They were getting requests for it, so the new Mercury Cycling G1 carbon gravel wheel is out a year earlier than they had planned. It uses a 30mm wide rim (24mm internal) that’s 28mm deep. It’s laced to their branded Novatec disc hubs with 24 Sapim Race spokes and brass nipples to come in at 1,540g.
Grab the details below and roll through some other new projects…
It’s a hookless bead design built for wider tires and lower tire pressures, working with up to a 700×52 but generally recommended for tires in the 40’s. They’re available now for $1,999 MSRP, but check Backcountry.com and you’ll likely find them for less. (Why? Subscribe to The Build Cycle podcast and stay tuned for my interview with them…it’s an interesting strategy!)
They’re now offering Onyx hubs as a ~$1,000 upgrade option, which is a unique one for road (you can get it on any of their wheels, though). Onyx’s hubs are a little heavy, but they have a zero degree, instant engagement. While the benefits of quick engagement are well known for mountain biking, roadies haven’t typically been as concerned with such things. Mercury founder Chris Mogridge says there’s data out there that shows quicker engagement can add a few watts’ worth of energy to your ride, though.
Word is, Onyx is introducing an alloy freehub body option with steel bite-guard inserts that will drop significant weight off the hubs. Mercury plans on spec’ing that, making them a little more palatable to the weight weenie crowd.
After thinking about what all could be done with carbon, Chris wondered why more brands weren’t using the material in more interesting ways. The prototype shown above gets a molded 3D logo, but they’re playing with shaping of the entire rim both for aesthetics and functionality. We saw renderings of some of his other concepts on his laptop and suffice to say he’s thinking way beyond new ways to add branding.
At the other end of things is a new laser logo treatment that will be replacing decals on alloy rims. It adds no weight, no depth and looks sharp.
