Most gravel wheelsets make a choice: wide or aero. Wide rims support high-volume tires, improve sidewall stability, and handle varied terrain well. Aero rims reduce drag on open roads and faster surfaces. The two profiles pull in different directions — a rim deep enough to be aerodynamically meaningful tends to be built narrow, and a rim wide enough for serious off-road use tends to be shallow. You pick your priority and accept the trade-off.
The SandStone SL32 LTD doesn’t make that choice. At 37mm internal width and 52mm deep, it is built to do both — and at 32″ diameter, that combination is rarer still.
Why width and depth together is the harder problem
A 37mm internal width is genuinely wide for a gravel rim. Most gravel-specific rims sit between 21mm and 30mm internally — wide enough to run a 40mm tire without issues, but not built to support the high-volume tires that make rough terrain manageable. At 37mm, the SandStone rim supports tires from 50mm upward properly: a tire mounted here runs broader than it would on a narrower rim, the sidewall gets the support it needs, and the tire deforms less under cornering load and at lower pressures. You feel that as grip that holds when the surface is loose, and confidence that the tire doesn’t squirm under hard effort.
Wide rims typically sacrifice depth to keep weight in check. A shallow profile — 25mm, 30mm — is the common answer on wide adventure wheels. At 52mm, the SandStone rim stays in genuinely aerodynamic territory. That depth reduces drag meaningfully on open gravel roads, fast descents, and exposed terrain where you carry speed. The combination of 37mm width and 52mm depth in a single rim is what makes the SandStone platform unusual, and what makes it work across a wider range of riding conditions than most gravel wheelsets can cover.
What the 32″ diameter adds to that picture
Layer a 32″ diameter on top of that rim profile and the picture changes further. A larger wheel rolls over obstacles at a shallower angle than a 700c — roots, rock edges, eroded track crossings — which means less speed lost to impact and fewer corrections needed to hold your line. On a long rough descent, that accumulates into something you notice at the bottom: you arrive less fatigued, having spent less energy fighting the terrain rather than covering it.
The 32″ format is not common in gravel. Most 32″-capable frames are built for bikepacking or adventure riding, where clearance matters more than rolling efficiency. The SandStone SL32 platform takes that clearance and fills it with a rim that is built for performance — not just volume. You can read the full argument for 32″ in our journal article on the SandStone SL32.
Where the LTD goes further
The SandStone SL32 LTD is the same rim, built to a higher specification. The hub is the DT Swiss 180 Boost with ceramic bearings — DT Swiss’s lightest hub, running with lower friction than the 240 EXP used on the standard SandStone SL32. Ceramic bearings wear more slowly than steel, hold their smoothness longer in variable conditions, and need less maintenance over a season. Combined with silver Alpina aero spokes, the total wheelset weight is 1503g — 75 grams less than the SL32. A 32″ setup is inherently heavier than 700c, so every gram recovered matters. The DT Swiss 180 is one of the cleaner ways to recover them.
Twenty-eight spokes front and rear — four more than on the 700c SandStone SL — give the larger rim the structural depth it needs under load. Boost axle spacing (15×110 front / 12×148 rear) widens the hub flange base, which contributes to lateral stiffness in a wheel that carries more leverage than a smaller diameter. The brushed silver decals and matching silver aero spokes complete a build that is coherent in both specification and finish.
This is a limited introductory run. The quantity is fixed and will not be repeated in this exact specification. When the run is sold, it’s done.
Who this wheelset is for — and who it isn’t
The SandStone SL32 LTD requires a frame with Boost axle standards (15×110 front / 12×148 rear), 32″ tire clearance, and room to run at least 50mm width comfortably. Those requirements narrow the field. If your frame fits, and you ride the kind of terrain where a wide, deep, large-diameter wheel earns its advantage — rough gravel, variable surfaces, long days where you need both speed on open sections and control when it gets technical — then the LTD gives you the SandStone platform at its highest possible build level.
If you want the same rim without the ceramic hub specification, the SandStone SL32 with DT Swiss 240 EXP Boost remains in the range. The rim is identical. The LTD is for the rider who has decided not to leave anything on the table.
View the SandStone SL32 LTD in our webshop.
