I purchased a WH-R9270-C36-TU front wheel for myself.
I didn't buy the rear wheel because it has a spline rear hub dedicated to 12-speed, so I'd need to upgrade the groupset to 12-speed to use these excellent wheels front and rear.
When the 7800 series first came out, the Dura-Ace grade wheels similarly had 10-speed-only freewheel bodies.
By the way, the R8100 series rear wheel uses the conventional spline that's compatible with both 11-speed and 12-speed.
Based on estimates, this front wheel's rim weight should be around 270–280g, so I was skeptical that Shimano would go for such an aggressive specification. I bought it to verify this.
When first announced, the manufacturer's website stated "usable with rim brake models," but that note was deleted in almost a day.
↑before
↑after
The rim is tubular, but there are drainage holes in the area corresponding to the brake zone.
Even with tubeless rims, I suspect similar holes serve as air vents in case air from inside the tire leaks into the rim and builds up internal pressure.
There's even a sticker saying "Disc brakes only!" If they're going to put that on there, I'd think they might as well position the DURA-ACE logo more generously around the outer rim...
The C36 designation printed on the rim is flat, but the DURA-ACE marking, while not quite an emboss, is subtly raised.
The wheel is laced in a standard 24H four-cross pattern with equal spoke count and diameter on both sides.
It's a pretty conventional lacing, but at least this ensures it's not worse than standard—unlike some brands like Roval that tried unconventional lacing patterns and ended up with mediocre wheels as a result.
Against a claimed 522g, it weighed 525g.
That's with four spokes removed, though.
Rewinding the timeline, the fully assembled wheel weighed 545g as received. I was pretty deflated at that point, but let me continue.
I disassembled the wheel and laid out the rim as a standalone component. Taking apart a personally purchased wheel the day it arrives is kind of a ritual for me. I've done the same with older wheels like the Ksyrium ES and the original Shamal Ultra (Gold).
↑Actual measured rim weight.
Hmm, this is harsh! I'd say the rim is ultra-lightweight, but if the wheel were truly at its claimed weight, the rim would have come in under 300g. It's light, sure, but I was also misled about the actual weight. If the wheel had genuinely been 522g, the rim would be 285g, but my earlier estimate was even lighter for a reason. In past articles, I calculated this wheel's spoke weight percentage using CX-RAY as reference, but in reality it's built with lighter spokes. I'll get into that later.
I can measure up to 300g on my 0.1g scale, but it's just slightly over that limit... I thought maybe it would work anyway, so I tried it—
—no luck. I thought about loading ten 1-yen coins for 10g, zeroing the scale, then removing them to measure from -10g, but I haven't actually tried it.
Rewinding again, the inside diameter wrench flats on the nipples are 3.2mm square—same as generic nipples. The outside diameter has hexagonal wrench flats, which is what I used when disassembling.
The hub weighed 116.2g. That's ultra-lightweight for a cup-and-cone disc hub and shows serious effort. For comparison, there's a hub called BITE (バイト) made by Tni as a 24H straight-spoke disc hub, and the front hub is rated at 121g, but that uses cartridge bearings.
Also, considering this hub is lighter than the HB-9000, the last Dura-Ace front hub released as a component part (naturally for rim brakes), it's clearly quite impressive.
↑24 nipples
↑12 shorter spokes
↑12 longer spokes
The assembled wheel weighed 545g on my 1g scale. When I added up the weights of all the non-rim components measured on my 0.1g scale, I got a total of 544.4g.
Now I know the weight of everything except the rim—what I call the "uni" (sea urchin). The spokes matched both the claimed value and my measurement method at the same number. The spoke weight percentage came to 61.89% and 62.55%, which I'd say averages to about 62%. This is definitely lighter than the CX-RAY, which averages 64.5% across many samples.
Now that I know the spoke length from the claimed spec and the spoke weight percentage, what can I do with that?
I can calculate the "uni" weight of other wheels built with the same hub and same spoke gauge quite accurately. I'm assuming a 62% spoke weight percentage. The high-stiffness C60-HR won't work since it has different spokes, but I can derive the measured rim weight of the C36 tubeless and the C50 tubular and tubeless models pretty accurately by subtracting the "uni" weight (blue numbers in the diagram) from the measured front wheel weight.
Some wheels vary rim thickness to make the rear heavier and stiffer even when front and rear rim heights match, so I can't definitively say the front and rear rims are identical. But based on what I'm currently assuming, I'd predict they're the same.
With this wheel, regardless of rim height (whether it's a low-profile rim), there's been a real sense that the person responsible for churning out crappy wheels—insisting that 16H is optimal for rim brake front wheels because "spokes have less air resistance" and other nonsense—has finally stepped down. (Though I can't be sure what actually happened.)
I mentioned being deflated about the rim weight because the wheel's claimed 522g turned out to be quite a stretch. If it had been honestly rated at 550g, my take would be different, and the rim itself at 308g would be genuinely light enough that I wouldn't have been disappointed.
Also, if spare spoke supply remains stable and consistent over the long term, this wheel could be worth considering. The pricing is quite aggressive too. The front and rear pair's list price of ¥233,530 (including tax) seems like a bargain compared to the R9100 rim brake WO model—arguably the previous generation or barely still current—with its carbon-laminate heavy rims: the C40 at ¥230,560 and C60 at ¥240,011 (though I rarely see these wheels actually in stock, if at all). Comparing specs, the R9170-C40-TU (despite the name, actual rim height is 37mm and front wheel claimed weight is 602g), which could be called the predecessor to this R9270-C36-TU, had a list price of ¥356,572. That makes me suspect Shimano changed rim suppliers.
Ah, but the R9200 series rear wheel is 12-speed only. If it weren't, I think this would be a much more popular wheel overall. Too bad about that.
The rim holes were drilled without offset. Even if they were offset, they wouldn't be 16+8H, so they'd be either alternating left-right or offset only on the non-drive side—either way, as a personal wheel where I wouldn't apply rear braking, the rim could still work as a 24H rim brake rear wheel.
I didn't buy the rear wheel because it has a spline rear hub dedicated to 12-speed, so I'd need to upgrade the groupset to 12-speed to use these excellent wheels front and rear.
When the 7800 series first came out, the Dura-Ace grade wheels similarly had 10-speed-only freewheel bodies.
By the way, the R8100 series rear wheel uses the conventional spline that's compatible with both 11-speed and 12-speed.
Based on estimates, this front wheel's rim weight should be around 270–280g, so I was skeptical that Shimano would go for such an aggressive specification. I bought it to verify this.
When first announced, the manufacturer's website stated "usable with rim brake models," but that note was deleted in almost a day.
↑before
↑after
The rim is tubular, but there are drainage holes in the area corresponding to the brake zone.
Even with tubeless rims, I suspect similar holes serve as air vents in case air from inside the tire leaks into the rim and builds up internal pressure.
There's even a sticker saying "Disc brakes only!" If they're going to put that on there, I'd think they might as well position the DURA-ACE logo more generously around the outer rim...
The C36 designation printed on the rim is flat, but the DURA-ACE marking, while not quite an emboss, is subtly raised.
The wheel is laced in a standard 24H four-cross pattern with equal spoke count and diameter on both sides.
It's a pretty conventional lacing, but at least this ensures it's not worse than standard—unlike some brands like Roval that tried unconventional lacing patterns and ended up with mediocre wheels as a result.
Against a claimed 522g, it weighed 525g.
That's with four spokes removed, though.
Rewinding the timeline, the fully assembled wheel weighed 545g as received. I was pretty deflated at that point, but let me continue.
I disassembled the wheel and laid out the rim as a standalone component. Taking apart a personally purchased wheel the day it arrives is kind of a ritual for me. I've done the same with older wheels like the Ksyrium ES and the original Shamal Ultra (Gold).
↑Actual measured rim weight.
Hmm, this is harsh! I'd say the rim is ultra-lightweight, but if the wheel were truly at its claimed weight, the rim would have come in under 300g. It's light, sure, but I was also misled about the actual weight. If the wheel had genuinely been 522g, the rim would be 285g, but my earlier estimate was even lighter for a reason. In past articles, I calculated this wheel's spoke weight percentage using CX-RAY as reference, but in reality it's built with lighter spokes. I'll get into that later.
I can measure up to 300g on my 0.1g scale, but it's just slightly over that limit... I thought maybe it would work anyway, so I tried it—
—no luck. I thought about loading ten 1-yen coins for 10g, zeroing the scale, then removing them to measure from -10g, but I haven't actually tried it.
Rewinding again, the inside diameter wrench flats on the nipples are 3.2mm square—same as generic nipples. The outside diameter has hexagonal wrench flats, which is what I used when disassembling.
The hub weighed 116.2g. That's ultra-lightweight for a cup-and-cone disc hub and shows serious effort. For comparison, there's a hub called BITE (バイト) made by Tni as a 24H straight-spoke disc hub, and the front hub is rated at 121g, but that uses cartridge bearings.
Also, considering this hub is lighter than the HB-9000, the last Dura-Ace front hub released as a component part (naturally for rim brakes), it's clearly quite impressive.
↑24 nipples
↑12 shorter spokes
↑12 longer spokes
The assembled wheel weighed 545g on my 1g scale. When I added up the weights of all the non-rim components measured on my 0.1g scale, I got a total of 544.4g.
Now I know the weight of everything except the rim—what I call the "uni" (sea urchin). The spokes matched both the claimed value and my measurement method at the same number. The spoke weight percentage came to 61.89% and 62.55%, which I'd say averages to about 62%. This is definitely lighter than the CX-RAY, which averages 64.5% across many samples.
Now that I know the spoke length from the claimed spec and the spoke weight percentage, what can I do with that?
I can calculate the "uni" weight of other wheels built with the same hub and same spoke gauge quite accurately. I'm assuming a 62% spoke weight percentage. The high-stiffness C60-HR won't work since it has different spokes, but I can derive the measured rim weight of the C36 tubeless and the C50 tubular and tubeless models pretty accurately by subtracting the "uni" weight (blue numbers in the diagram) from the measured front wheel weight.
Some wheels vary rim thickness to make the rear heavier and stiffer even when front and rear rim heights match, so I can't definitively say the front and rear rims are identical. But based on what I'm currently assuming, I'd predict they're the same.
With this wheel, regardless of rim height (whether it's a low-profile rim), there's been a real sense that the person responsible for churning out crappy wheels—insisting that 16H is optimal for rim brake front wheels because "spokes have less air resistance" and other nonsense—has finally stepped down. (Though I can't be sure what actually happened.)
I mentioned being deflated about the rim weight because the wheel's claimed 522g turned out to be quite a stretch. If it had been honestly rated at 550g, my take would be different, and the rim itself at 308g would be genuinely light enough that I wouldn't have been disappointed.
Also, if spare spoke supply remains stable and consistent over the long term, this wheel could be worth considering. The pricing is quite aggressive too. The front and rear pair's list price of ¥233,530 (including tax) seems like a bargain compared to the R9100 rim brake WO model—arguably the previous generation or barely still current—with its carbon-laminate heavy rims: the C40 at ¥230,560 and C60 at ¥240,011 (though I rarely see these wheels actually in stock, if at all). Comparing specs, the R9170-C40-TU (despite the name, actual rim height is 37mm and front wheel claimed weight is 602g), which could be called the predecessor to this R9270-C36-TU, had a list price of ¥356,572. That makes me suspect Shimano changed rim suppliers.
Ah, but the R9200 series rear wheel is 12-speed only. If it weren't, I think this would be a much more popular wheel overall. Too bad about that.
The rim holes were drilled without offset. Even if they were offset, they wouldn't be 16+8H, so they'd be either alternating left-right or offset only on the non-drive side—either way, as a personal wheel where I wouldn't apply rear braking, the rim could still work as a 24H rim brake rear wheel.