Van der Poel is racing with some new Shimano Dura-Ace wheels

Once again, social media reveals product developments ahead of time. This time the caught one was Mathieu van der Poel while using Shimano wheels that bring back a concept that was common several decades ago in the wheels of the Japanese brand and that could be used again to improve their performance.

Shimano could be developing new Dura-Ace wheels

Cycling fans don't miss a single detail. And it takes a very keen eye to realize from the photos taken at the last E3 Saxo Classic race, where Mathieu van der Poel imposed his dominance with absolute authority, that the Dutchman was using completely new wheels in that race.

Alpecin-Deceuninck maintains a close relationship with Shimano and, therefore, is one of the teams chosen by the Japanese company to test their new products. The latest of them seems to be a set of wheels, which would be the new Shimano Dura-Ace, that Mathieu van der Poel used during the E3 Saxo Classic race.

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Just a small detail reveals that it is a new wheel model but it represents a significant change in Shimano's top-of-the-line model. We are talking about the spoke nipples, which instead of being embedded in the holes of the rim are located on the hub, a feature that Shimano used decades ago.

The main objective of this configuration is to move the mass of the spoke nipples, which is minimal but still mass in motion that generates inertia after all, towards the center of the wheel. This way, the wheel has less inertia, making its behavior more lively and predictable. Additionally, the absence of spoke nipples in the rim area always provides a small aerodynamic improvement, an aspect that some brands solve by hiding the spoke nipples inside the rim.

On the other hand, spoke nipples on the hub are part of some mechanics' nightmares due to the difficulty of accessing that point with the spoke wrench to make the correct adjustments, while the centering operation becomes more laborious as you constantly have to check if a specific spoke nipple actually corresponds to the spoke that needs to be loosened or tightened.

Wheels that, except for this change, seem to have a very similar configuration to the current ones, with the usual setup of straight spokes in the front and double-crossed in the rear to deal with the tangential forces exerted by the transmission. Of course, Shimano does not comment and points out that the development of their products is constant without confirming that these are indeed new wheels.