First spotted in a booth at the Taipei Show, FSA’s Afterburner WideR wheels are now out burning up the trail. Based on the specs, FSA looks to have a solid contender with fairly wide asymmetric rims, great hubs, and a light weight build in both 27.5 and 29″ sizes. They seem to be pretty durable too, with Transition/Gravity putting them to the test on his way to second in the Challenge Enduro in Whistler…
Borrowing the PRA (Preload Reduction Assembly) system from Vision hubs, the aluminum hubs on the WideRs offer the same preload adjustment, sealed bearings (2 front, 4 rear), and a 6 pawl freehub with Shimano 9-11 or SRAM XD driver bodies. Axle caps are included to work with 9mm QR or 15 x 100 front and 135mm QR/ 142 x 12mm rear axles. Boost hub options will not be available until 2018, and hubs are only offered in 6 bolt configuration. If you’re looking for Boost, the Gravity Grid line has a Boost wheelset which is similar to the WideR Afterburners but without the PRA hub. However, those will soon be called the FSA Grid wheels as the Gravity brand will be merging into FSA in the near future.
The tubeless ready rims include sealant tape and valves and use a hookless profile that is 30mm external, 27mm internal, and 25mm deep. FSA mentions that just by utilizing an asymmetric rim profile they were able to boost the wheel strength by 17%. Built with 24 straight pull, dual cross spokes front and rear with brass nipples, weights are claimed to be 1,640g for the 27.5″ and 1,720g for the 29″. Available now.
