There was a lot going on at NAHBS this year, not just from a bicycle perspective but components as well. Tucked in the very back and sharing a small space with Project 321 and their new hubs, Knight Composites had a sneak peek of a few new additions to their catalog. Filling in holes in their line up, Knight is adding a 27.5″ trail wheel along with a 29″ enduro wheel so you can now choose between trail or enduro, regardless of wheel size (as long as it’s 27.5 or 29″)…
Very similar to their 29 Trail, the 27.5 model features a 25mm wide internal rim profile with an EPS molded carbon fiber construction. With a claimed weight of 370g per rim, these should build out some very light and reasonably wide wheels.
Again borrowing similar dimensions from their 27.5″ Enduro Wheels, the 29 Enduro is 30mm internally with a 480g rim weight. Both are shipping now with rims priced at $675 and complete wheelsets starting at $1,999 for a DT 240 build.
We covered the new Rolf Hyalite before the show kicked off, but Rolf Prima always has a few show stoppers to check out. The Ares 6 and Hyalite ES carbons had a special edition Ballistic Armor Coating that looked great in person. These may not be available for every day purchase, but Rolf has a number of color options to play with to make your wheels pop.
In case you’re wondering what’s the difference between the Mavic and ENVE speed release axles – it’s a bit of anodizing and a slightly different lever shape and branding. Otherwise, they’re the exact same functionally.
To help out the custom frame building world, Paragon Machine Works has new Speed Release compatible dropouts in a hooded steel design. Owner and Founder Mark Norstad says that the next version will be Shimano Direct Mount derailleur compatible, followed by a set of titanium Speed Release dropouts. He also mentioned that it was clear that the system was really designed with carbon frames in mind, and the dropouts which have completely different dimensions than a standard dropout have to be pretty chunky as a result. Paragon was also showing a new tapered titanium head tube design to increase the options for frame builders who want something a bit lighter.
