Seido Acceleron is the German brand's top-of-the-range carbon gravel wheelset, constructed with asymmetric rims and a quick-engaging 102T rear hub. These wheels are excellent quality and offer a ride feel that is bound to elevate race results, especially on technical courses. They are, however, slightly let down by the narrowish clincher rim build in the 700c size, making the 650b option more appealing if that suits your setup.
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Seido Acceleron gravel wheelset - Technical details
Seido offers the Acceleron wheelset, which sits at the top of the brand's gravel wheel range, in two sizes: 650b and 700c. The two carbon wheelsets boast quite different overall dimensions beyond the rim diameter: The smaller 650b hoops get a 25mm internal width and are 25mm deep, built on hookless carbon rims. The larger 700c hoops I tested are built with a 21mm internal width and 28mm deep, and built on clincher rims.
Both sizes are built with asymmetric rims (a design that should give more even tension between the drive and non-drive side of the wheel) and are laced with 28 triple-butted Pillar J-bend spokes with a 2x pattern at the front and rear. The rear hub features an impressive 102T ratchet, which results in a 3.5-degree engagement angle. Taiwanese premium bearing maker, TPI, provides the bearings.
The claimed weight for the 700c wheelset is 1,532g with tubeless tape and on my scales, the pair weighed 1,568g.
The Acceleron wheelset comes from Seido with tubeless tape installed and a pair of aluminium tubeless valves in the box. In terms of limits, Seido lists the max weight for the rider plus equipment to be 100kg and the maximum tyre pressure is 60PSI.
Seido Acceleron gravel wheelset - Performance
After enjoying Seido's alloy Geon wheelset a lot, I was excited to try out the brand's racier and lighter Accelerons. Straight out of the box, setting these wheels up was a breeze - they come with tubeless tape and valves installed so all I needed to do was pop on some tyres, pour in sealant and head out to the testing grounds.
I've not been fortunate (read, fit) enough to race on these wheels, but instead I've been using them to chase some local QOMs on the gravel roads and even mountain bike trails near me. From the very first pedal strokes, the wheels felt stiff and confidence-inspiringly reactive and offered a very noticeable upgrade to the alloy hoops they replaced.
The Accelerons are built carefully and the quality is great, which is reflected in how easy they are to set up. I set the wheels up with 40mm Hutchinson Tundra tyres and even tho they are usually tight to get on any rims, they popped on the Accelerons without any issue - and I was able to seat the tyres easily with a track pump, which is the dream. The 40mm tyre is on the wider end of what I'd likely put on these rims, however - although Seido's recommended range for the 700c spans from 30mm to 50mm.
As already mentioned in the tech details, there are quite a few differences between the 700c wheelset I tested and the smaller 650b set, and I must admit I was left hoping I had perhaps tested the smaller wheels instead. The first thing that made me compare the two was the rim width. The 700c hoops come with a relatively narrow 21mm internal width. This would not have been questioned a few years back, but modern gravel wheels increasingly boast a wider rim bed that supports wider - and tubeless - rubber a little better. Take, for example, Hunt's 25 Gravel Race wheelset with a 26 mm rim bed, and Parcours Alta gravel wheelset that boasts a 24mm internal width.
The 21mm width isn't a huge issue, as it still supports a 40mm or wider gravel tyre adequately, but if you want to ride some very wide rubber, then a wider rim bed would offer more stability. The Acceleron 700c's are also built on clincher rims, which is different to the 650b hoops that get hookless rims that would give more strength and allow tyres to sit wider and really, are again a technology ever increasingly becoming a norm with low-pressure gravel tyres. Without opening a can of worms here about hookless vs. clincher, the hooked construction is not a massive drawback and means that you can run higher pressures without blowing up your rim - and are not limited to using tubeless tyres. But that said, you'd never really need those higher pressures on gravel wheels anyway.
Hooks aside, where these wheels excel is the engagement. Seido has equipped the Acceleron set with a six-pawl, 102T hub which makes a very angry-beehive-like buzz that you're bound to either like or hate. I quite like it, although it is a little antisocial if you are trying to chat with a pal riding next to you and happen to freewheel. The 102T rear hub is also the reason these wheels offer such a dramatic change in the ride feel, especially if you upgrade from a box set of wheels. The 3.5-degree engagement in essence means that the wheels have an instant pickup. It's not necessary to have such quick reactivity, but it makes a huge difference especially when riding any technical sections on gravel or wanting to put some distance to a rival on a hill. Or, if like me, you sometimes like to try your luck on some mountain bike trails...
Adding to the confidence-inspiring ride feel, with their 28mm depth, the Acceleron are very shallow wheels and don't get bothered even in high winds. The Seido branding isn't too obtrusive at all to make you look like a Seido-sponsored athlete (not saying that'd be a bad thing).
Lastly, the weight. 1,568g isn't the lightest on the market, compared to Hunt's 25 Gravel Race wheelset (1,380g), but is considerably lighter than the 1,807g of Halo Carbaura XCD 35mm Carbon Gravel wheelset, and heavier than the 1,465g of the Stayer Gravel Adventure wheelset (£1,265) we've tested. For a 28-spoke set, the Accelerons are definitely not heavy, and the use of perhaps marginally heavier J-bend spokes also adds to the easy serviceability of the wheels on the road as those are widely available at bike shops.
Seido Acceleron gravel wheelset - Verdict
The Acceleron wheelset retails for £950, which makes it competitive in the carbon wheelset market. Granted, the width of the rims is not the widest and they are clincher, but neither is unheard of - and the 650b version has a more modern construction if you're after that. The Parcours Alta wheelset that Aaron (and Mat) tested retails for less at £899, and bar the wider rim width, offers a very similar set of hoops as Seido.
Another close competitor would be the Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race Disc wheelset (£899) which is lighter at 1,383g and also comes with a wider 26mm rim width. Neither of these wheelsets offers the quick engagement of the Accelerons, though, and I think that makes a more noticeable difference in performance than say a 100g weight saving.
For me, the Seido Acceleron is a wheelset I'd be happy to race on, but even if you're not a serious racer these hoops can offer a lot of noticeable performance gain without breaking your bank. There are a few drawbacks, namely the rim width and clincher rims that on today's market feel a little outdated, but they are really not affecting the performance of these wheels at all - and I feel the 650b version might offer even more bang for your buck than the 700c I tested.
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