What are some of your favorite subjects to discuss on a road trip? Food? Drink? Bikes? For the founders of RideFast Racing, that last one turned out to be more than just talk. After being the topic of discussion on a road trip to ride mountain bikes in Santa Cruz, Scott and Travis knocked around the idea of what would be their perfect wheel system – if they were to build it for their friends and themselves. At the time, Scott has just ended his partnership in a bike shop, while Travis was still gainfully employed as an engineer.
It was shortly after that road trip that Scott decided that they were going to start a wheel company. More than just offering affordable wheels, Scott had three goals in mind. They had to be wheels that he and his friends would actually want to ride, and that they would be proud of. The wheels also had to be built so that they could be sold at a price point that was lower than comparable wheels to get them out to more people. Lastly, Scott wanted a company that would allow him to make personal connections with his customers.
With Travis’ help in the engineering and testing department, RideFast introduced their first wheel called the Hotline. It wasn’t long before friends started making requests for wheelsets that didn’t even exist, and before they knew it, RideFast Racing was off to a fast start…
After starting a year and a half ago, RideFast Racing has been growing simply word of mouth up to just a few months ago. Taking the company from building wheels for a few friends to a full fledged wheel company, RideFast has a few new options to round out the collection. One of those new options is the Hardline which looks like a great wheelset for gravel or the upcoming cross season.
Available in tubular, disc brake cyclocross wheels, or as tubeless ready, disc brake gravel/cross hoops, the 25mm wide, 35mm tall carbon rims feature a matte finish and uni-directional carbon.
Hubs are of the straight pull variety with 24 Sapim CX-Ray spokes laced 2x, and are 15 x 100 front and 135mm QR or 142x12mm thru axle rear with a convertible axle system. Claimed weights are listed as 1280g/1400g (tubular/tubeless) and retail for $1399 with a 2 year warranty and lifetime crash replacement program.
At the moment all of their wheels are hand built by Scott, which will probably have to change in the near future. As Scott put it, “After I started getting orders for wheels that didn’t exist, I lost a lot of sleep. My original dream was to have a few wheels with my name on them, and three years later the reason I haven’t been riding is because people really like the wheels.”
The Hotline was the wheel that started it all, and is still just as pertinent with a 30mm internal width and hookless tubeless system. Available in 27.5 or 29″, hubs are available in just about every current size including QR, non Boost thru axle, and Boost (adapted) by utilizing an adapter developed with Marc from Lindarets. This is just a temporary measure as they are working towards a dedicated Boost hub that will be available soon.
RideFast wheels use their own rim tape because existing tape wasn’t wide enough and they found it to be too brittle. That, and they wanted something custom cut to the exact width needed for their rims, so there were no compromises. Available now on their wheels, retail tape will be available in the next 60 days. They are also using alloy valve stems from Speed Evolution which are lighter and offer a wider bore than standard valves.
The SPM mountain bike hubs are more robust than the SPSL ‘cross hubs, particularly at the flanges.
The hubs use a six pawl arrangement with offset ratchets, so three are engaged at a time for quicker response.
