We’ve been seeing a lot of new, uber-light products come out of Spada’s Italian headquarters lately. There is their new line of mountain bike wheels and then the insane sub 900 gram Spillo wheelset. Their engineers seem to be moving as fast as their wheels as they’ve now updated their (still very light) Tivan aero wheels all while keeping prices well within reach.
Check out the details past the break plus see how well their ceramic Crystal hubs spin!
If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Corrado Spada’s little wheel building business is based in the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy. Filled with as much cycling heritage as high tech equipment, Spada’s products speak for themselves. Their new Tivan Dark aero wheels (£1,099.00/$1,575), now with stealthier graphics weigh only 1070g for the 38mm & (still hard to believe) 1180g for the 50mm! The rims are constructed with Toray T-700, T-800 & T-1000 carbon to keep the rim plenty stiff for precise handling while having enough give on bumpy surfaces to keep your teeth from falling out.
One challenge with carbon wheels is braking when things get hot. To counter this, Spada constructed the Tivan’s rims with a basalt-enriched braking surface that supposedly reduces the heat to significantly improve overall braking.
Loaded with ceramic bearings, Spada’s Crystal hubs also get the dark treatment. They’ve also increased the hub’s durability with “ixon” inserts on the cassette body to prevent the cassette from digging in. The rear hub’s bearings are spaced 115mm apart to keep the flanges wide for a laterally stiff wheel. Crystal hubs contribute to the Tivan’s and other’s low weights coming in at only 175g for the rear and 55g for the front.
It’s impossible to walk by a high-end wheel and not twist the axle to see how smooth it feels. However, you may not feel that smooth fluid-like resistance when you take these babies for a spin. Though not for everybody, this is why precision ceramics have such a strong following.
Spada Tivan Dark Specs:
- Carbon rims, 38/ 50mm profile
- Carbon CNT (Carbon Nanotube Technology) with a mix of Toray T700 – T800 – T1000 for a perfect combination of strength and damping vibrations and targeted positioning of the fibers according to the areas
- Crystal hubs
- Very low weight and high resistance to flex due to the one piece body design. Wide spaced bearings 115 mm from each other gives great stability to the wheel and unbeatable smoothness
- Tool free maintenance.
- Carbon body and flanges aluminium
- Freewheel aluminium alloy with ixon inserts
