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American Classic Wheels has the Smokin’ Gun with new Super Wide Aluminum MTB Wheels

Written by Jayson O'Mahoney
19 Comments
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ACSmokingGun2016-1

Unlike a smoking gun conspiracy, there are no smoke and mirrors with American Classic’s new SUPER-WIDE Smokin’ Gun wheelset. Available in 29″ or 27.5″, the wheelset features Bill Shook’s latest engineering design feat – a tubeless rim measuring 43mm wide, 40mm inside. Pull the trigger for more…

 

ACSmokingGun2016-2

If you thought American Classic’s Wide Lightning wheelset was wide, the Smokin’ Gun wheelset goes jumbo. Designed to be strong enough for enduro, but with great speed and nimble handling, the 43mm wide aluminum rim widens the tire, creating a bigger contact patch, resulting in improved ground control.

ACSmokingGun2016-3The Smokin’ Gun wheelset is meant for awesome fun on the trails – as well as racing. 32 non-proprietary 14/15 gauge black spokes front and rear will keep things running true.

ACSmokingGun2016-4

Approximate weights for the Smokin’ Gun 27.5″ pair are claimed to be 1,733 grams with the Smokin’ Gun 29″ pair at 1,790 grams. Both variants are available with standard American Classic disc brake hubs, front Lefty, the new RS1 reactive steering hub, and new Boost Hubs – more on those later.

Other wheelset choices include thru-axle or regular quick release. Wheelsets are supplied with American Classic’s tubeless valves, and their new Blue tubeless tape sets, which feature one fiber layer and one blue tape layer.

Expect to see these wheels debut at Eurobike – Hall B3-512 or Interbike – Booth 9168.

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Jayson O'Mahoney
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19 Comments
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JBikes
JBikes
9 years ago

Will these be so wide as to make my enduro baggies appear lycra tight?

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Glenn
Glenn
9 years ago

Always afraid of price…but huge rims, nice hubs, normal spokes and plenty of them…. best wheel news I’ve seen here in a long time.

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Ryan
Ryan
9 years ago

Again, will these be available as rim only?

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i
i
9 years ago

Might be a typo, but… 43mm outer/40mm inner width scares me. I can’t say I’ve seen any other rim with 1.5mm bead hooks; that doesn’t sound thick enough to withstand what a bead goes through…

Also, why do they wait to announce stuff like this till the week after I buy wheels?

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benzo
benzo
9 years ago

Love it: “Designed to be strong enough for enduro, but with great speed and nimble handling.”

Magic advertisement: a 29 wheel (or 27 for that matter) that is 43 outer and “nimble”, not only but it goes “fast”!!!!!!!!!! (less need to pedal one would guess?)

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Veganpotter
Veganpotter
9 years ago

If I did Enduro racing I’d be pretty afraid of the rim being 1.5mm wide on each side too. As a timid mountain biker, I’ll definitely consider buying these for cross-country riding with wide tires

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Pete
Pete
9 years ago

1.5mm thick walls below the bead hook is totally normal for a hooked aluminum rim and has been holding up well for a lot of rims for a long time. The bead hook is normally around 2-2.5mm wide.

Armchair kneejerk reactions!

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Fatso
Fatso
9 years ago

@Veganpotter So the Commencal team that does the Enduro World Series on them and has on rider in 3rd place overall that are using them beating the snot out of them should be proof enough. They say “prototype” on the rim but same wheels: http://ink361.com/app/users/ig-1463462848/amclassicwheels/photos/ig-1050037750824994062_1463462848

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Bob
Bob
9 years ago

I agree with Ryan, get the rims and get them laced to better hubs. AC rear engagement is slow. I had the rear hub on my Wide Lightnings replaced and glad I did.

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craigsj
craigsj
9 years ago

For that matter, why get the rims either?

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Ciclistedelcamino
Ciclistedelcamino
9 years ago

It’s nice to see A.C. Deviate from their traditional I-Taco lacing.

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Pfs
Pfs
9 years ago

The really amazing thing here is that bill shook was only mentioned once! Seriously though, no one cares. These wheels will have spokes that pull through the rim. The nipples will creak. And the wheels will dent easily because they are too light to be ridden. And don’t forget about the fantastic customer service that doesn’t give a sh*t and will deny every claim without even looking at it.

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Fatso
Fatso
9 years ago

@DeeEight – I think these are designed for plus tires? 3.25″ tires don’t work well on their other model with a 30mm internal. Plus tires need 35-45mm internals depending on size of tire. I don’t think any weight weenie is going to buy these and try and run a 1.75″ tire on them… Its not more air volume you are correct because the casing cannot raise it only widens the tire and slightly changes the knob angles – only applicable in certain applications. I use a 2.2 on my wheels and they measure 2.35 with slightly stiffer sidewalls and a bit more stable. The crown position of the tire didn’t change at all, but I also don’t have the weight penalty of a 2.35 tire but with similar traction.

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Mtn-skeptic
Mtn-skeptic
9 years ago

Velocity has had these for a while now… hmmm, news? And yes they work well with my CK hubs.

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Randy Harris
Randy Harris
9 years ago

This is what I see as the benefit from wide rims.

http://goo.gl/P543hz

I don’t know for sure how the volume changes, but I run about 6 psi lower in the same tires with wider rims.

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Jeremiah
Jeremiah
9 years ago

craigsj, DeeEight and Fatso, I don’t think the idea is to use the wider rim with a regular tire. The wider rim giver the correct support to a wider tire, thus giving you more volume. It’s all part of a system, and it’s hard to knock once you try it. Cheers

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MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
9 years ago

Increasing the volume isn’t necessarily good either. Just means it’s stiffer feeling, but bottoms out with no more force than a lower volume tire at the same pressure.

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MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
9 years ago

Randy, if you look closely, the tires casings are different sizes in that illustration. You easily tell by seeing how shorter the sidewalls are between the bead and the side knobs.

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eb1888
eb1888
9 years ago

What this rim width gives us is the option to use as yet undeveloped tires.
What we have now is a 2.25/75 29 tire for example. It would be too flattened on this rim.
What we need is a 2.45/50 29 tire with a rounded profile when mounted.
Maybe use adapted existing car or motorcycle tire carcass technology, who knows.

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