Plus bikes offer a lot of benefits from the enlarged tires, but they also come with a lot of mass. It’s pretty simple – bigger rims and bigger tires are going to add more weight. With tire manufacturers figuring out the line between durability and weight, the other place for plus bike owners to look for weight savings is in the wheels themselves.
Options like the Reynolds 27.5 Plus carbon wheels promise lighter weight of course, but they also include a high end build that is worthy of an upgrade by itself…
Essentially a super sized version of their Black Label mountain bike wheels, the 27.5 Plus uses the same MR5 (Mountain Rim 5) carbon technology. Combined with a hookless bead profile, the rims are designed to have high impact resistance while aiding in tubeless set up. Measuring 40mm internally and 45mm externally, the rims have a 24mm deep profile.
In the center of each wheel you’ll find a Reynolds branded hub with a small Industry Nine logo on it as well. Custom made for Reynolds, these i9 hubs load 28 spokes in a straight pull configuration, but with Pillar bladed steel spokes instead of i9’s aluminum spokes (current production wheels use Sapim CX-Ray spokes). Along with the Industry Nine name comes their legendary 120 point, 6 pawl free hub design which provides three degrees of engagement. These wheels can be ordered with either the XD or Shimano free hub body, but they use the standard i9 free hub body for easy swaps.
Given that they are plus wheels, the wheels are sold with Boost spacing – 110 x 15 front, and 148 x 12mm rear. The hubs use a Centerlock rotor mount, but also ship with 6 bolt adapters in the box. Wheels also come pre-taped and include tubeless valve stems for $2,600.
Weighed with tape but no valves, the wheels come in at 850g for the front and 980g for the rear, combining to make 1,830g total. The claimed weight is 1,795g without rim tape, so not too far off.
Installing a pair of Terrene Chunk Light tires on the rims went as well as you could expect, with the tires having a tight fit that made for instant seating, but not so tight that it was a struggle to get them on the rim. A quick pop with a pump, and they were ready to go.
We’ll check back in when they have some more miles, but so far, so good.
