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TPE17: Mercury Cycling adds G1 carbon gravel wheels, 3D & 0D graphics, and more

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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.

MercuryCycling.com

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Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago

$1,999 for what is pretty much all rebranded parts. Wow! We’re hitting new levels of absurd here.

Frank
Frank
7 years ago

I try not to be negative Nancy here but, these seem like a rip off. $2000 for wheels I could build myself for ~$800? $1000 uncharge for the Onyx hubs!?! Onyx hubs cost $1000 more than Novatec Hubs? More like $500 more.

Ben
Ben
7 years ago

Then go do it yourself for $800. Good luck getting Alibaba to warranty your shredded wheel though. Or listen to the podcast and get to know thier pricing strategy a bit. When you buy Mercury’s you buy wheels hand laced by guys with lots of tattoos and a love for building wheels. Chris has found the best manufacturers in the world. My Novatec hubs have had ZERO
issues over the last 6 years that I have been using Mercury’s. Now STFU and ride.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Ben

Oh please, your sample group is a whopping one. Every spring our repair hooks are filled with these junk Novatec hubs that usually end up stripped for recycling. Lots of people have good luck with Mavic and Zipp too, but would anyone with a shred of wheel experience invest in either? Hell no! And nobody is going to go back and listen to a podcast that hasn’t even been uploaded yet to hear some BS marketing gimmick either.

Ben
Ben
7 years ago

Nope. Sample size of about 8 personal sets of Mercury’s. Several teammates as well. Not one hub issue. Zipp hubs? Hahaha. How many years has it taken them? Until you go out and ride a set of Mercury’s you have zero point of reference. I’ve ridden pretty much every major brand of wheel out there and Mercury holds their own with all of them. Great wheels from a great company.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Ben

So you’re telling me a Mercury branded hub and one that has some other name on it the big difference. You’re either joking, or a total joke. pick either.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago

…. and you’re still missing the point. How do you assume authority to speak about long term hub performance over a shop that deals with 300-400 wheel sets every year? What you’re doing is nothing more textbook shill.

Dingo
Dingo
7 years ago

$800? Aren’t these $600 on eBay? What a bunch of suckers.

Heffe
Heffe
7 years ago

‘guys with lots of tattoos’ is no more (or perhaps less) a selling point than ‘chimps dressed like nuns’ or ‘clowns with huge codpieces’.

Robin
Robin
7 years ago
Reply to  Heffe

I heartily disagree: a bike racing movie in which clowns with huge codpieces wrench on bikes sounds like an uber interesting movie.

MaraudingWalrus
7 years ago

I love Onyx hubs, I build lots of wheels, and I love trying new and different parts, and like the innovation that we’re seeing in the industry. I however do not understand what justifies a $1000 upcharge to get Onyx hubs over whatever stock hubs they use, since Onyx hubs are roughly $600 retail for a hubset. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding and something else changes, like you get some crazy spokes also, instead of round.

The molded logo is super cool, and I’d be interested to see where that goes.

Marcel Hagener
7 years ago

I ordered 2 Novatec 29er wheel sets for friends from China and the build quality (spoke tension) was great but both rear hubs had free hub body problems as in no engagement of pawls. They need constant cleaning and maintenance. Both front hubs loose their end caps when you take the wheel out of the fork. Rear 12×142 , front 15mm thru. Hubs are below average build quality. These wheel sets were US$ 650,- each. With DT Swiss 350 hubs would have been US$ 850,-. I am now on Extralite hubs with the same rims from the same supplier and very happy. After 2 years racing I replaced one bearing on free hub body side. I would stay clear of Novatec hubs. They might be okay for short term in dry climates and if you don’t need to take wheels out of frame/fork for travel.

Dude
Dude
7 years ago

Yeah… Onyx hubs for ~$600 retail, light-bicycle.com rims for another $350, plus spokes and nipples maybe $100… for just over a grand a person can build themselves dang near the same thing.

Joseph Maki
Joseph Maki
7 years ago
Reply to  Dude

With a tubeset, saw, file and torch you can also build a frame. Wheel building is not real difficult, but building good wheels is not easy.

Dude
Dude
7 years ago
Reply to  Joseph Maki

Frames and wheels are apples and oranges tho. Pretty much anyone can build up wheels good enough to race on with some basic tools, time, and the internet. Point being, for some nothing-special tech from overseas, these things don’t look anything like good value.

bob 88
bob 88
7 years ago

Is there any difference between a gravel wheelset and a XC 29er race wheelset? Would it be just the 11 rear hub?

Seraph
Seraph
7 years ago
Reply to  bob 88

Rim depth and width are going to vary slightly between the two disciplines. 29er race rims are going to be a little wider and more shallow, while gravel rims would be slightly narrower and deeper. Also spoke count is a common difference. Road/gravel/cross wheels can be 20/24, 18/20, 24/28, etc. MTB you’ll want at least 28/28 or 32/32.

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