Eurobike 2016: New Wheels & Cranks From Race Face

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The Canadian crew behind Race Face were out in force at this year’s Eurobike show, with a comprehensive range of handlebars, stems, grips, cranks, wheels and dropper posts. Coming underneath a very large corporate umbrella that includes the likes of Easton, Fox, and more recently Marzocchi, Race Face has had significant investment poured into its R&D team that has seen new products emerge, such as their new line of Aeffect and Turbine wheels.

Here we take a look at some of the shiny shiny things Race Face had on show at Eurobike.

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You can have any colour as long as it’s…ok, so you have quite a few colour options there.
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Race Face continues to push the 35mm handlebar diameter standard, with almost all of their range coming in the oversized style. Will it take down the existing 31.8mm standard?
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Race Face have also recently added the Turbine dropper post to their line, which is also shared with Easton. Both posts are exactly the same functionally, with only graphics separating the two.
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Their 1x dropper post lever is beautifully machined from alloy, and mimics a front shifter paddle that can also be integrated with certain brake levers.
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Plastic pedals – are you into them?
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Taste the rainbow!
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You’ll be seeing more Race Face wheels moving forward thanks to the sharing of tech with sister-brand Easton.
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The Aeffect wheelset

The Aeffect wheelset is built around the Easton ARC rims. The Aeffect SL 24 wheelset uses a (you guessed it!) 24mm internal rim width, and weighs a claimed 1710 grams for the 27.5in diameter wheelset, and 1790 grams for the 29in size. Want wider? You can also get the Aeffect R 30 wheelset that pumps up to a 30mm internal rim width, with weight jumping up to 1810 grams (27.5in) and 1930 grams (29in).

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The Aeffect wheels are built with straight-pull spokes and Race Face’s own alloy hubs that use a 3-pawl mechanism and 10-degree engagement.
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Rims come taped for tubeless setup out of the box.
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The Turbine wheels are a higher-end version of the Aeffect, with different hubs and lighter rims that use a more expensive grade of alloy.
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The ‘Vault’ hubs used on the Turbine wheels feature oversized bodies and a massive 6-pawl freehub mechanism that offers super fast 3-degree engagement.
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Both the Aeffect and Turbine rims are produced from a 6000-series alloy, but we’re told it’s a slightly higher grade for the Turbine rim that results in lower weight overall.
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Turbine wheels

At present, the Turbine wheels only come in a 30mm internal rim width. Complete wheel weight is lighter than the equivalent Aeffect R 30 wheelset, coming in at a claimed 1730 grams (27.5in) and 1815 grams (29in).

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Speaking of weight, it was hard to go past the new ‘lightweight’ ruler of the crank market; the Race Face Next SL crank. Rather than a direct mount chainring, Race Face found it was lighter to go with a 4-arm ring, but one that uses carbon fibre for the central spider. Including a 30t chainring is claimed at just 430 grams. Wowsers.

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Far from being heavy is the SixC carbon cranks, which are built for harder-hitting trail riders and even downhillers. Claimed weight for these ‘heavy duty’ cranks? Still just 525 grams including a direct-mount chainring.

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The Turbine Cinch crank

The Turbine Cinch crank has been a super popular option for Race Face, and is showing up on more complete bikes through 2016 to 2017. The alloy version of the Next crank is highly machined in traditional Race Face style, and uses the same modular bottom bracket axle system found on Race Face’s other cranks, which they call ‘Cinch’. Claimed weight is 630 grams including a direct-mount chainring.