The new Spinergy GX and GXC wheels pair a tubeless-ready, gravel-sized rim with their PBO fiber spokes for a pair of wheels that should be able to tame the roughest washboards and potholes. Both are built with 24 spokes front and rear, and share the same hubs, but that’s about where the similarities end. The GX has a wider alloy rim and comes in two sizes, the GXC is the narrower, racier carbon rimmed model. Here’s the details…
Wait, who’s Spinergy?
If you’ve only gotten into cycling in the past decade, chances are they’re new to you. But for those of us who’ve been at it since the 90’s, we probably remember the ultralight (for the time) wheels that introduced the concept of extremely flexible yet unstretchable spokes. The idea is that the spokes are able to compress easily, helping the wheels add vertical compliance and bump absorption to the ride. But, the PBO material can’t stretch, so they should be able to build a laterally stiff wheel. I used to race them for XC many, many moons ago and, honestly, they were insanely light, but the rear hubs didn’t hold up. After a while, the brand left the cycling industry and focused on the wheelchair market and have done quite well there.
Fast forward to 2019 and they’ve made new hires from the bicycle industry to breathe new life into the cycling lineup. And they’ve launched the new GX series of wheels for the oh-so-hot gravel segment.
Shown at top of post is the carbon rimmed GXC, which has a 32mm deep rim profile, 18mm internal width and 1,500g claimed weight. While 18mm might seem on the narrow side for the category, these are intended for 28-36mm tires only, putting them on the faster, smoother side of the gravel spectrum. Retail is $1,776.
For rougher roads, or if you want to go with a 650B setup, the Spinergy GX wheels have a 20mm deep alloy rim that measures 24mm internal. Claimed weight is 1,520 grams for the 700c version, 1,480g for 650B. These are designed for 36-48mm tires. Retail is $849.
Hubs on both are thru-axle compatible and use a 6-bolt disc brake mount…they’re disc only.
The PBO (polyphenylene bensobisoxazole fiber) spokes not only add compliance, they also help to absorb vibrations. And, Spinergy says they’re half the weight of steel spokes, so the rotating mass is drastically reduced.
They use oversized nipples at the rim, so they true like a normal wheel, and the spokes are all straight pull and laced two-cross.
Another cool feature? You can get them with your choice of spoke colors and decals, including yellow, white, orange, red, pink, green, blue, purple, gray and black. The spoke’s color comes from a chemical-, UV- and moisture-proof coating that’s there to protect them from damage.
