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Race Face roll on new Turbine R wheelset, and Vault hubs

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Race-Face_Turbine-R_trail-enduro-mountain-bike-wheelset_Vault-hub-detail

Race Face’s new Turbine R trail riding wheels are built around an all-new oversized alloy Vault hubset, the first to be branded as a Race Face product, and a new all-mountain aluminum rim. The Vault hubs were developed in house from scratch to try to build a mountain hub that could deliver the performance and stand up to the extreme use that Race Face products are used to. The rim uses a new alloy to better handle the impacts an enduro wheel gets punished with and goes with a 30mm internal width for good wide tire support.

And apparently that R stands for Rally. Race Face will be fine with you racing the new wheels, but they are more expecting you to get loose and put the wheels through the wringer…

The Vault rear hub’s asymmetric design was all about improving drive side torsional stiffness (which is said to improve 20% over their previous Aeffect XC/Trail wheels) and lateral stiffness. The hubs get a 60 tooth drive ring with 2 sets of 3 pawls offset for 120 points of engagement and nearly instantaneous 3° of crank rotation to put power to the pedals.

The hubs spin on widely spaced, large ball 6902 standard bearings for long life, good load distribution, and low resistance. The Vault hubs then get low-drag labyrinth seals specially designed to keep the elements out and the bearings spinning smoothly for a long time.

Race-Face_Turbine-R_trail-enduro-mountain-bike-wheelset_wheel

The Turbine R wheels use a new light 6069 alloy that Race Face claims to be 40% stronger than the more commonly used 6061. That gives them more durability at the bead hook which is often the point of failure on trail and enduro wheels due to rock strikes, and it let them thin the extrusion overall to get the weight of the 27.5″ rim down to a claimed 460g.

Race-Face_Turbine-R_trail-enduro-mountain-bike-wheelset_alloy-rim-detail

The asymmetric rim profile has a 30mm internal width, and shifts its spoke bed 4.5mm for more even spoke tension side-to-side (a 50% improvement in tension balance out back). That works together with the oversized hubs that yield a single spoke length per wheel, and results in a wheel that is stronger, longer lasting, and more likely to stay true over time.

The Vault hubs of the Turbine R wheels are all about compatibility. They get tool free end caps to jump through the standard axles and even QRs. Boost and non-Boost hubs are available, of course with the Boost versions getting flatter spoke angles due to wider hub bodies, and therefore improved wheel stiffness.

Race-Face_Turbine-R_trail-enduro-mountain-bike-wheelset_EWS-Argentina_photo-Sven-Martin

The Devinci Global Racing team has been working with Race Face to ride and test the new wheels, and it was this athlete partnership that helped Race Face settle on the 30mm internal width. This seemed to be an ideal size to give the wheels a flexible character that can cover pretty much anything from all-mountain trail riding to proper enduro racing.

Out of the box, the Turbine R wheels come set up for tubeless with tape and valves already installed.

Race-Face_Turbine-R_trail-enduro-mountain-bike-wheelset_Vault-hub-front Race-Face_Turbine-R_trail-enduro-mountain-bike-wheelset_Vault-hub-rear

Both front and rear wheels comes in two hub options to suit Boost or not. The non-Boost front hubs can swap out the standard 15×100 end caps to fit 20x110mm thru-axles, 9×100 quick release, 15×100 Rock Shox torque caps (not RS1). The rear non-Boost hubs come set up for 12×142, but can swap for 12x135mm thru-axles or 10×135 quick release. Boost versions stick with 15×110 & 12×148, although the front can still add the oversized Rock Shox torque caps. All end cap swapping is tool free.

Rear hubs can use either SRAM XD or Shimano 10 speed cassette bodies. 27.5 wheels get a claimed total weight of 1730g, while 29ers bump that up to 1815g. Both sizes will sell independently for $480 for the front and $640 for the rear.

RaceFace.com

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18 Comments
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JDM
JDM
8 years ago

I have the original Turbine wheels and use them for XC. I`m a heavy guy so 28 spokes and not weight wennie stuff was safer for me. I paid 270euros for them with a MSRP of 500euros and I must admit, I really like them.Now, the Turbine R will cost over 1000euros? Huge difference if you ask me.

Marin
Marin
8 years ago

The prices are really getting out of hand on bikes and parts lately.
No super boost hub??

myke2241
myke2241
8 years ago
Reply to  Marin

I would not say $1k is crazy or high for a wheelset. That being said there are better options on the market for close to the same price

Marin
Marin
8 years ago
Reply to  myke2241

Come on. I re-laced my DT M1700 Spline 2 with XM481 and added 36T ratchet.
Got a sub 1800gr 29er wheelset that’s cheap and works wonderfully.
You could do the same for like 400€ with all parts.

steve
steve
8 years ago
Reply to  Marin

M1700 wheels have an internal rim with of 20mm, these have 30mm. 36T ratchet has 10d engagement these have 3d. Not really comparing the same products. If those things are not important to you then you don’t need to purchase these wheels. Your comparison is way off base.

steve
steve
8 years ago
Reply to  steve

I stand corrected the M1700 have a 22.5mm internal and cost $800, then you put XM 481 rims on them with a 30mm internal and $140 each rim. + drive ring $40 = $1120. Which is over the retail price of these wheels and doesn’t include the cost to rebuild.

Marin
Marin
8 years ago
Reply to  steve

Street price on XM471 is about 70-75 € per rim, DT Comp or Sapim race spokes are about 50€ and choice of hubs is yours.
So, 200€ plus hubs be that DT350/240, Hope, Novatec/Bitex or if you’re feeling rich CK, Tune or some other more exotic brands.
However you can build a perfectly functional wheelset with good reliable hubs and these parts for 400€ or less.
While these are 1000… for what??

Ryan
Ryan
8 years ago

Stan’s on King hubs are cheaper, lighter, prettier, and have more spokes. Are these really going to sell for the MSRP? Or are they just listing them that so OEMs can put a $1k wheel on their build sheet.

steve
steve
8 years ago
Reply to  Ryan

stan’s on king is $50 less, 230g more, 5mm narrower.

chase
chase
8 years ago

Looks great. But I will wait to see how those free hubs hold up. I am a big fan of axial tooth engagement hubs (aka Chris King and DT). I have experienced several destroyed hubshells due to cracking of shells due to ring gear failure from force under heavy loaded climbing. I am sure most riders never will experience this , but it happens.
That is why I own 4 sets of CK hubs.

ryan
ryan
8 years ago
Reply to  chase

Six bolt IS rotors are cheap to replace. That’s gonna matter to some folks. Center lock is nice, but not the cheapest solution.

derk@gmail.com
derk@gmail.com
8 years ago

Nice, but why is 6-bolt still around when centerlock is much better? Is it a licensing thing?

JNH
JNH
8 years ago
Reply to  derk@gmail.com

Shimano aren’t sharing. Also, whilst Centrelock is faster, simpler and more secure, 6-Bolt isn’t one of the things most riders would single out for improvement. When was the last time a 6 bolt disc failed without either a fault, a crash or some kind of mechanic based silliness to help it along?

the biz
the biz
8 years ago
Reply to  JNH

faster, simpler, more secure. those aren’t reasons enough for improvement?

Nico
Nico
8 years ago
Reply to  the biz

The information you are looking for is this. How many have a set of torx keys, or just a t25 on their multitool, compared to the ones with a Shimano cassette removal-toll (that actually fits a CL lockring).

It might be simpler, but it still requires a speciality tool that few have in their toolbox..

steve
steve
8 years ago

why are the comments not showing up?

ca ca
8 years ago

worth the moneys!

Michael Dorian Bach
7 years ago

Does anyone have any experience with how loud these hubs are? How do they compare to say DT240? I want a good wheelset that doesn’t make a racket down the trail in terms of hub noise.

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