We’ve had some time on Easton’s Haven 26″ alloy wheelset, even dealing with some initial hub issues from early production that have apparently been fixed.
Last week, we got a surprise package contaning the 29er version, which were immediately thrown on the scale and photo’d. Quick background: Easton’s all-mountain/trail Haven line consists of handlebars (carbon and alloy), stems, seatpost and wheels. The wheels are available in alloy rimmed and carbon rimmed versions, and by available, we mean they’re working on the carbon rimmed versions and we’ve had our request in for a set to review since they were announced. Anywhoo…
The Haven wheelsets come standard with QR front and rear axle configurations with parts to swap the front to 15mm thru-axle. There is a 20mm front hub option listed on their website, but you’ll need to order that wheelset specifically. Likewise for the rear, there’s a 12×135/142 option that can be ordered separately, and those options are offered on all Haven wheel models/sizes.
Jump past the break for weights, photos and more details…
They come packed nice and tight with parts and instructions secured to the sides.
Front: 810g / Rear: 990g
Total: 1800g (claimed weight is 1785g). Our weighed set had the valve stems installed, so perhaps Easton’s claimed weights don’t include the stems. I weighed one stem separately and it came in at 8g, so that would make sense and put their claimed weight spot on.
Skewers were 65g (rear) and 60g (front).
The included 15mm axle adapter weighed in at just 18g. I haven’t pulled the QR parts off the wheels yet, which may also account for the weight discrepance between actual and claimed…the wheels on Easton’s website are pictured with 15mm setup.
The rims are UST Tubeless with a solid internal section (ie. no spoke holes). This means you won’t have to add rim tape. The UST standard theoretically means you don’t have to use sealant with UST tires, or you can run non-UST tires (at your discretion and risk, of course) with sealant.
Rim width is 21mm inside and 26mm outside, and Easton says it can run up to 2.5″ tires. The bronzed brushed finish is quite handsome, but a new black rim is also available.
In order to put the spoke nipples into the rim, the nipples are put on the spokes, then the eyelets are threaded onto the nipples, then threaded into the rims. This keeps the rim cavity full enclosed at the tire bed yet allows the rim to be trued like normal. Speaking of truing, they use Sapim spokes and a proprietary acoustic tuning method to advance the standard truing methods with claims of better trueness longevity. (Video of that method is here)
All spokes are straight pull.
MSRP of the 29er wheelset is $925.00.
Easton’s Haven black rim with silver hubs.
For more aggressive riders, there’s the Havoc line, which also includes some carbon handlebars and is made for full on freeride and downhill.
