elitewheels drive ii 36d ii - part 1
after an unhealthy amount of research, comparison videos, forum threads, and reddit lurking, i ended up ordering a set of Elitewheels Drive 36D II wheels.
The Incident
my Canyon Endurace CF 7 has been solid since day one.
it came with the stock dt swiss endurance lns, which honestly handled everything i threw at them:
- long rides
- rough roads
- climbs
- weekend suffering
- and the occasional “this route looked flatter on strava” decision
then one badly timed curb strike ended the front wheel immediately.
clean crack. completely undeniable.
there’s always that brief moment after impact where you convince yourself:
“maybe it’s fine.”
it wasn’t.
after reaching out to canyon, they confirmed what i already expected:
impact damage isn’t covered under warranty.
emotionally understandable. financially unfortunate.
looking for an upgrade
i’d already been thinking about carbon wheels for a while.
so instead of replacing the damaged wheel, my brain immediately went:
“well… this is probably the excuse.”
which is how cycling decisions usually become expensive.
after way too much time:
- watching comparison videos
- reading weight spreadsheets
- checking reddit opinions
- and pretending i could “feel aerodynamic differences” through youtube reviews
i landed on the elitewheels drive 36d ii.
the balance just made sense:
- lightweight
- aero, but not overly aggressive
- optimized around wider modern tires
- solid reviews from people who actually rode them long-term
- and priced well below the big-name wheelsets
then they went on sale for around usd$300 off.
at that point, the internal debate ended pretty quickly.
order & shipping
timeline was actually pretty reasonable:
- ordered: june 9, 2025
- shipped: june 20, 2025
- delivered: june 24, 2025
the only slightly stressful part was the order sitting in:
“processing”
for over a week.
once it shipped though, it moved fast.
the tracking situation was a bit questionable though.
the tracking link basically never worked properly for me, so the wheels mostly existed in a temporary state of:
“hopefully somewhere between china and australia.”
first Impressions
the packaging was genuinely impressive.
everything was packed securely with enough protection that it actually felt like someone expected the box to survive international shipping.
inside:
- the wheelset
- spare spokes
- printed documentation
- a small branded bag
- and the quiet pressure to immediately spend more money on tires and sealant
the wheels themselves looked excellent out of the box.
clean finish. true straight away. no visible defects or scratches.
they definitely give that:
“this is the nicest bike component i currently own”
feeling immediately.
@iamt2vi New wheelset day! Elitewheels Drive II 36D. Can’t wait to set these up and ride! #elitewheels #wheelset #cycling #roadcyclist #cyclinglife #cyclingtiktok #cyclingvideos ♬ Chill Day - LAKEY INSPIRED
what’s next
right now they’re still sitting in the box waiting for:
tires sealant tubeless setup supplies and the emotional readiness to deal with tubeless installation properly
a friend’s helping me set them up tubeless once everything arrives.
after that:
- ride impressions
- climbing performance
- crosswind behaviour
- and whether carbon wheels actually make me faster
- or just feel faster psychologically
which, honestly, might still count.