One Up Components x Reserve 30 HD AL wheelset review

After 10 months of use and abuse and zero maintenance there’s little to complain about with this wheelset.

• Brand: One Up Components
• Product: One Up Components x Reserve 30 HD AL wheelset review
• Price: £314.97 hubset (wheelset approx £650)
• From: One Up Components
• Tested by: Ross for 10 months

One Up only does the hubs from this wheelset. But you can’t test hubs on their own. So they sent us a full wheelset using Reserve 30 HD AL alloy rims. Which seems like a good fit. It’s a build I can imagine a lot of people opting for.

Available in Boost and 6 bolt rotor mount only, the hub shells are machined from 7075 aluminium. Inisde the rear is a 44T drive ring (think DT Swiss) rather than a traditional sprung pawl system. The drive ring offers 8.2° angle of engagement. By incorporating the drive into the hub, One Up claims to have removed a common failure point (while also saving a bit of weight). 

One Up has used Enduro ABEC 5 bearings spaced as widely as possible in a bid to increase bearing life. The hubs take standard J-bend spokes and feature tool-free push-on end caps (they also come supplied with Torque Caps for certain RockShox fork models).

The hubs are available in SRAM XDr,  Shimano Microspline or trad Hyperglide freehubs. You have seven anodised colours to choose from (purple, black, green, orange, red, blue or silver). Weight for a set of hubs is 362g and they’ll set you back £314.97 for the pair.

As mentioned, our test wheelset’s hubs are laced to a set of Reserve Alloy HD 30 – a decently rugged alloy offering. 30mm internal width, 22mm depth, 32 spoke holes and an asymmetrical design. The rims work well for regular trail and enduro riding. The rims arrived fully taped (swish looking tape too) and also had Reserve’s Fillmore high-flow tubeless valves installed. The rims retail for £149.99 each.

The wheels were set up with one of our favourite do it all tyre combos (Schwalbe Magic Mary front and Big Betty rear). Both tyres fitted, seated and inflated well with just a track pump.

Performance

Do you know what? There’s not a huge amount to say! In the best way possible. In the 10 months I’ve been using them I’ve had zero issues. They spin-up to speed fine, haven’t developed any play and have required zero maintenance.

The 8.2° of engagement is nicely Goldilocks in my opinion (not too baggy slow nor too twitchy quick). There aren’t any huge dead spots when sawing on the cranks or when getting the power down. Stamp on the pedals and you get forward momentum delivered as expected. They roll well, letting you cruise and pump the trail as normal.

They freehub is definitely on the louder end of the scale, which isn’t an issue for me, but some may care. And it may be worth noting that it’s a much more metallic-clicking-buzz than, for example, a high pitched Chris King freehub.

I’m not one for cleaning bikes after every ride, in fact quite the opposite. I tend to give a cursory hose-off when the mud is seriously bad. Despite such lax behavious, the sealing on the hubs seems first rate. Pulling the end-caps and freehubs off reveals clean internals, still with a light coating of the original grease.

As for the rims, similar to the hubs, they’ve done everything they’ve needed to without issue or cause for concern. In terms of ride feel, they are certainly on the stiffer end of the spectrum for alloy. I’ve noticed no real undue flex, but given their enduro-potential, that’s not surprising. They hold a line well and have a sure footed, muted feeling to them rather than getting pinged around and knocked off line. This adds confidence and you can basically let you get off the brakes and get through sections without worrying.

They’re still round, have no dents and look pretty much as good as day one (well, apart from the odd scratch or scuff).

Overall

After 10 months of use and abuse and zero maintenance there’s little to complain about with this wheelset. They’ve not put a foot wrong and the performance and durability speak for themselves. If you’re looking for a versatile custom wheelset then the no-nonsense design, reliability and durability of the One Up hubs should definitely put them on your shortlist.