RAR AURA Wheels Weigh as Little as 795g Per Set Using Carbon & Titanium Hybrid Spokes!

Written by Jordan Villella Aug 30, 2024 12:00 p.m. ET

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There’s nothing like flexing for a big occasion, and French boutique wheel manufacturer RAR is letting the industry know they still have it. In its 20th year of business, RAR launched a new hyper-light and tech-heavy design, the RAR AURA wheelset.

RAR AURA Wheelset

The new RAR AURA wheelset is the first ultra-light wheelset built using high-modulus carbon and titanium (you read that right) hybrid spokes. RAR claims the carbon/titanium spokes are narrower and up to 300% stronger than the market’s best stainless-steel spokes. The RAR design team says the carbon/titanium spokes increase wheel performance tenfold.

The new spoke also helps with ride comfort and significantly reducing wheel weight. If this spoke lives up to the hype, it could be a breakthrough, and could be the jumping-off point for stiffer, lighter wheel builds universally.

But it’s not just the spokes that are lightweight.

For the AURA wheels, the updated hub is based on a lighter version of their RAR ESO V2 hubs, the UL+. The new design comes stock with Cycling Ceramic bearings for some extra speed.

What is the Rim?

The new AURA rim uses high-mod carbon fiber and a dual-core rim concept. In this production method, the rim is beefed up in high-impact areas and thinner in others. RAR claims this gives the rim resilience in the face of poor road conditions and a quick spin-up from the lower rotational weight.

The shape is slightly ovalized, and the wheels are offered in a 24mm or 40mm depth. RAR notes that both 24 mm and 40 mm shape designs hug the tire and maintain a very aerodynamic interface, working aerodynamically with the bladed carbon/titanium spokes.

RAR AURA Rim Options

The RAR AURA is available in both tubular and clincher/tubeless versions in two rim depth options:

24mm Rim: The climber’s wheel; agile and responsive, built to the mountains while filtering out road buzz.
40mm Rim: The all-arounder wheel: fast and dynamic, versatile but still super lightweight considering the 40mm depth.

*Both rim options have a width of 28mm external and 21mm internal rim.

RAR AURA Wheelset Weights and Pricing

24mm Tubular Version: 795g/pair
24mm Clincher/Tubeless Version: 980g/pair
40mm Tubular Version: 920g/pair
40mm Clincher/Tubeless Version: 1,050g/pair
Price: $4,700/4,499€/pair – Free 5-year warranty

Supplied with Padded wheel bags and valve extenders

To purchase or learn more, check out: Roues-rar.fr/en/

Jordan Villella

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Jordan Villella is the Racing Tech Editor for BikeRumor.com, specializing in cross-country mountain, gravel, road, and cyclocross. He has written about bicycles and bike culture for over fifteen years with no signs of stopping.

Before BikeRumor, Jordan raced professionally and wrote for MTBR and the now-defunct Dirt Rag Magazine. He’s covered the World Championships, World Cups, and everything in between — where he loves to report what people are riding.

Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Jordan coaches cyclists of all abilities with Cycle-Smart; you can find him racing bikes around North America and adventuring with his family.

For an inside look at his review rides follow him on Strava.

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Robin

5 months ago

The RAR design team says the carbon/titanium spokes increase wheel performance tenfold.

What? Uhm, wheel performance isn’t a defined metric. It’s a made-up metric comprising whatever other metrics the interested party desires or allows them to make that “tenfold” claim. Hell, it could be anything. Maybe carbon/Ti spokes have a reflectance tenfold greater than carbon spokes. Unless RAR says how they define “wheel performance”, how they measured it, and how they came up with “tenfold”, it’s entirely reasonable to assume they just made that up.

Veganpotter

5 months ago

Reply to Robin

I think they meant that the spokes cost 10x as much.

Czechmate

5 months ago

Reply to Robin

You’re looking at it from a very conservative perspective.
A much more realistic approach is required.
It is not entirely reasonable to assume they just made it up.
It is entirely naïve to believe that they didn’t.

-2

Brent

5 months ago

Reply to Robin

Add stiffness, then power generation and transmission when you are out of the saddle.
Add responsiveness making the wheel more pleasant to accelerate
Remove weight.

Robin

5 months ago

Reply to Brent

The point was that it’s an arbitrary metric, a subjective metric, not anything objective, and without definition by RAR, it’s meaningless, doubly so when they don’t say how each metric in “wheel performance” is weighted.

Robin

5 months ago

Reply to Brent

And as far as a I know, these wheels are generating power. Do they have a motor?

Deputy Dawg

5 months ago

Reply to Robin

Right?! Why not go for 11?!

Oliver

5 months ago

Those kind of spokes with a standard hub are bad news. Also, 800g for a 24mm depth tubular isn’t THAT light.

Pete

5 months ago

Reply to Oliver

As a wheelbuilder I’d like to hear just why you state these spokes are “bad news.”
While not these specific spokes, I’ve built with carbon/ti “hybrid” spokes for years now.
Carbon shafts with barbed ti ends.
They have way more tensile strength than steel or full ti.

But I do agree with your second statement.

-1

Oliver

5 months ago

Reply to Pete

They break and de-bond, and have VERY low impact resistance. Hence why virtually all the more expensive carbon spoke wheels are using Stren style spokes with dedicated hubs.

Pete

5 months ago

Reply to Oliver

Stating negative conclusions without factual support isn’t persuasive.
And “Stren” refers to filament-wound products – RAR doesn’t suggest their spokes are that.

Dirk

5 months ago

Reply to Pete

From the pictures they are bonden ti/carbon spokes from Brisk. And like I mentioned they all failed after a while on different wheel sets he built. He switched back to CX-ray …

Dirk

5 months ago

Reply to Pete

Those are spokes that a friend of mine used 2y ago. Brisk spokes from what I see. They failed and he switched back. They all failed at the Ti end. The same spokes were tested by Duke and some wheel builder in Holland. They all failed the fatigue test. Junk spokes to say the least. The only viable carbon spokes are either the full on stuff that is bonded to the rim and hub or it seems the VONOA spokes with mechanical locking that are used in Newmen wheels and Scope. But time will tell for those too

Brent

5 months ago

Reply to Oliver

If you take the weight alone, yes, but if you manage to get a 800g wheel that is stiff that is all but common… when you look at stiffness numbers for SS spoked reasonably light wheels (Roval Alpinist, DT mon Chasseral, they are at 1250 and really flexi). The carbone spoked wheels like the Cosmic Ultimate or the Partigon are around 1200 and stiff but many other options are not (the Syncros for example)… so it is not trivial to do light, stiff and reliable.

Grillis

5 months ago

I made basically this same comment on the Partington wheel post a few days ago:
With regards to the 40mm tubeless version here, the CRW 4045’s are only 130g more, wider, deeper rear wheel, and are about 1/3 the price.

Dirk

5 months ago

Reply to Grillis

And many complain about failures …

The time keeper

5 months ago

In the joytech hubs are ten bearings on each side.tjese hubs are symmetrical, and even have grease seals.

Astro_Kraken

5 months ago

Companies coming out with weight weenie wheelsets as if Berd doesn’t exist

Veganpotter

5 months ago

Reply to Astro_Kraken

Only issue with Berd spokes is that they’re not remotely aerodynamic. These are weight weenie, aero wheels

Brent

5 months ago

Reply to Astro_Kraken

Berd spokes are noodles, and out of the saddles are terrible, makes very difficult and unpleasant to put power. on downhills the front wheel is so unprecise… they are terrible on the road and aero as a pave

-4

TheKaiser

5 months ago

Reply to Brent

I’ve never ridden Berds myself, and agree about the lack of aero. Regarding the noodle like traits, I’ve certainly heard they’re more compliant, which could be good or bad, depending on your needs, but weren’t the Men’s and Women’s Olympic XC races just won on Berds? That seems to suggest they can handle out of saddle riding and descending a bit better than you seem to indicate.

Brent

5 months ago

Reply to TheKaiser

I can see them completely useful on MTB. It has different needs than road, you play with fork, tires and wheels to get the compliance you need (but surprised the Spinergy with PBO spokes that are “similar” never caught up and they had this offer for 20 years)
They also have 28 spokes so that compensate a bit for stiffness.

Ashok Captain

5 months ago

Interesting product and interesting comments. Anyone have any idea how the ti is ‘bonded’ to the carbon? Is there any ‘galvanic’ / ‘debonding’ kind of reaction in the long term (given only one is a metal)? Using non-engineering terms, hopefully they convey what I mean.

Veganpotter

5 months ago

Reply to Ashok Captain

Titanium is far less likely to do this with carbon than brass/aluminum which is already a bit of an issue with the rim/ripple interface.

Erin

5 months ago

Wow sub;800grams Sure Yeah sign me up Yeah found My
NEW Next WheelSet 4 KOMs & Climbing too

E x

5 months ago

For less than half the price you can have a set of tried and true extralite 327c wheels that are at least 10g lighter for the clincher version.

Erin

5 months ago

Reply to E x

Where can ya Purchas them

Brent

5 months ago

Reply to E x

What about stiffness? I tried few of the extralite light road wheels and they were absolute noodles. to the point where down hilling a pass in the alps with them was kind of scary, the front end was super blurry (and I am 64kg with a 6kg bike, so miles away from being heavy!)

Joe

5 months ago

Reply to Brent

I ride extralite 338c for some years now and they are not noodles at all. soon i will upgrade to the 340c. i ride alpine passes monthly and i weight 67kg with a 5.9kg TCR. Maybe your bike is a noodle…

seraph

5 months ago

Clickbait. You need to put “tubular” in the title when you claim that weight. I will never mount another set of tubular tires ever again in my life. Such a huge pain in the ass.

Also that weight can be attained with a regular clincher rim and Berd spokes pretty easily.

RAR AURA Wheels Weigh as Little as 795g Per Set Using Carbon & Titanium Hybrid Spokes!