Announced today, the new RISE 60 wheels from SRAM are built to address the demands of serious XC riders. During their development, the company focused on five key attributes: weight, inertia, engagement, stiffness and durability.
To help achieve these goals, the new rims have a hookless bead design. This is a first for SRAM, and is claimed to offer a lighter, stiffer, and more durable wheel.
The rear hub makes use of a 4-pawl design that turns inside a 26 tooth ratchet ring for 52 points of contact. The offset pawl design is claimed to be extremely durable and offers 6.9 degrees of engagement.
The speedball bearings used throughout the hubs are all sourced from the same manufacturer to ensure perfect tolerances, and eliminate the need to adjust the preload.
Converting to different axle types has also been simplified using their Side Swap Symmetrical System, while allows you to install and remove the thread less end caps by hand. Since both the left and right caps are symmetrical, there is no margin for error.
SRAM has worked with multiple tire companies, and spent 1,500 hrs testing the wheels on the trails to ensure their new hookless bead is compatible with a wide variety of tires. To further help improve ride dynamics, the rims have also grown wider – to a 21mm ID.
In the event a spoke breaks, the wheels use the same spoke lengths throughout. So you only need to carry one size spare in your toolbox.
Each wheel set will be sold with a six color decal kit, for ultimate customization.
The Rise 60 wheels are available in 27.5 and 29″ variations (tubeless or clincher), with a number of different (swappable) axle configurations and XD driver compatibility, plus an option with a Predictive Steering Hub for use with the new Rockshox RS1 inverted XC Fork.
Weight for the lightest 27.5″ pair is 1390g and 1430g for the 29er hoops. Availability for 27.5″ model is January 2015, but the 29er wheel set will begin shipping this November. Price for a front wheel is $950 (or $990 for the predictive steering version), and the rear wheels cost $1040 USD.
Learn more at SRAM
