Knight Composite Wheels have made some big claims by stating they’ve developed the world’s fastest wheels and now they’re putting their toes wheels in the dirt. The new line of off-road wheels will make their first appearance under the bikes of the Novus OMX Pro Team this season and will soon be available to the public.
Don’t let the race team sponsorship fool you though as they have a full line-up of off-roadable goods including Trail, Enduro, “Plus”, and performance Gravel/XC worthy hoops…
We were introduced to Knight Composites a year ago making some bold, yet scientific claims that they were striving to make made the world’s fastest wheels. Because you can’t have a functioning bike without a wheel and vice versa, they took the approach to make a wheel that improved the bike’s overall aerodynamics rather than the wheel as a stand-alone component. Made up of a sort of all-star team, Knight Composites was founded in 2013 by former ENVE (Edge at the time), employees Beverly Lucas and Jim Pfeil (who also started Reynolds Composites). Though new to the wheel block, Knight Composites, is no spring chicken when it comes to experience in this elite category.
The 29 Gravel X wheelset, though labeled as a “gravel” wheel is suited for a wide range of uses. The width, durability and weight of it puts it into the XC race category, and it can also be used as a light weight, durable touring wheel. The rim has a 22.5 inner width and weighs in at 368 grams. Complete wheelsets come in at a scant 1323 grams with DT240 hubs and 1453 grams with Chris Kings.
The Trail wheelset is available in 29er and soon a 27.5″ configuration. Having a hearty 25mm internal width, the trail wheels should give your 2.2-ish tire a nice rounded profile. Only 20 grams heavier than the Gravel X, at 400 grams (29er), these could be well suited for XC duty should you prefer life on the wide side. Complete, the 29er Trails are a feathery 1383 grams, (DT240’s) and 1513 grams, (Chris King).
The Enduro Wheelset beefs up internal width to 30mm to give those 2.4’s some good real-estate to spread out. The rim weighs in at 443 grams with wheelsets coming in a barely over 1500 grams (with DT Swiss hubs). A 29er version is in the works as well, with the same rim dimensions. 
The large and in charge 27.5 plus size offerings boast a 45mm internal width and come in at a very respectable weight of 1559 grams with the DT240s, (for reference, that is actually respectable for a 29er set of XC race wheels).
All wheels start off at $2,499 (correction), $2,199 with Aivee Sr5 hubs then go up to $2,599 with DT 240’s, and $2,749 with Chris Kings.
To kick 2016 off, Knight Composites is sponsoring the Novus OMX Pro Team for 2016. Stacked with some reputable talent, Knight Composites is looking forward to gaining some podium rich exposure with this partnership.
The 2016 Novus OMX Pro Team is made up of (top left, clockwise, from Novus):
- Cherie Vale from Western Cape, South Africa, took the Elite Women South Africa Champion title in 2015
- Mariske Strauss, from Cape Town South Africa, took 2nd at the XCM World Cup in Malaysia and 8th in the U23 XCO World Champs 2013
- Shlomi Haimy won both the XCO and XCM Israeli National Championship titles and is committed to becoming Israel’s first ever Olympic mountain biker.
- Isla Short was one of the World’s top junior riders and currently a promising U23 talent. In her first year she was stricken with illness and injuries leaving 2016 to be her breakout year.
- Annie Last is a four-time British Elite Champion, two-time U23 World Championship Silver Medallist, U23 World Cup Winner, London Olympian (8th place), and Elite World Cup podium finisher. Just signing with Novus OMX, at 25, Annie has only begun to shine.
CEO and Co-Founder of Knight Composites, Beverly Lucas, says,
“When we embarked on our journey into off-road, we tested every competitor wheel on the market – the wheels we knew we would be compared to and challenged by. Wheels designed by engineers we already had a lot of respect for, who earned it by constantly innovating to make better products. That’s where we set our benchmark, and so finding the right team to compliment that intent, to train and race on our wheels and offer solid feedback on a global level, was absolutely paramount. The young men and women at Novus OMX Pro Team told us they wanted to become the world’s number one XC race team by Tokyo 2020, beginning by chasing places at Rio and winning races on the World Cup circuit and other important events, and this totally resonated with our small team here across the pond in Oregon. The drive to win is, of course, very important to have in your heart if you’re striving to be a champion, but it’s also important to go out every day on the bike knowing you can depend on equipment that will give you that edge, no matter how long you’ve been in the sport. So that’s what we hope we can bring to the table for OMX and we couldn’t be more excited to be their partner for 2016 and beyond.”
Paul Beales, Manager at Novus OMX Pro Team, had this to say:
“Knight Composites in a company formed from some of the World’s leading specialists who have come together to produce extraordinary wheels; to have them as a sponsor of Novus OMX is a real privilege. Not only do we have their expertise behind us, but also their dedication in helping us to be the best.”
