Easton has brought boutique levels of carbon to a mainstream wheelset with the new E100 to create 1050g tubulars that can easily be repaired.
Nothing about the E100s was pulled from Easton’s current parts bins. Instead, they spent more than five years developing all new technologies and designs to create something they say is not just incredibly lightweight but stiffer than other full carbon spoked wheels. And it can be repaired far easier than other completely carbon wheels.
The rims are a new “Fantom” shape, and the hubs get a full carbon body with two donuts on either end holding the spokes for that side of the wheel. Those spokes, which are indeed full carbon fiber yet thinner than what we’ve seen from others like Lightweight and Mavic, are then hand tensioned to properly build each wheel for the best performance.
The carbon composite “Pultruded” spokes are ultrasonic welded to a carbon ring (aka “donut”) closing the end of each hub side. That keeps the drive and non-drive side spoke groupings separate, so if you did destroy one, only that side’s spoke group would need to be replaced. Still not as easy as a traditional spoke, but when you’re trying to create something that’s both super light and somewhat practical for frequent, hard use, then creative solutions are required.
Inside the hub are six individually sprung pawls providing a 6º engagement. Ceramic sealed cartridge bearings round things out. Specs include 20 spokes per wheel, 2-cross lacing on front and rear, 24mm width at brake track, and 45mm depth.
We’ll have more info on their features and construction once we’re inside Eurobike, update when we do.
