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Recently came across a few interesting things in this space, not all new but I hadn't come across them before. Anything else interesting for our amusement?
Specialized Carbon FlatTop 4mm wide rims to help prevent pinch flats:
Zipp 3Zero Moto single-wall rim:
Vibrocore rim:
Trailmech big-bearing hub:
Onyx silent hubs:
BERD string spokes:
Mavic Crossmax sealed rim so no tape required (but special spokes):
Classified's new 'singlespeed' short freehub 2-speed hub..
Not really but fingers crossed.. at 475g for the current 2-speed hub a version for a single sprocket could be so good / so niche.
Buddy of mine had some of those Zipp wheels. Even a non sensitive crasher like me could tell the difference!
Classified Powershift hubs
https://www.classified-cycling.cc/powershift-technology
edit - just beaten to it.
Have you seen hubs with hook flanges for the BERD spokes?
KOM hubs
https://www.k-o-m.co.uk/xeno-hub
/blockquote>Interesting, and doesn't look complicated. But very boutique, and proprietary brake rotors.
Buddy of mine had some of those Zipp wheels. Even a non sensitive crasher like me could tell the difference!
Looks like STW had some in 2019, but there's no review on the site. Maybe in the mag if someone were to dig through the PDFs. Plenty of reviews on other sites anyway.
Have you seen hubs with hook flanges for the BERD spokes?
Nice.
Classified’s new ‘singlespeed’ short freehub 2-speed hub..
Not really but fingers crossed.. at 475g for the current 2-speed hub a version for a single sprocket could be so good / so niche.
oh man I would love it so, so much if they release a dingle-speed mtb friendly hub
it's save me the thousands I may otherwise spend on a Pinion frame
Why does the singlewall rim allow movement when the traditional pattern doesn’t? In either case the spoke is held by the nipple collar on the outer wall. Movement should be similar.
Have we moved on from square wheels yet?
The mavic rims remind me of my tubeless xtr 26” wheels. They have a sealed rim bed too. Surely those two can’t be the only ones or am I missing something?
Why does the singlewall rim allow movement when the traditional pattern doesn’t? In either case the spoke is held by the nipple collar on the outer wall. Movement should be similar.
I don't get it either. Do you want a flexy rim? We used to use single wall rims all the time. Twin wall came in for greater stiffness / strength
Just in case anyone's tempted...
Specialized FlatTop rims - only on the XC-oriented Control wheels, not the Traverse ones.
Zipp 3Zero Moto rim - owned by SRAM so no Microspline hubs, £2k or rim only are £750 each.
Vibrocore rim - not at all convinced.
Trailmech big-bearing hub - very noisy.
Onyx silent hubs - £575 for the rear hub.
BERD string spokes - just no!
KOM hubs - very boutique, noisy, proprietary brake rotor, £500 for the rear hub.
Mavic sealed rim - seems to only available on full wheelset, 24 spoke, and proprietary spokes.
What’s wrong with the berd spokes?
I love the idea of those BERD spokes, maybe one day I'll get to try them.
I have an 9nyx vesper hub on a hardtail. Love the soft instant engagement and the silence is wonderful.
Not tried 8ne on a full sus, not sure how annoying the kickback might be.
What’s wrong with the berd spokes?
I love the idea, especially the weight saving, the main thing that puts me off is that you have to send your hubs off to be reamed, so that there's no sharp edges to gradually chew through the string.
You can ream at home, or use straight pull hubs, or hook flange hubs.
Maybe someone will start making prereamed spoke holes. I don't mind the reaming as such, it's the removal of the surface coating that irks me.
What’s wrong with the berd spokes?
Cost and complexity (IMO) yes there's a weight saving but they ain't cheap and the wheel builds you see with them on YT etc seem to require triple the effort...
I think I came across another string spoke system last week. On an XC Wheelset they were claiming a crazy light weight. Did not appear to need the holes reaming either.
Can they fit straight pull without reaming?
Maybe someone will start making prereamed spoke holes. I don’t mind the reaming as such, it’s the removal of the surface coating that irks me.
see bikes and boots's post up there, they now offer a hub with hooks rather than holes which solves this problem although only with centrelock rotor mount, which annoys me as a hope brake fanboi.
Berd spokes certainly feature on my money no object fantasy lottery win dream build.
Why does the singlewall rim allow movement when the traditional pattern doesn’t?
I think it's to do with the height of the sidewall as that is where most of the force is concentrated when you twist a rim like that. There is almost no sidewall in the single wall version
That Berd string (IMO) doesn't look anywhere as nice as Spinergy spokes.
see bikes and boots’s post up there, they now offer a hub with hooks rather than holes which solves this problem
Yes, I did see that, possibly because I mentioned them in the post above that. 😁
I'm also waiting for a 6 bolt version. Are the Talon hubs CL only as well?
Why does the singlewall rim allow movement when the traditional pattern doesn’t?
A single wall Al rim won't be as torsionally stiff as a box section Al rim of similar weight and a wider rim will help the sort of twist the diagram shows, in carbon it can have the directional stiffness adjusted to work this way to some extent. Unsure how any twist can be quite localised to help on hard edge impacts without the rim being quite flexy overall, maybe something in the spoke support pattern. Dunno. Certainly an interesting one.
that you have to send your hubs off to be reamed, so that there’s no sharp edges to gradually chew through the string.
No you don’t, the build kit comes with a tool.
Can they fit straight pull without reaming?
Yep.
I get they are a pain to build, but a couple more hours isn’t a lot in the lifespan of the wheel is it? They cost what they cost, if they are worth it is up to the buyer.
I was interested enough after finding that out to go look at the pricing. 48 spokes and the build kit £500. Here ends that interest (sadly as they look cool).
With everything heading towards tubeless,I thought that there would be more Crankbrothers (Cobalt) type of rims on the market.
I have a string spoked wheel. An old Sugino/Tomac/ thing. Never used. Decades old I guess.
A Sugino Tension Disc or a Tioga Disc Drive? Either way, that's prime eBay material I'd imagine.
Yeah. Too lazy. Sat in the shed for years after I was given it.
Yeah. Too lazy. Sat in the shed for years after I was given it
I'll do you the favour of taking it away for a fiver...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225446946721
I'm sure my Shimano XT wheelset had sealed rims about ten years ago?
The original mavic ust system was a sealed rim, but had special screw in nipples, which made it heavy and expensive to manufacture. Taping up standard wheels (preferibly with a suitable profile for the tyre) was cheaper and lightere. Light bicycle used to (and might still do) a sealed rim where you would thread the nipples through the valve hole with a bit of cotton to the nipple hole which looked a nightmare and far too much effort to put into a wheel build for mere mortals.
Strewth!
The mavic rims remind me of my tubeless xtr 26” wheels. They have a sealed rim bed too. Surely those two can’t be the only ones or am I missing something?
I've got some of the original kysirium road wheels with sealed rim bed. Bought them around the turn of the century...
I've some Mavic Allroad's with the UST rim bed, they are great
Tubeless tape is such a hack
Is that sealed rim not just basically any old UST? ie an ingenious way of making a heavier rim that's a bastard to build wheels out of, in order to avoid the issues of tubeless tape which you can equally avoid just by not sucking at tubeless tape and which are anyway very nearly completelya thing of the past with modern wider rims? Mavic always masters of being behind the times but I didn't expect them to reinvent the Crossmax Enduro in 2023.
I really like the string spokes, too expensive for me just now but I might give it a go in future. Partly because I'm a weenie but mostly just because they're ridiculous. And the specialized anti-beads are sort of genius- they were the first mainstream brand to do beadless tubeless but this puts metal back in exactly the right place, kinda cool.
i’ve just been looking at the Weiting Separate Floating Engagement Ratchet System on pinkbike. the ratchet is on the freehub and the pawls are in the hub.
there are a lot of tiny springs and pawls just waiting to get jettisoned around the garage, but a nifty approach.
We Are One Composites and their Convergence rim:
there are no false claims or made-up numbers. Our target was straightforward - design a shape that had beauty and function , with a 30% minimum increase in impact strength, and provide the best ride feel we have ever delivered to the rider
Stereo Ratchet Sound!