Home > Bike Types > Mountain Bike

Syntace Rolls Out Lightweight “But Tough” Mountain Bike Wheels w/ 25-40mm Wide Rims!

Syntace W25 MX - W30 MX - W35 MX - W40 MX wide and lightweight mountain bike wheels for XC enduro all mountain and freeride
19 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Syntace W25 MX - W30 MX - W35 MX - W40 MX wide and lightweight mountain bike wheels for XC enduro all mountain and freeride

Syntace has finally unveiled their mountain bike wheels. In development for quite some time, the new MX wheels come with rims of 25, 30, 35 or 40mm outside widths. All four are offered in 26″, and the 30mm and 35mm widths will be offered in 26″, 27.5/650B and 29er. The 30mm even has a 24″ offering.

Numerous features set them apart. Starting with the overall design, they’re built using standard spokes with 28 or 32 counts. This means there are enough spokes to get you out of the woods if a couple of them break, and they’re easy to source and fix at any bike shop, usually with parts on hand. Contrast this to “system” wheels that use proprietary spokes or low spoke counts, and Syntace says the benefit is obvious, and it comes with no weight penalty. The lightest version, the W25 MX comes in at a paltry 1295g in 26″.

The wide 40mm wheelset comes in at just 1,840g for the pair. Rim weights range from 350g (26″ W25) to 580g (26″ W40), yet they claim both the rims and the complete wheels are stronger than competitive offerings.

Syntace’s press materials show the benefits of a wider rim. They say the tire holds its shape better, which increases traction while letting you run lower pressure and thinner sidewall tires (equals lighter total wheel/tire weight, too!). Their widest rims even keep 2.5 knobbies holding a nice round shape.

The strength comes from a higher spoke count combined with design features on both rim and hub. The rims use asymmetric, angled spoke holes and the hubs have angled flanges. This keeps the spokes straight without unnecessary bending stresses. Inside, the hubs roll on two pairs of double sealed cartridge bearings – one pair in the hubshell and one in the freehub body. Engagement comes from a Spur Gear freewheel mech with 36 teeth and four engagement springs. All four are engaged at once for maximum “grip”, but that’ll give it a somewhat large 10° float. Syntace says they’ll roll smooth in any conditions, though, unaffected by temps or crud. Freehub body is made of 7075 alloy.

Three hubs are offered, all with 6-bolt disc rotor mounts. The rear is available with 28 or 32 holes in QR or 142×12 and weighs in at 225g. It has a butted 17mm axle.

The front MX Front 32 OS hub (center) is a 32 hole, oversized hub for 15/20mm thru axles (or QR with end cap adapters) and weighs in at 150g. The smaller front hub is 28 hole, tips scales at just 99g and works with either QR or 15mm thru axle.

The rims are made of a custom aluminum that’s cold worked then heat treated. The result are some pretty lightweight rims that Syntace claims are tougher than carbon ones at the same weight and in wider shapes.

All the wheels will be the same price (€989 / $1,200 USD for the set), letting you mix and match the sizes and parts you want for one fee, all built with black Sapim CX Ray spokes and nipples in a 3x pattern. They come with their 3/7 (10 year) warranty. Three years replacement, seven years at 50% off current retail.

MODELS, SPECS & WEIGHTS

W25 MX

  • Rim: 250g (26″) – 25mm outer width, 19.3mm inner
  • Wheels: 710g rear / 585g front (28 hole)

W30 MX

  • Rim: 24″ (390g) – 26″ (430g) – 27.5″/650B (460g) – 29″ 490g – 30mm outer / 24.8mm inner
  • Rear Wheels (28 hole): 24″ (750g, rear only) – 26″ (790g) – 27.5″/650B (836g) – 29″ (884g”) +15g for 32 hole.
  • Front Wheels (28 hole): 26″ (665g) – 27.5″/650B (711g) – 29″ (759g)
  • Front Wheels (32 hole): 26″ (730g) – 27.5″/650B (778g) – 29″ (827g)

W35 MX

  • Rim: 26″ (500g) – 27.5″/650B (530g) – 29″ (560g) – 35mm outer / 28.5mm inner
  • Rear Wheels (28 hole): 26″ (860g) – 27.5″/650B (906g) – 29″ (954g”) +15g for 32 hole.
  • Front Wheels (28 hole): 26″ (735g) – 27.5″/650B (781g) – 29″ (829g)
  • Front Wheels (32 hole): 26″ (805g) – 27.5″/650B (853g) – 29″ (903g)

W40 MX

  • Rim: 26″ (580g) – 40mm outer / 33.5mm inner
  • Rear Wheels (32 hole): 26″ (955g)
  • Front Wheels (32 hole): 26″ (885g)
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

19 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Sevo
Sevo
11 years ago

What is the engagement like compared to King, DT, and standard Shimano free hubs?

will
will
11 years ago

tubeless compatibility?

BBB
BBB
11 years ago

After having ridden 47mm wide rims for a while I’d never go for anything narrower than 35-40mm.
Kudos to Syntace for wide rims offering and for using a sensible number of standard spokes.

Steve M
Steve M
11 years ago

Clever stuff.

MMyers
MMyers
11 years ago

Mystery hubs.

I wonder if they are better than Crank Bros or Easton?

Keith
11 years ago

Sevo – the engagement is the same as DT with the 36 pt ratchet ring installed, half as many points as Chris King, and the same as the latest Shimano higher end stuff. In my opinion 36 pts / 10 degrees is plenty quick. I have some Stans wheels with their 30 pt hubs and they are only subtly slower feeling than a set of Chris King hubs that I have. Functionally they are the same. I’m not going to clear something with one set of hubs that I wouldn’t with the other.

Chris
Chris
11 years ago

When are these going to be availdable to the public?

Rims only options?

Mr. P
11 years ago

Count me a fan; 32 spoke… wide/light rims… looks like a DT ratchet system…. as asked above; tubeless?

P

mj1984
mj1984
11 years ago

I want those hubs pretty bad! At those weights, they are rivaling Tune hubs. Anybody know what the bearing sizes are?

MsC
MsC
11 years ago

It’s not hard to make better wheels than Crank Brothers : flexy and a hub that’s more out of service than anything else.

Wiffle
Wiffle
11 years ago

Tubeless compatibility is the same as Stan’s rims; ie, they are designed to run tubeless with just some rim tape and valve. Already got some on order so I can make 2 frankenbikes; a 26″/27″ bike and a 27″/29″ bike. If these are as good as other Syntace offerings I’ve used they’ll be as good as or better than any wheels on the market IMO.

Jake
11 years ago

This is cool. I wonder what durability will be like. Knowing everything else Syntace makes, it will be pretty bomber.

Kenny Roberts
Kenny Roberts
11 years ago

The wheels should be available in the US by late Fall. The hubs have a similar drive system as the DT Swiss hubs which offer fast (enough) engagement but with less friction and drag than a King or I9 hub. The hubs are manufactured in Germany by Syntace which makes them less of a mystery than most!

Kenny Roberts
Syntace USA
http://www.syntace-us.com

Brad
Brad
11 years ago

Will rims be available separately?

Blooseville
Blooseville
11 years ago

Punk wheels! Want a 30mm 29er

Throttlemire
Throttlemire
11 years ago

Wider is better! I just built some Sals Gordo 35mm 29er wheels. The difference is amazing. It feels like an extra 20mm+ of travel, holds a line like Lindsay Lohan on a Vodka bottle and rolls over obstacles with ease. These rims are lighter, so they should be even better than my setup. I think 30mm will be good for most riders and 35 for the bigger guys who really attack the terrain.

Ted Compton
Ted Compton
10 years ago

Need the W40 in a 29″ version!

ClaudeA
ClaudeA
10 years ago

Well, the duckduckgo search I made for 26″ x 40mm bicycle rims led me here, and all was going well until it said “32 spokes.”

Oh well, just 4 measly little spoke holes lost my business . . .

Bye . . .

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.