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Tune Offers Sneak Peek at New Line of Road Wheels

Written by Zach Overholt
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On the road side of things, Tune has been putting out some impressively light road hubs that could star at the center of any boutique wheel build. With a full line of complete mountain wheels already available, Tune looks to be expanding their line of wheelsets for the road, which have already been spotted under the likes of Chris Froome at the Tour. Thanks to Fair Wheel bikes, the US distributor for Tune, we have a sneak peak of the upcoming complete wheel line up for the light weight focused German brand that will be unveiled at Eurobike.

The line up not only includes super light road wheels, including what may be the lightest production clincher ever, there are also road disc and aero road disc wheels after the break.

41mm_Clincher_Felge_VR

Having recently bought an existing carbon manufacturing company, Tune is shifting all of their carbon production in house – which most of these new wheels are a result of their new found in house carbon abilities. The new wheels will be grouped into four divisions – Skyliner, Skyline, Airline, and Schwarzbrenner with various models of each.

For Tune’s entry into the world of aerodynamically shaped rims, the Tune Airline utilizes a 41mm deep, 26mm wide carbon rim that weighs 395g. Available only as a clincher, the rim has been heavily tested with CFD and wind tunnel analysis to determine the best possible profile. Similar to the shape of Enve Smart System and Zipp Firecrest rims, the design proves to be aerodynamic while working well in various cross winds. The Airline will be available in a disc and non disc version.

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Model: Airline
Rim Type: Clincher
Rim Material: Carbon
Rim Dimension: 41mm deep, 26mm wide
Rim Weight:395 grams
Spokes: Sapim CxRay
Spoke Count: 20/24
Hubs: Tune Mig 45 and Mag 150
Wheelset Weight: 1185 grams
Rider Weight Limit: 110kgs

Airline disc.
Rim Type: Clincher
Rim Material: Carbon
Rim Dimension: 41mm deep, 26mm wide
Rim Weight: 400 grams
Spokes: Sapim Cx-Super
Spoke Count: 24/24 or 28/28
Hubs: Princess Skyline and Prince.
Wheelset Weight: 1285 grams.
Rider Weight Limit: 90kgs for 24h, and 110kgs for 28h.

Already spotted under Chris Froome at the Tour, the Skyliner wheelset is a traditionally shaped low profile carbon wheelset that is light. Very light. Available in both tubular and clincher, the clincher model may just be the lightest ever made at 965g for the wheelset. Oh, and the tubular is even lighter at 825g for the set. Yikes.

Model: Skyliner
Rim Type: Tubular
Rim Material: Carbon
Rim Dimension: 25mm deep, 18mm wide
Rim Weight: 220 grams
Spokes: Sapim Super Spoke
Spoke Count: 20/24
Hubs: Tune Mig 45 and Mag 150
Wheelset Weight: 825 grams
Rider Weight Limit: 90kgs

Model: Skyliner Clincher
Rim Type: Clincher
Rim Material: Carbon
Rim Dimension: 25mm deep, 18mm wide
Rim Weight: 300 grams
Spokes: Sapim Super Spoke
Spoke Count: 20/24
Hubs: Tune Mig 45 and Mag 150
Wheelset Weight: 965 grams
Rider Weight Limit: 90kgs

The Skyline wheelset will also be offered in a disc model that is light, but adds quite a bit of weight at 1300g per set.

Model: Skyline Road Disc
Rim Type: Clincher
Rim Material: Aluminum
Rim Dimension: 25mm deep, 18mm wide
Rim Weight: 355 grams
Spokes: Sapim Cx-Super
Spoke Count: 24/28
Hubs: Princess Skyline and Prince
Wheelset Weight: 1300 grams.
Rider Weight Limit: 90kgs.

Finally, the Schwarzbrenner (Black Burner) receives some changes and still offers one of the lightest wheels possible at a lower price than the Skylines. The Schwarzbrenners will be offered in a 25 and 42mm depth, at 1180 and 1398g respectively.

Model: Schwarzbrenner 25
Rim Type: Clincher
Rim Material: Carbon
Rim Dimension: 25mm deep, 18mm wide
Rim Weight:340 grams
Spokes: Sapim CxRay
Spoke Count: 20/24
Hubs: Tune Mig 70 and Mag 170
Wheelset Weight: 1180 grams
Rider Weight Limit: 110kgs

Model: Schwarzbrenner 42
Rim Type: Clincher
Rim Material: Carbon
Rim Dimension: 42mm deep, 18mm wide
Rim Weight:425 grams
Spokes: Sapim CxRay
Spoke Count: 20/24
Hubs: Tune Mig 70 and Mag 170
Wheelset Weight: 1398 grams
Rider Weight Limit: 110kgs
Zach Overholt
5,729 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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Evan
Evan
11 years ago

Whoa. 825 grams for the SET??? Think I’ll steer clear of those. That’s insane. Whatever the case, they need some nice graphics. It still boggles my mind that Lightweight uses such lame decals with that horrible logo.

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Jorge
Jorge
11 years ago

Price!

Man I’m waiting for the 2014 models to come out to finally buy a road bike…doing 200km on a MTB with 2.1″ XC tyre is making me depressed by the minute…

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David
David
11 years ago

Sounds too good to be true, let me guess,,,, maybe $3500

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MMyers
MMyers
11 years ago

I’d guess higher.

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G-man
G-man
11 years ago

Sub 1,000g shallow clinchers with low flange hubs and 20/24 spoking? That’ll be a soft wheel, safety concerns aside. Even with a stiff rim, the low spoke+shallow rim+small hub combo isn’t something I’d like to ride.

Now lace up the deep rims with some CK hubs and you’ve got something to think about!

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Eyal
Eyal
11 years ago

@G-man, the shallow rim is are ridden by Froome (tubular, rear) Why would the clincher version be soft? He’s not a slight guy, and I don’t think he’d choose a flexy wheel!

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Fatso
Fatso
11 years ago

@Eyal

Since when does Froome choose a wheel – he rides whatever wheel the highest bidder (sponsor) pays. These wheels will have a max rider weight of no more than 175lb at best and if you hit something I assure you they will crack.

90kgs for that lightweight set – Thats 200 pounds… I’m 200 pounds and I assure you anyone over 200 would destroy that.

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jon jon
jon jon
11 years ago

@fatso
team sky has 2 sets of those “light weight” climbing wheel, those are specially sourced, purchased, and built for the team captain, hence no logo on the wheelset what so ever. By default Team Sky has Shimano as wheel sponsor.

the same goes for spring classic tubulars, teams often pick and choose what tubular they would like to buy for their rider, hence company like FMB will make tires based on the number of order/request.

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nunyab
nunyab
11 years ago

Fatso obviously these are purpose built as a lightweight climbing wheel not as an everyday rider for a 200 pound guy. Parts can be purpose built. You obviously wouldn’t use a trispoke and disc combo for a cx bike nor would you use a montain bike for a Tt. Just because they don’t fit your requirement doesn’t mean they aren’t an ideal wheelset for someone else such as a lightweight climber. Would to put racing ralphs on your hardtail and then complain when it doesn’t work well for hucking

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Jacob
Jacob
11 years ago

@nunyab is absolutely right. Certain wheels for certain riders and purpose. I have two sets of wheels for my road bike. One for training and general riding and one for racing. Tune has a very good reputation in Europe and they build extremely good and reliable products with weight always at the forefront. Having said that, if you are 100Kg (220lbs) who destroy wheels on a regular basis, you should probably stay away from any wheelset with a weight limit. Know yourself and how you ride and treat and buy your equipment accordingly.

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Laurens
Laurens
11 years ago

A much better translation of “Schwarzbrenner” would be “bootlegger” or “bootleg distiller”.
Some serious feather weights from Tune – they’re known for extremely lightweight, fast accelerating, albeit a bit flexy mountain bike wheels for a long time now. Interesting to see what Uli Fahl’s company comes up with for road bikes

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sonic
sonic
11 years ago

I started cycling again about a year ago, then got myself a road bike, then some Fulcrum Racing Zero’s as they seemed to have good reviews. I didn’t see any warning about the weight limit until after I got them and was having problems with them.
If I had of seen the below disclaimer on the website before I purchased them, I wouldn’t have (I was 195ibs at the time)
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All Fulcrum wheels are constructed to meet the highest standards of resistance and durability. If you weigh over 109 kg/240 lbs we advise you not to use this product. Non compliance with this warning can damage the product irreversibly. If you weigh 82 kg/180 lbs or more, you must be especially vigilant and have your bicycle inspected more frequently (than someone weighing less than 82 kg/180 lbs).
======
I’m fit from practicing martial arts for years; If I was to drop below 180lbs how would I be able to defend myself and protect my expensive bike? These manufactures just don’t think 🙂

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