event that requires trotting out the big guns in aero performance, then the C75 tubulars should be high on your list of essential gear.

Shimano is dedicated to creating the best wheels possible, which is one reason why every step of the design and manufacture of their hoops is done in house. Their aero wheels, in particular, are a result of hours of wind tunnel testing. Their D2 rim is great evidence of their efforts. It is a rim shape that performs well across a wide range of wind conditions. They have managed that by creating a smoother profile of the rim relative to the direction of the wind. Your first ride in a spring wind storm, you’ll immediately notice the difference. The steering control is so much better, you won’t be wrestling your handlebars or even concerned by the concussion of a passing bus. These rims reduce the drag in a wider range of yaw angles, which keeps the set up much more stable in cross-winds.

Modern drive trains, the spacing of gearing and 11 speed cassettes are placing an unbalanced tension on the rear wheel. Shimano’s answer to that problem is their OptBal 2:1 spoke lacing on the rear wheel. What it stands for is “optimal balance” since the 21-spoke rear wheel is laced with fourteen drive-side spokes and seven non-drive side spokes. The drive side is laced in a three-cross pattern, designed to match the hub flange perfectly. The seven non-drive side are then radially-laced, which means that they pull twice as hard versus the drive side spokes. Balancing the tension in this way increases lateral stiffness, which makes this 21-spoke wheel as effective as a 28-spoke wheel. Then with sixteen radially-laced spokes on the front these are very light and responsive wheels. The nipples are internal on the C75s in order to maintain a fluid appearance but more importantly for taking aerodynamics as far as possible. After taking so much trouble reducing the drag of the rim, they couldn’t very well negate all that hard work by leaving the nipples exposed to the wind. 

To work with this set up, Shimano has also developed their extra-wide flange hub. This baby is even wider than the wide flange hubs they are using for the 9000-C24 wheels. It increases the triangulation base between the two hub flanges and the rim, thus maximizing lateral rigidity, something that is particularly important when you’re talking about the power you’ll be putting down using these in a time trial or at Ironman. You’ll also get the benefit of Shimano’s hubs that use the angular contact ball bearings and are designed to roll as smoothly as possible, largely by virtue of the way the bearings interact with the races. The oversized A7075 alloy axles are super stiff, increasing the overall rigidity of the wheels. The more rigid, the more responsive they are going to feel. The freehub body is made from lightweight titanium. Compatible with Shimano and SRAM 11-speed systems, Shimano has also included a thin spacer so the wheels can still run with 8/9/10-speed cassettes. The C75s have a three year manufacture warranty.

The Shimano Dura-Ace WH-9000-C75 Tubular Wheelset come with a set of Shimano carbon specific pads, the R55c4 carbon. You are strongly recommended to use only Shimano's own carbon-specific brake pads for Shimano carbon wheels. You’ll get much better braking results, and using any other pads will void the warranty.