With the fairly surprising announcement of American Classic’s halt to wheel production just last week, we’ve started to see a bit of reshuffling in the industry. Their light, high-value wheels built a solid position in the market, both among consumers and industry product managers. Now Lauf is the first to announce plans to look elsewhere for rolling stock in 2018 for their highly sought after True Girt carbon gravel bike.
Lauf moves from AM Classic to DT Swiss wheels
Lauf are pretty big fans of the American Classic Race29 wheels, favoring the affordable, light & wide cross-country wheelset as a solid crossover, do-it-all gravel bike wheelset. Now that Lauf are delivering the first waves of their new carbon gravel bike, they felt the need to move to a suitable alternative with an eye towards consistency for customers. It is true that the industry is likely to see some news of the continuation of American Classic in name and/or their product range, but Lauf has decided to opt for DT Swiss where they can deliver unquestioned quality & performance. (And growing numbers as Lauf’s gravel bike seems to be selling quite well.)
The DT wheels are generally more expensive than the Amclassic wheels (even on the OEM side). But Lauf says they are able to keep their complete bike prices the same, while offering the slightly narrower DT wheels that hit at almost the same total weights.
Lauf has two primary complete bike builds. Their Race spec will opt for DT’s XR1501 Spline One wheels in 22.5mm internal width. We previewed these trail-ready wheels on an XC bike when they were overhauled for summer 2016, based on their 240s star ratchet hubs and new asymmetric rims.
For their Weekend Warrior complete bikes, Lauf selected the 22.5mm wide DT Swiss X1900. Based off the more affordable 370, standard 3-pawl hubs, the wheels are actually lighter than what they had spec’d before.
Read the full text of Lauf’s press release below:
We want to let our customers know that over the next couple of months we will start shipping our Lauf True Grit gravel bikes with DT Swiss wheels. This move is initiated by the abrupt shutdown of the American Classic factory. We wish the people of American Classic good luck with their future projects, while we thank them for all the great wheels they have sold us through the years.
A key for Lauf in its expansion over the next years is working with great partners. As the demand for our True Grit gravel bike has greatly exceeded our most optimistic estimations, now is a good time to bring in a solid company like DT Swiss as a partner, as they make some of the best wheels with exceptional quality. For us to meet the increased sales volumes and high expectations of our customers, everything must run as clockwork in our supply chain.
For those who have Lauf bikes with American Classic Wheels, know that we will take good care of you in the case of any warranty issues arising. It’s important to emphasize that we’ve had great experience with the quality of these wheels, but in the unlikely case something happens we’ve got you covered.
Our Race level bikes will make the following swap:
Out: American Classic Race 29 – 110kg weight limit for gravel use, 24mm internal width, 1459g.
In: DT Swiss XR1501 29” 22.5 – 110kg weight limit for XC use, 22.5mm internal width, asymmetric rim for even spoke tension, 1533g.Our Weekend Warrior level bikes will make the following swap:
Out: American Classic AM28 rim with Terrain hub – 110kg weight limit for XC use, 24mm internal width, 1809g.
In: DT Swiss X1900 29” 22.5 – 110kg weight limit for XC use, 22.5mm internal width, 1795g.
