In addition to their brakes and suspension forks, Formula has also been producing wheels since 2010/11. New to the line up this year are the XC and AM HyperLights which get the weight down with carbon rims so you can reach hyperspeed. Available in XC 29 and AM 27.5 only, the wheels bring wider rims to Formula’s wheel line along with multiple axle configurations.
Get the Formula for carbon rims next…
Carrying on the Volo naming structure (which means flight in Italian), the rims are constructed from 12k UD carbon with a tubeless ready bead hook. Measuring 22/28.8mm for the XC and 24/30.8mm for the AM HyperLights, the wheels are held together with 24 straight pull double butted spokes in a 2x pattern with self locking alloy nipples. The 29″ wheels are QR9 / 15 TA front and 135QR / 142 TA rear compatible. Rolling on cartridge and needle bearing hubs, the Shimano or SRAM XD freehub bodies offer 4-pawl/60 point engagement.
Fans of the 20mm axle will be happy to see that the AM HyperLights offer 15/20mm TA front compatibility and 135QR/142TA rear. With a claimed weight of 1,421g for the XC HyperLight and 1,574g for the AM (lightest configurations), the wheels are competitive with many of the wider carbon options on the market.
As one of the first forks to be seen with them in the U.S., the Santa Cruz above is rocking the new custom graphics for the ThirtyFive fork. Available for either the ThirtyThree or the ThirtyFive, custom graphics will be sold through formula though pricing has yet to be determined. Other touches that caught our attention were the piston bore headset cap, as well as one of the first CR3 brakes with the two piece adjustable PLA lever we’ve seen.
