Atomik Carbon has been working on their new tubeless wheel line for over two years. We had a short test on them earlier this year, and had a closer look with them as well during their development. Now, ready for launch to the public, they are giving us the full specs, details and prices of the product line.
Atomik has created a line of rims that do more than just change width for the differing purposes of XC, Trail and AM. They all use a thicker sidewall with a proprietary material designed to absorb impacts, and a combination of Toray T700 and T800 fibers. How the rim is used though, will affect the final design…
Starting with the AM rim, the sidewall has a larger than normal 3.5mm thickness. This helps give surface area when the tire is pinched against the rim, as well as contains the proprietary material to absorb this energy and transfer it down the sidewall. Combined with a small bead hook, this is what Atomik has termed the “Mod-Hook”. For this aggressive rim, this helps with tire retention when things get rough.The Trail rim retains most of those features, but goes to a hook less design, to save weight where the extreme conditions tire retention may not be as needed. Atomik’s hook less design still incorporates a 3.5mm width in the sidewall, using the mix of Toray fibers and proprietary materials. The XC rim is the lightest and narrowest of the bunch, and based on the inner and outer rim width measurements, moves down to a sidewall thickness of 2.7mm.
Available in 32 holes, and both wheel sizes for AM and Trail, and just 29er, but 28 and 32 holes for XC, Atomik goes further to predetermine for the customer exactly what they will need for each riding type. There may be people riding AM on 28 hole wheels, and people riding XC with 27.5, or even (gasp) 26 inch wheels for sure, but they have created a line that hits the largest swath of how riders are using different tools for different purposes. Regardless of which riding type you prefer, and which rim you choose, the MSRP is $375 each per rim with a wide range of decal colors. Also available as complete wheels built to a variety of high-end hubs ranging from $1,350 to $1,800.
Along with the complete rim line, Atomik is also launching a pair of handlebars, a flat and a riser. At 750mm wide for the flat bar, and 785mm wide for the riser bar, both use a 31.8mm clamp diameter, a 9 degree backsweep, and come in matte black with a gloss black decal. Keeping with the simple pricing scheme of the rims, both bars sell for $145.
Atomik intends to only sell through local bike shops, and has a small, but growing dealer list on their website. If your favorite dealer is not on the list, give Atomik a shout directly.
