New 29er Wheels from DT Swiss – Carbon Tubulars, Alloy Clinchers & Rims, More

After teasing us for too long, DT Swiss has (finally) rolled out some high-end 29er wheels and suspension forks. Shown above are the XRC950T-29 carbon tubular 29er wheels and Tricon XM15500-29 alloy clinchers. The names are borrowed from their corresponding 26″ models, so the numbers don’t match the actual weights, but we’ve got them both, and some new 29er rims, on the scale after the break.

There’s also an entry level 29er wheelset, sleek new RWS skewers and more hiding in here. Click on through to see it all…

The new XRC950T carbon tubulars were developed for their SwissPower pro team riders (Nino and Florian), and they’re in both 26 and 29er. The riders race on both sizes and wanted the same wheel for each. They’re in production and will be coming out mid-summer. Later this year will be some clincher versions, too!

Target weight is around 1200g for the 29er version. This set weighed in at 679 (rear) and 575g (front) for a total of 1254.

The Tricon XM 1550 29 Tubeless wheelset uses their high end three-piece Tricon hubs with the spoke mounts that are bonded and screwed to the hub body. This let’s them run about 15% higher spoke tension without putting stresses on the hubshell that would affect the bearings.

Weight is claimed around 1765g, but that’s not final yet. This set came in at 971g (rear) and 843g (front) = 1814g, so they’ve got a bit of trimming to do to hit that goal, but these were pre-production and weren’t rideable samples, so they could already have it done.

They’ll save a bit of system weight because no rim tape/strip is needed to make them tubeless.

Price is $1500/set. Available this summer, they’re already in production.

Pictured directly above is the hub for their new M1800 Tubeless 29er wheelset which is an upper-entry level with star ratchet hub, boat rim inserts and same rim as higher end Tricon wheels but standard hub and spokes  (check this post for more on DT’s wheel tech, including the AM 29er wheelset and new hubs shown at Interbike last year). Wheel set weight is about 1950g and price is around $700.

Both 29er wheelsets will come as either 15mm or 9mmQR. The XM1550 can swap between the two, but the M1800 is either/or only, not swappable. Rear axle options are QR, 135×10 and can be converted to 135×12 or 142×12 with optional end caps on both.

New high end alloy 29er rims with single weld construction (not just sleeved or pinned) are the XR400 29er at 450g and 24mm wide and XM490 29er that’s about 490g and 26mm wide. Both should retail around $80. Available mid-summer. Actual weights from our scale are:

To convert their standard rims to tubeless, DT Swiss has their own conversion kit that includes Stan’s-like sealant and this rim strip to bump up the rim thickness so the tire bead sits  snugly against the lip.

Last but not least, their new RWS skewers for road (top) and mountain bike (middle) now have alloy levers and a recessed button. These replace the old one with the composite lever and extended button that could get popped off in a wreck and leave you with no easy (ie. tool free) way to remove your wheel. DT’s Paul Gueberra says they’re just as light because they’re so chiseled, but stronger. We say they’re better looking, too. Ti and steel axles will be available.