It is safe to say that Utah-based Mercury Cycling have one of the most rad-looking enduro wheelsets currently available on the market. The wild-looking silver-striped X1 Enduro Wheelset features a patent-pending Fiber-X composite material, which Mercury claim to be twice the tensile strength of hi-modulus carbon fiber, while also being capable of damping major impacts. With a price tag of $1,899, this enduro wheelset should provide an excellent ride feel and be bomb proof, right? For the 2019 race season, I got my Trek Slash enduro race bike rolling on a set of these 29er hoops, with the all-new Mercury Axis freehub with XD Driver. Before diving into the highs and lows of the review, let’s take a look at the Tech. There is a lot of it!

Mercury X1 Enduro with Fiber-X Tech
Not to beat about the proverbial bush, let’s get straight to that flashy silver-stripe. That’s the Fiber-X carbon composite which we still don’t really know anything about. Mercury say this composite adds an impact absorption characteristic to the wheel, with 2x the strength and 4x the damping properties of High Modulus Carbon. Just like a bullet proof vest absorbs the impact of a bullet, the Fiber-X composite adds strength to the rim and absorbs the energy from any impact or trail noise. On testing, Mercury say their wheels fared as well as the new Santa Cruz Reserve wheels, and were durable enough to withstand a double impact of 120 joules at the same location. Pretty impressive when you consider that the industry standard is just 80 joules in one hit.

In addition to the Fiber-X vibration damping material, the X1 Enduro rims are themselves formed with a rubberized resin. This engineering, borrowed from the airline industry, has been employed for durability purposes, protecting the rims during harsh impacts.

Mercury Axis Hubs



Mercury X1 Enduro: Testing
So, how do they ride?




The Broken Rim
Pricing & Availability
