Vibration dampening that actually moves the needle - Parcours Strade GT lands at MC

The new Parcours Strade GT has landed at MC, we've put some kilometres into them, and we like what we've found. It's one of the more interesting wheel launches we've seen this year. Not because it's lighter or more aero than everything else on the market, but because the engineering has gone somewhere we don't see often, to reduce the vibration that reaches your hands and saddle on rough roads.

VibraCORE, in plain English

Parcours have built a layer of recycled carbon material into the rim, which they're calling VibraCORE. The short version of what it does is to soak up some of the road buzz at the rim itself, before it has a chance to travel up through the spokes and into your bars and saddle.

The interesting bit is how this lands in the hand. Parcours reckon the vibration drop is roughly the same as letting 10 to 15 psi out of your tyres, except you don't get the trade-offs. Tyres stay pumped to the pressure you actually want for grip and rolling speed, but the road feels a notch softer at the contact points.

We've ridden them now over a mix of surfaces, and that's exactly how it reads on the bike. They're not magically floating, you can still feel the road, but the small high-frequency edge that builds up in your shoulders over a long ride is dialled back. The bigger your day, the more you notice it.

What you get under the rim tape

Beyond the headline tech, the Strade GT is a properly modern road wheelset:

• 1,130 g wheelset weight (weighed and verified by MC)
• 49.2 mm front / 54 mm rear rim depth
• 23.5 mm internal width, hooked, optimised around a 30 mm tyre
• Impact tested to 140 J (UCI requirement is 40 J)
• An optional ceramic bearing upgrade is also available alongside the standard supplied at additional cost.

The rim profile is an evolution rather than a redesign. With most riders now running 30 mm road tyres, Parcours adjusted the external shape so that tyre and rim sit flush. The result is a 3.2W aero gain over the original Strade on the same tyre, and a 15% reduction in sideforce, so the wheel is calmer in crosswinds. We've felt that too on a windy day along the cliffs.

New hubs, new spokes

The Strade GT also brings Parcours' first carbon spokes (Alpina Carbolite Aero) and a new hub platform built around them. A few things worth flagging:

• Captive spoke design, so spokes can be replaced without dismantling the hub shell
• 21/24 spoke count in a 2:1 lacing pattern for cleaner load distribution
• 60T star ratchet drive
• Titanium freehub body
• Tool free bearing access for servicing and freehub swaps

As a shop that has to live with what we sell, that last point matters more than it sounds.

Who they're for

The Strade GT isn't trying to be everything to everyone, and Parcours haven't pretended otherwise. Where they shine is the long road day where small inputs add up - rides over patchy roads, longer events, the kind of distance where you finish with your hands buzzing and your shoulders tight (think Longest Day). The vibration story isn't about a single magic number, it's about how you feel after four or five hours in the saddle.

If you're chasing the lightest possible climbing setup, a shallower wheel is still the call. If you ride mostly smooth tarmac and never push past ninety minutes, you may not notice the difference. But for most of the riders we see through the shop, anyone working through the same lumpy back roads week in week out, these line up well with how you actually ride.

Come and have a look

We've been lucky enough to secure a set of pre-launch Strade GT to the MC Clubhouse. If you want to talk through whether they suit your bike and the riding you do, drop in or send us a message.