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For those of you who prefer all black everything on their mountain bikes, check out this killer deal Industry Nine just announced. The Trail S wheels got a sinister all-black coating and will barely dent your wallet at $845 for the wheelset. That’s insanely good for a made in the USA wheelset! See more specs below and ordering information at Industry Nine.
Industry Nine has been on a roll with their MTB wheels this year, saving what is the best for last in terms of their winter-riding, fat-biking consumer base. Their new Big Rig 845 wheels have landed, with axle type and spacing options galore, color combinations wild enough to make your eyes bleed and the same, Made in the USA quality you’ve come to expect from the brand. The Big Rig 845 wheels have a retail of $1275.00 with plenty of add-ons available. See more at Industry Nine.
With a 31mm depth, an external rim width of 28mm and an internal rim width of 21mm, it’s obvious ENVE wanted to make a cyclocross-specific wheelset for dedicated ‘cross athletes. Available as tubular-only, these made in the USA carbon wheels were designed specifically for the weekend races and are available in a variety of hub, freewheel and axle specifications. Head over to ENVE for more information.
It’s taken them longer than other brands but Mavic has finally agreed that wider is better in terms of rim interior and exterior width. Their new Ksyrium Elites are now 25mm wide, resulting in an internal rim width of 17mm. Throw either a tire of your choice on these wheels, or ride the supplied 25mm Yksion Pro tires. The Ksyrium Elites come with color options, offering red hubs with red spoke nipples, blue or a clean black on black finish. Retail is set at $790.90 for the wheelset, Yksion Pro tires and skewers included.
See more at Mavic.
Apologies for double-dipping in Bontrager today!
It’s been torrentially downpouring for the past few weeks in Austin, which flushes those dirt-obsessed back onto the roadways. My MTBs are gathering dust and yet my Argonaut Cycles road bike has been incredibly happy. Coincidentally, we did a photoshoot here in Texas Hill Country with Bontrager last week, which left me with a set of the new Aeolus 3 TLR wheels to review. So now it’s got a new pump and new shoes to skate around town on.
There’s a lot of made in the USA goodness going on. Check out more below.
The other night at the Velo Cult party, I got to see a demo from a new company out of Washington state, BicycleStarz. Now, I have to give you a bit of a disclaimer: if you’re a wheel builder, brace yourself, because these tools will leave you frothing at the mouth like a bamboo starved panda…
Coincidentally, all of these tools are made by hand, using bamboo when possible and are filled with such elegant details that they dance that ever-present line of utilitarian art I always speak about.
Check out some in-depth photos below.
On the eve of NAHBS, Zipp invited a handfull of journalists to visit their facilities in Indianapolis, Indiana. Back in 1988, Zipp first launched their products with a disc wheel at Interbike, which back then was in Anaheim, California. Over the years, Zipp has stayed true to their roots, constructing both disc wheels and aero sections by hand in their facility.
Having moved from Speedway to Indianapolis a few years back, Zipp’s facilities themselves are far from space-aged, yet the technology used to cut, mould and form their carbon fiber aren’t that dissimilar from military-grade carbon facilities. Everything is precise, clean and for most of the process, done in secret.
While Zipp will gladly open their doors to media, a lot of the how’d they do that remains a secret.
PR&D is essential in making some of the best products on the market and it’s something SRAM takes seriously. Check out the latest, entitled New Found Speed. Here’s the story:
“Jon Cancellier has managed the BlackBox Program for the past 7 seasons. This includes choosing the athletes, working with them on custom projects, as well as being at the races to make sure that they have everything they need. An athlete on the SRAM BlackBox Program has access to all the engineering horsepower that we have to offer and Jon is the link between racer and company. Earlier this year he travelled to Finale Ligure, Italy with 2013 Enduro World Series Champion Jerome Clementz to test wheels.
Today we are proud to give everyone a behind the scenes look at this unique and truly exclusive testing process for a BlackBox athlete.”
See more at SRAM.
Velocity is making their rims in the USA and building their wheels in the USA. That’s huge, in my opinion and it’s been a great year for them in terms of growth. I wonder if that’s a coincidence. Anyway, enjoy this short video from their team in Florida!
This morning, a true innovator in wheel technology, Steve Hed passed away. May you ride in peace, brother!
I’m pretty adamant in believing that out of any bike you own, your MTB deserves carbon wheels more than the rest. Now, my point that I’m trying to make – without getting too far off-topic – is out of all your bikes, your MTB gets abused the most and is required to do the most. With road and even cross wheels, you’re rarely taking big hits off-axis and you’re certainly not charging rock gardens. Regardless of tire size, a MTB benefits from a carbon wheel, both in durability and performance. Just ride a set and you’ll see what I mean.
That said, I’ve never been convinced that a set of proprietary wheels is a worth while investment, when compared to a set of hand laced wheels. The problem is, those hand-built wheels get expensive when you’re talking carbon fiber rims, laced to a DT, King, White Industries or the like hubset.
If you do decide to pull the trigger on a set of carbon hoops, there are so many options out there. Do you want XC race-light or “trail” wheels? Well, SRAM made it easy with the Roam 60. They’re nearing the weight of an XC wheelset (1650 grams for a 29r) with the durability of a legit trail wheel. I tend to over compensate my inability to connect what I see myself doing in my head, to what actually happens on the bike, with products that are engineered for even gnarlier undertakings. In short: I like riding beefy products on my XC rig, because it’s not just a XC rig.
Ever wonder how those Campagnolo Ghibli wheels are made?
Made in the USA wheels are one of the most requested products I get emailed about. Now with Velocity making rims in the US, it’s easier to piece together your own wheels or look into options like Hermes Sport’s offerings.
Granted, their freehubs are made in Europe and the carbon rims are made overseas, but the alloy clinchers are made in the USA.
For $1995, you can ride the Hermes Sport carbon wheels and $995, the aluminum clinchers. Both are tubeless ready and built by hand, you guessed it, in the USA.
See more at Hermes Sport.
SRAM continues to develop and refine their MTB wheel line with the Rise 60 wheels.
Check out the full specs at SRAM!
Here’s a little behind the scenes video from one of my favorite bike shops: Blue Lug in Japan!
Man, I know I get to shoot some pretty balleur rides, but I had a blast documenting the Mavic 125ans bikes… And it brought me back to my favorite city in the world for riding bikes: Los Angeles.
I’ll be reviewing a set of these Ksyrium 125 wheels, for those who have been emailing me, asking what I thought of them.
For now, thanks to Chad and Zach for bringing me to my favorite city, to ride and photograph bikes.
The Mavic 125ans Project came about to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the company. After the release of the Ksyrium 125 wheel in France earlier this spring, Chad Moore of Mavic USA reached out to a select group of frame builders who they felt were standouts in the industry.
Argonaut Cycles – working with designer Garrett Chow, Lynskey Performance, Mosaic Cycles – working with designer Zach Lee on their paint design, Ritte Cycles and Seven Cycles were contacted directly by Mavic.
Each builder was given a timeline and other than that, full artistic reign over their project bike. Looking to the Ksyrium 125 wheel for inspiration, each builder approached this unique collaboration in a way that represented what Mavic means to them and their brands.
These bikes will be released at Mavic’s brand communications center and Service Course in Los Angeles on 10 July, but I got a special sneak peek at the bikes yesterday, as I shot each in detail within the Mavic mechanics area. Both the Ritte and the Seven 125ans bikes will be auctioned off at the Pros Closet later this fall.
See this project in its entirety in the Gallery and there will be more to come, including interviews from some of the builders and an extensive look at Garrett Chow’s inspiration for the Argonaut Cycles road.
Tracko turned me onto this interview with Harry Rowland the other day and since then, I’ve read it a few times. It’s a great read, accompanied with a couple of photos and a handful of exceptional quotes:
“A lot of my customers, they just want to ride a bike and enjoy it. One of the problems with these factory wheels is they’re such low spoke count that if a spoke goes out on the club run, you’re not going anywhere. You need to call someone and get a lift home. You’ve got to be realistic, save your high end wheels for best. There’s a place for them, but even professionals will train on 32 spoke wheels. When the photographers come along they’ll be on the best gear, but when they’re out on their own without a team car, they’re riding normal wheels.”
Read the full interview at Andy Waterman’s site!
