The Grail rim first brought Stan’s tubeless tech to road, cyclocross & gravel four years ago. Now it’s back in two new iterations – the carbon Grail CB7 & alloy Grail MK3, optimized for the current crop of high-quality tubeless all-road tires and finally disc brakes. Stan’s promises ultralight road wheel feel with the performance & comfort improvements of modern tubeless.
Stan’s Grail CB7 tubeless carbon gravel/road/CX bike rim
The new 21.6mm internal/26.4mm external carbon Grail CB7 rim is designed to pair with anything from a 25mm road tire, up to a 40mm gravel tire, with cross 33s in between. Now developed exclusively for disc brakes and proper tubeless tires (no more sketchy road notubes conversions) the low profile rim has a small hook and can be run up to 85psi/5.9bar with a narrow 25mm tire (less with bigger tire volumes which exert more force on the rim; ie. max 70psi at 32mm, 55psi at 40mm.)
The new carbon rims are said to weigh just 300g, thanks partly to the shallow 19.3mm deep profile, as Stan’s was looking to lower rotational weight for mixed-surface riding rather than going for overall aero optimization. They promise the quick acceleration feel you can only get from a super light wheelset.
The Grail CB7 rim shape promises all the benefits we’ve seen from wide road tubeless – wide tire shapes, more tire support at low pressures, better pinch flat resistance, easier tubeless setup, and lower rolling resistance.
In the layup, Stan’s uses their ‘radial impact absorbing carbon technology’ (RiACT), which claims to absorb vibrations and spread impact loads out further for better wheel durability, even reducing the occurrence of pinch flats even more.
Stan’s says the new Grail CB7 wheels have already podiumed, with Geoff Kabush riding to third over the weekend at the 2018 Dirty Kanza.
Grail CB7 tubeless gravel bike complete wheelset
The Grail CB7 rims get built into two complete wheelsets. The top-end Grail CB7 Pro wheels at just 1277g are presumably what Kabush was riding. They get built with Stan’s CNC-machined Neo Ultimate Speedsync hubs, 5° engagement & hardened steel ratchet, with 24F/28R Sapim Laser spokes & alloy nipples. Max rider weight 86kg/190lb.
A more affordable but still just 1360g Grail CB7 Team wheelset uses Stan’s 10° engagement Neo Durasync hubs and Sapim Force spokes. Max rider weight 104kg/230lb.
The Grail CB7 carbon rims automatically get Stan’s two-year carbon warranty. As for the complete wheelsets, if you register them with Stan’s, they extend that to five years of warranty coverage. Registering with Stan’s also gets you covered by Stan’s lifetime crash replacement program for rims or wheelsets.
Stan’s Grail MK3 tubeless alloy gravel/road/CX bike rim
The Grail MK3 is essentially designed to offer much of the same performance in a more attainable alloy rim. Again for 25-40mm tires, in the aluminum rim you can ramp up max pressures to 110ps with a 25mm tire, although you lose rolling resistance benefits at the high it seems.
The new MK3 evolves the original Grail rim shape with a lighter & stronger 6069 alloy construction. That brings it down to 440g while claiming to be stronger, more laterally stiffer and more resistant to dents than the original.
The MK3 isn’t quite as wide as the carbon Grail, but at 20.3mm internal/24mm external it still offers a wide platform and the same low-profile hooked bead. At 24.5mm it is also a bit deeper than the carbon rim, and Stan’s still says this one is fine to use with either proper road tubeless or ‘low-pressure converted tubeless’ tires, or even with tubes.
Stan’s Grail MK3 tubeless road bike complete wheelset
The alloy Grail MK3 is offered in just one complete wheelset, laced up to Neo Durasync hubs with 28F/28R Sapim Force spokes. Stan’s claims a Grail MK3 wheelset weight of 1675g. Both the complete Grail CB7 & MK3 wheels will get decal color options, plus a number of other customizing touches through Stan’s online Custom Wheel Builder.
The Grail MK3 rims automatically get a two-year warranty, plus one year of no-fault crash replacement.
Pricing & Availability
The new Grail CB7 carbon rims will sell individually for $600 a piece. Laced up, a Grail CB7 Pro wheelset will cost you $1635, while the Grail CB7 Team wheelset dials that back to $1400 with the same rims. The alloy Grail MK3 rims will sell on their own for $105 per rim, or built up into a Grail MK3 wheelset for $700.
Stan’s new Grail CB7 & Grail MK3 will be available as both rims on their own and built into wheelsets from regular dealers and consumer-direct from NoTubes.com later this month – June 2018.
