Mountain bike wheels are a challenge, and that's putting it mildly. To start, while the world has sort of coalesced around two sizes (27.5 and 29), the legacy of 26" wheels means that there are three wheel sizes. Front axles can be QR, 15mm (in 100mm or 110mm widths), 20mm, or Lefty, while rear can be QR, 10x135, 12x135, 12x142, 12x148, and even a few others. And that's without getting into fat bikes. On top of all that, there are rims appropriate for cross country, trail, enduro, all mountain, downhill... You see the point.
We're going to try and keep this simple and bite off only what we can chew. We have absolutely no experience or expertise with downhill, having been on downhill bikes for a combined grand total of 4 hours (although they were possibly 4 of the most fun hours I've ever spent on a bike).
On the other hand, we have quite a bit of XC experience, and if you ride XC enough that sort of bleeds into what the cool kids call trail and light all mountain. To put it into a parlance that many will understand, the spread of uses we aim to initially serve are covered by Stan's Crest, Arch, and Flow rims.
Unsurprisingly, we will offer those three rims as options. We will also offer Easton/Race Face ARC rims, Easton and Race Face being different brands of identical products from the same company. You're covered for tires from a 2.1" Racing Ralph through to a 3" Minion Plus. If we see another compelling option then we'll jump on it, but that range gives you just about everything you could want if you're riding your bike, and not a lift, to the top.
Hubs are of course where a mountain biker's bread gets buttered, and where we see ourselves adding the most value. There are lots of wheels you can buy off the peg with so-so hubs. We aim to give you cost competitive options to those with hubs that will happily catch anything you might throw at them, with a full range of axle options, future proof-ness, and of course the stylish colors. Between White Industry, I9, and Chris King, what more could a gal ask for?
We go a little extra on the spokes, with the Select option using Sapim Race for the on side and D-Lights for the off side, while Select+ will use CX Sprints and CX Rays for those respective duties.
Okay then, so Select MTB. There you have it.
18 comments
Nice…when does this start up? I have a few mountain bikes that could use new hoops.
Ryan – Game on. It's up now – Dave
No carbon, good sir?
Nope.
Industry Nine !! Finest hubs on this planet .