Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset review

The Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset, alongside its deeper RD 50 and RD 62 siblings, was said to mark the return of the Italian components brand to the wheelset big league.

A glance at the spec list puts it on a par with many road wheelsets of a similar price, while the presence of Toray T1000 carbon, titanium freehub internals and ceramic bearings developed with CeramicSpeed will attract attention.

On the road, the Kleos RD 36 wheelset puts in a commendable performance and I’ve enjoyed using it.

That said, I’m not convinced that the premium spec choices add up to much of a discernible performance difference compared to some of the best road bike wheels.

Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset details and specifications

The Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset is the shallowest of Miche’s flagship carbon range (at, naturally enough, 36mm deep).

The brand says it’s designed to excel when climbing, while the mid-depth Kleos RD 50 is pitched as the all-rounder, while the Kleos RD 62 is built for fast, flat riding.

The RD 36 tested here has a contemporary 21mm internal rim width (as does the RD 50). As a point of note, the deepest RD 62 wheelset is 23mm wide internally.

Externally, the RD 36 flares out to 29.4mm, tallying with Miche’s claim that a 700 x 28c tyre is the optimal choice for aerodynamic purposes.

Miche says the rim is made using a blend of Toray T700 and T1000 carbon – T1000 is considered to be high-modulus, and is said to improve the rim’s stiffness-to-weight ratio.

The rims have a hooked design, meaning you can run a clincher tyre should you wish, but the wheels come set up tubeless-ready from Miche’s factory, with valves installed (this is an optional extra on the much cheaper alloy Miche Syntium Aero wheelset).

Miche has used a traditional drilling process for the spoke nipple holes, with 7075 T6 aluminium nipples installed. These attach to bladed, straight-pull stainless steel spokes (manufactured by Sapim to Miche’s design), which are laced in a standard 2:1 pattern.

The hub shells are also made of 7075 T6 aluminium and house a titanium pawl carrier intended to save weight while boosting durability.

The freehub system engages using three pawls on a 30-tooth ring, delivering a 12-degree engagement angle.

Ceramic bearings, developed with specialists CeramicSpeed, are used. Miche calls the tech RR-C (Racing Replica Ceramic) – these are double-sealed, which the brand claims creates smoother-spinning, longer-lasting bearings.

The hubs also feature preload adjustment, ostensibly for the same purposes, while the front hub has a small fairing (called ‘Aero Blade’). This shields the spokes from the air, which Miche claims offers a small aerodynamic benefit at low yaw angles.

The preload adjuster on the rear wheel necessitates the use of an externally threaded lockring (like the Syntium Aero alloy wheelset). The happy difference here is that the lockring is supplied by Miche, although you’ll still need to invest in a tool (such as a Shimano TL-FC32 bottom bracket spanner), if you don’t already have one.

Miche says it carried out wind tunnel testing in the development of the Kleos RD (and underpinning Kleos) wheelsets, but hasn’t published any data from that testing.

The Miche Kleos RD is claimed to weigh 1,390g, not including the tubeless setup (which is said to add a further 20g). On my scales, the wheelset, with the tubeless tape and valves installed, weighed 1,462g with a Shimano HG freehub body.

It’s worth noting that Miche says the wheelset I had is a pre-production sample and might be “a few grams” heavier than the wheelset consumers will buy – although it’s fair to say 52g is a chunk more than “a few”.

The brand also says there’s a +/- 3 per cent leeway in its claimed weights, but at best this tops out at 1,441.4g with the tubeless kit installed – still 21.6g more than advertised.

The Kleos RD 36 wheelset costs £1,699 / €2,349 – this upper-mid price point is fairly well saturated in 2024. Wheelsets at around this price include the impressive Roval Rapide CL II (£1,500 / $1,750 / €1,800, 1,578g), ENVE Foundation 45 (£1,800 / $1,400 / €1,800, 1,578g) and Hunt 48 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Disc (£1,449 / $1,669 / €1,889, 1,558g), to name a few.

These wheelsets’ natural competitor (for rim depth) would be the deeper Kleos RD 50. The Hunt 32 Limitless UD Carbon Spoke Disc wheelset is a closer match in this regard (but cheaper at £1,399 / $1,729), while the Fulcrum Speed 25 is even shallower (albeit priced at £2,000 / €2,275).

Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset performance

The tubeless kit was installed neatly – as one would hope – and I was able to set up my 700 x 28c Continental GP5000 AS TR tyres with little trouble.

In many respects, the Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset behaves exactly as you might expect.

The shallow(ish) depth makes it stable in crosswinds, while a 36mm-deep rim is still more than enough to be able to deliver a greater sense of speed when riding on flat roads (compared to something such as the climbing-focused Fulcrum Speed 25).

It’s stiff enough to absorb my maximal efforts over rises in the road without yielding, yet the construction feels well put-together – solid, but able to deal decently well with the usual road buzz and bumps.

As an 80kg-plus rider, for whom a few grams makes little or no difference to average ride speeds, I occasionally found myself wishing I was riding the deeper RD 50 model instead – but this is a conundrum all riders need to engage with when choosing their next wheel upgrade.

On climbs where sustained efforts were needed, I was impressed by the RD 36’s ability to feel light, agile and efficient. Faced with a descent, the wheels gave a composed performance.

That said, the pickup speed from the freehub didn’t feel quite as rapid as I’ve felt with other wheelsets with lower engagement angles.

This is mainly noticeable when you’re moving at a fair speed (around 30kph or so) before putting the hammer down, and then if you happen to pause pedalling before picking up the effort again.

In both situations, I occasionally felt my legs moved quickly through the unengaged portion of the pedal stroke before the freehub locked into place and drove me forward. The effect is a ‘slamming’ sensation as the freehub engages, which wasn’t enjoyable.

Of course, the difference between a 12-degree engagement angle and, for example, 9.5 degrees (as seen with Hunt’s Sprint SLC freehub), is small and makes zero difference once you’re engaged and driving forward.

I’m also unconvinced that ceramic bearings (or the titanium pawl carrier) make a noticeable difference to the overall performance.

The inference for ceramic bearings, especially, is very low rolling resistance (left to spin down on a bike stand without interference, they’ll spin freely for longer), but I couldn’t notice the difference on the road.

There are many factors at play here, and ceramic bearings have more than reduced rolling resistance in their list of purported benefits. But, based on my experience here from limited testing time, I can’t see what value they’re adding – aside from, possibly, to the price tag.

In essence, I’m left with the impression that some of the specs might have been chosen for their on-paper appeal, rather than any tangible performance benefit.

Miche Kleos RD 36 wheelset bottom line

There’s no question that the Miche Kleos RD 36 is a good high-performance wheelset.

In a crowded market, where it’s arguably very difficult to stand out, there’s little reason to discount this wheelset from your shortlist. The trouble is, much the same can be said for a great number of the best wheelsets.

Premium materials and component choices would appear to justify the price tag, but it’s hard to know if they’re having such a positive effect when it comes to real-world experience.

Pitted against wheelsets with steel bearings, non-titanium freehub internals and less exotic carbon, many can offer similar overall performance for less money.

As a result, the Miche Kleos RD 36 is an eye-catching wheelset, but could flatter to deceive.