The majority of bikes come with road bike wheels built with shallow rims – around 25mm. These are perfectly adequate and many people opt to continue with shallow rims, even if they upgrade to a stronger or lighter version.

Badass looking bikes sometimes have deeper rims – 30 to 40mm – these are mid section wheels that have a little aerodynamic edge, whilst still being fairly lightweight, making them a good compromise for those who seek aerodynamic advantage and light weight – road racers, and serious sportive riders.

Deep sections rims – often around 50mm, are designed with aerodynamics in mind. They can be used for climbing, but are really designed for fast, flat rides, such as time trials or triathlons. There are a variety of spoke patterns available – from bladed radial (direct from the hub to the rim) spokes to those with just four moulded and often carbon spokes (such as the Corima 4 spoke), to full discs (like a Zipp 900) which cut through the air like knife to butter.

Deep section rims are more aero, but they can be a little trickier to manage in crosswinds – rather than filtering through the spokes, the wind hits the rim surface which can be harder to control. It does need to be very windy for this to be a problem, but in the event of high gusting winds, a narrower rim will be safer, and faster since the rider will have greater control.