Industry Nine is promising wider wheels for drop bar bikes in 2019, of course adding their signature custom touch & colorful options. Both based on their trail-ready Torch Road Alloy hubs, the GRCX laces up a new wider 700c rim, while the Trail270 scales down a XC rim for a light 650B gravel wheel ready for off-road adventures.
Industry Nine GRCX TRA wider gravel bike wheels
The GRCX TRA is the biggest update, stretching out a slightly wider 700c aluminum rim than their current CX wheels. The new designed-for-tubeless alloy hoop gets a 24.5mm inner width (28.25mm outer), a wide shallow profile derived more from XC than the road for overall build stiffness & all-terrain capability, for tires 33-55m wide.
The wheels use i9’s direct-thread, straight pull alloy spokes that tighten directly into the 24 spoke front & rear (2:1 lacing) TRA hubs. That means fast 60 point / 6° hub engagement, and compatibility with QR or 12mm thru-axles (even 15×100 thru-front), plus Shimano, Campagnolo & SRAM XD-R freehub bodies.
Industry Nine Trail270 TRA wide, 650B gravel bike wheels
To head even further afield on 650B wheels, Industry Nine took the tubeless-ready Trail270 rim out of their mountain bike line-up and rebuilt them with TRA road hubs for a capable all-road / Road Plus wheelset – the Trail270 TRA. With a 27mm inner width (31mm external), the drop bar version of the Trail270 wheels can handle 40-60mm wide tires for some serious mixed-surface exploring. TRA 6° engagement road hubs are the same as the new GRCX wheels for all axle & freehub compatibility.
TRA gravel wheel pricing & availability
The two new wheelsets were put together to push i9’s gravel, cyclocross & even all-road bikes further off-road, with a generous 100kg/220lb 114kg/250lb recommended rider+bike weight limit (note: i9 shared with us an updated wheel weight limit, superseding the older recommendation). The core of both new wheels are the lighter Torch Road Alloy hubs, which define their dropbar offering. Developed based on Industry Nine’s Torch mountain bike hubs, the TRAs shed about 50g for a Centerlock hubset, with half the points of engagement for more road & hard surface riding.
Both new gravel wheelsets officially drop tomorrow, when you’ll be able to get them hand-built, straight from Industry Nine for $1275 in either the 700c or 650b options in all black. Like all their complete made-in-Asheville wheelsets, color customization is possible starting at $50 more for a few accent spokes, $160 for single color customization, or $265 for the pair to go all out with any combination of i9’s eleven anodized spoke & hub colors.
