DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset review

The DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset tops the pecking order of the brand’s endurance alloy offerings.

A progressively wide rim design is the headline feature, with the ability to support larger tyres, but the wheelset also packs in components you’ll find on the brand’s endurance carbon wheelsets costing more than twice the price.

Ostensibly, the main difference is the rim material and its dimensions – alongside, of course, the price.

It’s justifiable to argue that £850 is a lot to spend on an alloy road bike wheelset when more aerodynamic, faster carbon wheels are available for similar money from other brands.

That said, if you have no interest in chasing aerodynamic gains and can afford it, the ER1400 Dicut wheelset delivers an impressive blend of ride qualities that won’t disappoint.

DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset details and specifications

The DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset packs in much of the brand’s premium componentry, as you’ll find on its performance carbon wheelsets.

Alongside demarcating usage cases (AR for aero, PR for performance, ER for endurance, CR for ‘cross-road’ and GR for gravel, with additional Cs used to point out a carbon rim), DT Swiss splits its wheels into numbered ‘tiers’.

Those carrying 1100 in their nomenclature are assembled using the fastest and lightest parts, 1400 sits below this, while the 1600 and 1800 levels underpin these.

I recently reviewed a DT Swiss AR1600 Spline wheelset, for example, which featured the brand’s 350 hubset. The ER1400 Dicut has a higher-spec 240 EXP hubset, while 1100-numbered models (all of which are carbon-rimmed) have top-tier 180 EXP hubs.

The 240 EXP freehub has 36 teeth on each ratchet ring, offering a 10-degree engagement angle.

At the 240 level, the hubset uses lighter materials than the 350, while ‘EXP’ represents the latest generation of DT Swiss’ star ratchet design. Here, a simplified layout sees a single spring used to ‘push’ one ratchet ring into another fixed ring, rather than the older design, which applied pressure on each ratchet ring via two springs, one on either side.

It’s regarded as a leading design, which premium brands such as Roval buy in to use on their wheels (for example, on its range-topping Rapide CLX carbon wheelset).

As with all of DT Swiss’ wheels, the spokes are also made in-house – Aero Comp at the rear and Aero Lite for the front – attaching to the rim using the brand’s alloy ProLock Squorx Pro Head nipples.

The hooked rims are 25mm deep, but more notably, 22mm wide internally and 26mm externally. This is among the widest available for an alloy rim designed primarily for road use.

This offers ample support for the wider tyres in vogue at the moment – according to the ETRTO, anywhere between 25c and 65c, although DT Swiss recommends topping out at 34c.

The rims come tubeless-ready, taped, with valves supplied in the box. The caps are designed with a built-in valve core remover, turning what is often considered a piece of waste plastic into a useful item.

DT Swiss says the rim is made of a “premium alloy”, which it claims offers an “ideal blend of strength and lightness”. I weighed the entire wheelset at 1,685g, including tubeless valves and rim tape.

This compares favourably to the AR1600 Spline wheelset, at 1,764g (£569.98 / $758 / €599).

That said, the Roval Alpinist SLX wheelset weighs only 1,511g, and costs ‘only’ £760 ($800 / €850) – a remarkable feat considering that wheelset has the heavier 350 hubset, albeit conceding 1mm in depth and 2mm in width at the rim.

There are plenty of brands making carbon wheels at around this price point, of course. The Hunt 54 Aerodynamicist Carbon Disc wheelset is one such option at £869 ($1,179 / €1,069), and offers far more in terms of aerodynamic efficiency, if nothing else.

DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset performance

It’s this extra width at the rim, and the resulting tyre volume, that likely fed the outstanding ride quality I experienced from the ER1400 Dicut wheelset.

Sporting the same 700 x 28c Hutchinson Challenger Tubeless tyres I used for my recent alloy wheelset test, the tyre inflated to a hefty 29.8mm wide at 80psi (5.5 BAR).

Lowering the tyre pressure a little to account for the slightly wider rim, the wheelset felt hugely comfortable, smoothing out road buzz with comparative ease.

I also found the tyre’s slightly widened footprint gave me confidence to turn into bends at speed, underpinned by the tyre compound’s adhesion.

The wheelset tracked very consistently into corners, with a solid, smooth assuredness – a long way from the slightly twitchy, harsh nature of the Roval Alpinist SLX wheelset, and a step up from the AR1600 Spline, which I also hold in high regard in this respect.

It also felt very stiff and efficient when I put in more effort, making it enjoyable to climb on despite a little extra weight versus a couple of rivals (the aforementioned Rovals and the Hunt Aero Wide 34 Disc SL wheelset), and the broad equal of similarly priced carbon wheels.

It’s fair to say wheelset weight will affect an 80kg rider such as myself less than a lighter rider, but even so, around 100g will make little difference to speed in the real world, even on steep gradients.

Of course, the 25mm-deep profile isn’t designed to be particularly aerodynamic, but that’s the case with almost all alloy rims (the Ere Research Explorator GCR40 is a notable exception). I never felt the wheels were particularly draggy compared to their contemporaries, though.

In fact, I’d argue the pursuit of aerodynamics is the only standout reason why you’d want to consider a carbon wheelset as an alternative – Hunt’s 50mm-deep Carbon Aero Disc wheelset sells for £799, for example, and there are others around this price point that are competitive with that option too.

Of course, the Hunt wheels lack the premium DT Swiss hubs and spokes found on the ER1400 Dicut wheels. Likewise, despite modern deep-section rims being far easier to handle than in years past, shallow rims such as these remain far less likely to handle poorly in windy conditions.

DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset bottom line

The DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut wheelset shows what can be achieved with an alloy rim and a collection of smart, high-quality components.

We can't say for sure how much of an advantage it is for DT Swiss to manufacture all of its wheelset’s constituent parts, but recent experience suggests it might confer a certain polish to the overall ride experience.

For this money, some may justifiably be looking towards deeper carbon rims. There are plenty around, and all will offer fundamentally more aerodynamic performance.

That said, for those who don’t care about chasing aero efficiency, or value a premium hubset and materials over simply having a carbon rim, the DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut is every inch a premium alloy wheelset – and one I’d recommend wholeheartedly.