Notubes’ 1,200g Valor, now in 26in and 27.5 flavours…
At the time of their 2013 Press Camp debut, Stan’s first composite-rimmed wheelset was limited to 29ers only. It was a decision that made sense -that’s where much of the company’s XC race demographic lives- but for lil’ folks, those with still-quite-good frames, or those looking to build the lightest bike possible, 26in or 27.5 are still very much an option.
Composed 80% of discretion, the pequeño Valors are said to be two- to three-times as stiff laterally as the corresponding Stan’s aluminium rim. The 26/23mm cross section sports a vestigial bead hook- but could probably be considered hookless. That design puts plenty of material where it’s needed to handle the company’s extremely rocky local trails and, as we know by this point, won’t kill you.
Coming from Stan’s, tubeless and tubelish compatibility are a given. So too is freakishly light weight – in this case 1,200g for the 26in model and 1,250g for the 27.5in. Thanks to the 3.30Ti hubs, QR, 15x100mm thru axle and Lefty configurations are available up front with QR and 12x142mm thru options at the rear. A road version is also available, using Notubes’ 11s disc hub. Pricing is £1,800/$1,900.
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Good to see a new 26 inch wheel.
Perhaps too much coffee this end, or just getting old and out of touch, but I found this article annoyingly hard to understand. Jargon and wordplay.
So what rim do they correspond with then? Crest or Arch?