In January, Industry Nine unveiled their first major hub redesign with the new Torch hubs. They debuted alongside their new Trail rims. Now, the the road wheels get their own Torch hubs, and the mountain bike rim offerings grow to four.
The new models are the Ultralight, Enduro and Gravity, and all are offered only as complete wheels. Internal rim widths now go from 21.3mm (Ultralight) to 23.4mm (Trail) to 26mm (Enduro) to a whopping 28.5mm (Gravity). All but the Gravity are offered in all three wheel diameters. The Ultralight is a 24 hole wheel with a 32 hole coming soon for 29″ only. The Trail is available in 24 or 32 hole drillings, the Enduro is 32 hole, and the Gravity is 32 hole with thicker gauge spokes and only for 26″ and 29er. If demand is there, bet on a 27.5″ coming soon.
Weights and more below…
Wheelset weights, without valve stems or rim tape, are claimed at:
- Ultralight: 26″ (1,300g), 27.5″ (1350g), 29er (1410g)
- Trail 24 hole: 26″ (1,410g) , 27.5″ (1,460g), 29er (1520g)
- Trail 32 hole: 26″ (1,510g), 27.5″ (1,570g), 29er (1610g)
- Enduro: 26″ (1,620g), 27.5″ (1,660g), 29er (1725g)
- Gravity: 26″ (1,810g with 150 hub), 29er (1,900g with 135/142 hubs)
All weights are with standard 9/10 speed free hub bodies. XX1 will shave a few grams.
All wheelsets are $1170 for stock base colors, regardless of wheel size. Stock colors are all black, red hub/spokes with black rim and all silver, including the rim. Custom colors start at $150 for a single color, $250 for two or more.
The new Torch series road wheel system uses the same external Teflon seals and larger radius drive ring and pawls as the MTB system but drops to three pawls instead of six. That still leaves it with just 6° of engagement, pretty tight compared to most road hubs. It’s designed from the ground up as an 11-speed system, with spacers for 10-speed cassettes. The drive side is favored with a 2:1 spoke placement with a virtual four-cross lacing pattern on the drive side and straight pull on the non drive. This set up accommodates the 2mm loss in bracing angle caused by the wider free hub body. It also provides even spoke tension from side to side.
Jacob at I9 says the result is a wheelset that is almost 30% stiffer laterally in the rear and 30g lighter per set for the i25 tubeless pair.
Retail is $1100 for stock colors. They’re working on some new carbon products that should be available soon, built with Reynolds’ new aero road rims.
