British Columbia mountain bike wheelbuilder NOBL Wheels has made the jump to dropbars with new tubeless carbon gravel rims – the HR35 & CR35 – both with front & rear specific construction. Sharing the same 35mm mid-depth overall outer profile, the lower pressure hookless HR35 builds up more off-road capability, while the hooked CR35 id more suited for faster hard surface riding & racing!
NOBL HR35 & CR35 carbon gravel rims & complete wheelsets
Known mostly for their BC-built carbon mountain bike wheels, lacing their own proprietary Chinese-made carbon rim designs since 2014 into premium hubs & spokes, NOBL adapts their front/rear specific tubeless designs to fit the needs of dropbar riders now, too. Designed to offer a bit of aero advantage, the big benefit here is the option for a low-pressure hookless tubeless version or a high-pressure hooked tubeless clincher rim – guaranteeing compatibility with every all-road and gravel tire on the market.
Without a clear and official road or gravel tubeless standard, it’s still a bit of the Wild West in figuring out the right rim & tire combination for modern dropbar bikes these days. So Nobl keeps it simple:
HR35 carbon gravel rims… less than 60psi
Low-pressure & wider tires for off-road get HR35 hookless rims. That means a real 24mm internal width that is optimized for 30mm (max 65psi) up to 47mm tires (max 35psi). Think technical gravel, cyclocross & bikepacking.
Available in 700c only, 24H drilling for front (400g) and 28H rear (440g) – 570mm ERD.
CR35 carbon gravel rims… up to 80psi
Higher-pressure & more narrow tires for all-road get CR35 hooked clincher rims. That means a real 22mm internal width that is optimized for 28mm (max 85psi) up to 45mm tires (max 48psi) and the option to stick with tubes, keeping the added anti-blowout security of a bead hook. Think fast gravel racing & all-road riding.
Available in 700c only, 24H drilling for front (410g) and 28H rear (450g) – 570mm ERD.
Full breakdown of suggested tire size & pressures on the Nobl gravel wheels page.
NOBL HR35 & CR35 carbon gravel rims & wheels – Details & Pricing
Nobl carbon rims use a deep inner channel to make fitting tubeless tires easy, and a smooth shoulder hump to lock tire beads into place. The rims are laid up in precision steel molds from a mix of prepreg carbon with UV-resistant resins, so they come straight out of the mold with no extra finish needed – a raw carbon look with only low-key graphics added. Both the 29mm wide external, 35mm deep HR35 & CR35 rims come in front & rear-specific layups that are approximately 40g lighter in the front and drilled for fewer spokes to handle lower stresses.
Carbon HR35 & CR35 gravel rims are sold piecemeal for $400 or in matched pairs for twice that. Gloss black logos are standard, or 11 different color decals are available for $10 extra (same price for single rim or a pair).
Nobl specializes in wheel building, so there are plenty of complete wheelset options, too. Complete gravel sets with DT Swiss 350 or Industry Nine 1/1 hubs start at $1200. Chris King, i9 Torch, Onyx, or DT240 builds start at $1500 complete, and DT180s from $1800. (All prices in USD, not including shipping.)
Nobl also offers a lifetime original owner warranty on all of the carbon rims. If you break a carbon rim while riding, they’ll ship a replacement rim to get you rolling again, you just have to pay the delivery cost and rebuild the wheel.
