Whether it's a sunset lap with friends or a race run against the clock, a broken wheel ruins any ride. Santa Cruz set strength and impact resistance as their highest priority, but strength doesn't have to mean uncomfortably stiff. Their wheels are compliant enough to avoid that harsh "wooden" ride that gives some carbon rims a bad name offroad. They only make offroad bikes at Santa Cruz, so they have the privilege of being able to focus purely on the mountain bike experience. Everything from the thickness of rim beads to external spoke hole reinforcements comes purely from our experience of knowing what riders need at every level—from international racing to your local trails.
Specifications
| Wheel Size | 27.5 inches |
| Internal Width | 30mm |
| External Width | 37.4mm |
| Single Rim Weight | 470g |
| Complete Set Weights (Complete set weight includes rim tape and valves) | |
| With I9 Boost Hubs | 1731g |
| Recc. Tire Width | 2.3 – 2.6in |
This information in hand, Santa Cruz set about determining how they might design a rim to mitigate those failures, and part of the result is the square-shaped reinforcements you can see around the spoke holes. They made plates of different carbon spoke hole designs in our carbon lab in Santa Cruz, developed a test that mimics the sudden increase in pulling force associated with an impact, and spent a few months breaking bits of carbon, spokes, and nipples until we got to the point that they were breaking all spokes and nipples and no carbon.
Material Where You Need It
Santa Cruz is far from the first company to reinforce high-stress areas with more material, but they're visible to ensure that the spoke hole drilling matches the reinforcement. Super-precise placement of these reinforcements allows us to use only the amount of material necessary to achieve the strength required, rather than reinforcing the entire rim. We then invest that extra material into the other common failure point of a rim—the bead.
The rim beads on the Reserve wheels are thick, relative to other rims on the market. As much as a millimeter thicker on either side, in some cases. The material theysaved by optimizing the placement of the spoke hole reinforcements went directly into the bead, making it extremely strong without adding weight to the overall construction. The beads are hookless: this makes for a better fit with modern tires, but also simplifies manufacturing, which results in more consistent carbon compaction—the technical way to say stronger rim.
Lifetime Warranty
Lifetime. No gimmicks. Not limited. If you do actually manage to break Santa Cruz's rim while out riding, they'll replace it for free. And probably high five you in the process! If it gets run over by a truck we'll help you out with a low cost accidental 'crash replacement', because life's too short to argue. We know riding time's too precious to keep you waiting, so we'll do our best to sort you out fast.
