Bonty Aeolus D3 wheel line opinions

[kgreene10]

I'm looking for opinions on the Bontrager Aeolus D3 wheel line. Mostly, I want to know how the braking has been, so it doesn't really matter which depth wheel.

I'm thinking of getting these through a team deal (i.e., not looking at other brands) for road racing. Most of my racing is on rolling terrain, but some is mountainous and I want to be able to descend with confidence (and get to the bottom with all my limbs).

I would get the tubulars, but I bet the braking on the tubs and clinchers are the same.

I would get the new version that Bontrager just released. They are wider but I think that the braking surface is unchanged. They did, however, approve the use of Swiss Stop Black Prince pads in addition to their own cork ones that have been criticized in the past. I don't know how much of an improvement that could bring.

Thanks for your help.

[earlfoss]

The Bontrager D3 wheels are great. Braking is as good as any carbon wheel out there and the wider rims give you that bit more stability in cornering at crits and rr's.
One thing to keep in mind is that you must use 25 or larger. No 23's or whatever with these wheels. Anything narrower could lead to a cracked rim if you happened to hit a large obstacle in the road. Living in Madison, I have a few teammates who work at Trek corporate and have gone through a few rims this way.

[ptourkin]

There's a great deal on some in the classifieds ====>

[teleguy57]

I have a set of the D3 35mm tubulars that had been pit wheels for someone who placed highly at the state level; they had been ridden only a few times and were in excellent condition. These are the first iteration of the D3s before the 2015 changes.

Braking is fine in the dry, obviously less good in the wet but not that far off my Nemesis in those conditions. Brake tracks themselves are holding up well.

Overall a great wheel and I happen to like this height/profile as my all-around only set of carbons. They handle crosswinds well, and I rode them in the Tour de Steamboat last summer -- 7,500 feet of vertical and never felt like the profiles were too much. FWIW, running 25mm Paves on them and it's a good fit.