When we interviewed American Classic founder Bill Shook about disc brakes moving to road bikes, he mentioned a forthcoming disc brake specific cyclocross rim. He even provided a grainy phone cam pic to help us put a little color in the article.
Now we’ve got a couple better photos and some details, though he’s holding out until a little later to spill all the beans. What we know is that, despite appearances, that vertical sidewall is not actually a brake track. It’s just thick and straight to handle the stresses of ‘cross, but Shook admits it does give them the option of adding a brake track in the future.
As for the extrusion and shaping, here’s what Shook had to say:
“I designed this extrusion shape with a bridge support. Like a triangle, a mathematically strong shape, it acts to support the brake track and prevents the rim from flaring under impact loading. Impact loading relates to using very low tire pressures with lower air volume. Lower air volume comes from the UCI requirement of max tire size at 33mm. Lower tire pressure is from the rider’s desire to increase traction.”
Flip through for another pic…
While he didn’t specifically mention it, the short inner sidewall should make for good tubeless conversion. More as we get it!
