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Bike Ahead Revamps One-Piece, Full Carbon Mountain Bike Wheels

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2013 Bike Ahead BiTurbo full carbon fiber mountain bike wheels

Spinergy was perhaps the only company to successfully switch riders to large carbon fiber blades en masse, then the original design got banned from racing and they were never the same. Spin tried to do the same on mountain bikes and even had their wheels on a lame beach cop show a couple decades ago, but whether it was functional issues or aesthetic choices, they just never really took off.

German brand Bike Ahead is making a more modern go of it with BiTurbo full carbon six spoke XC wheels for 26″ and 29er.

The 29er clincher comes in at just 1379g with a 22mm inside width. Among wheels in this weight class, founder Christian Gemperlein says these are laterally way stiffer, a claim we’re inclined to believe after seeing them in person.

They’re built around Acros hubs with QR, 15-thru and Lefty options on the front and QR and 12×142 rear. Price is €2,700 for the set. Non blurry pics after the break…

2013 Bike Ahead BiTurbo full carbon fiber mountain bike wheels

2013 Bike Ahead BiTurbo full carbon fiber mountain bike wheels

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24 Comments
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Canucklehead
Canucklehead
11 years ago

Why were the Spinergy’s banned?

ODV
ODV
11 years ago

Riders were getting limbs chopped off in crashes.

Simon
Simon
1 year ago
Reply to  ODV

How ridiculous

Jacob
Jacob
11 years ago

That has to be some of the lightest 29″ clincher wheels around.

old school
old school
11 years ago

I still have a set of Spinergy whee.s. They rode better than any wheel I have ever tried, and that was great back in the hard-tail only days. Carbon is tough ad these wheels could take a beating. Lets ban the uci!

rob
rob
11 years ago

spinergy’s were exploding on impact. i’ve not heard of the limb chopping but if that were the case i imagine bladed spokes too would be banned and certainly mad fibers.

alex946
alex946
11 years ago

Enve 29 tubular = 1142g
Enve 29 clincher = 1354g

michael
michael
11 years ago

Are they tubeless compatible?

Gillis
Gillis
11 years ago

I heard guys were losing finger-tips in crashes.

eliflap
11 years ago

Can be used with sealant as ZTR ?

dan
dan
11 years ago

How long till someone drives into their garage door with these on the roof and it ends up on bustedcarbon.com, the offical carbon fear site

Sir Eddy
Sir Eddy
11 years ago

Yeah but you’re comparing them to the Enve XC which is only 18mm wide internal. They’re closer to the AM which is 24mm wide, and a few hundred grams heavier depending on the hub.

I think they look promising. The Spin wheels were terrible on the road, as they were so unforgiving. This is a similar concept, unlike the Spinergy’s which use a tensioned spoke and aluminum braking surface. That’s not a problem on an MTB though. I bet they’re stiff too. Can probably run tubeless without rim strips saving another few grams. My main concern would be catching a branch or something between those spokes. Conventional wheels, worst case is a broken spoke. These, not so much.

Eliflap. I don’t see why you couldn’t use sealant. I use it in my Enve’s as do lots of others.

Jonny
Jonny
11 years ago

Anyone who puts these on their bike should be shot

me thats who
me thats who
11 years ago

loading rifle……..

Lester Barnwell
Lester Barnwell
11 years ago

“Among wheels in this weight class, founder Christian Gemperlein says these are laterally way stiffer, a claim we’re inclined to believe after seeing them in person.”

What?

After SEEING them?

Give me a break. It would be better if you said, “we’re inclined to believe because we want Christian to give us several pair.”

Ludos
Ludos
11 years ago

Xentis Kappa are way better looking than these…

Ripnshread
Ripnshread
11 years ago

Spinergy’s Rev-X wheel was banned when the UCI changed its component test specs for wheels to say that when any wheel was hit with a catastrophic impact force no part of the wheel could be ejected outside the original plane of said wheel. The impact force was a 13″ high steel sled shaped like a rectangle that would hit a wheel held rigidly in place. The impact force at the wheel would have been enough to rip the head-tube off any frame. That said, their were reported incidents where sponsored pro riders involved in race pile ups saw the spokes of the wheel fly out when other riders got their pedals etc stuck in their wheels.

MulletRacer
MulletRacer
11 years ago

These are badass. Like high performance mags for your race bike. B.A. if you ask me.

MulletRacer
MulletRacer
11 years ago

They dont look very TLR if you ask me

bc
bc
11 years ago

Actually, Spinergy Rev-X wheels where banned by the UCI when the UCI changed their rules to require a minimum of twelve spokes in any wheel. No impact testing or any of that nonsense, that’s for the EU, CN, etc. to test.

hahaha
11 years ago

chopped off? any proof of that or is that just another “internet opinion”?

Ripnshread
Ripnshread
11 years ago

Version on 23.07.2010
Article 1.3.018 relates only to mass start competitions.
In this type of events, the riders generally use standard (traditional) wheels which are clearly defined in
Article 1.3.018. These wheels are authorised de facto.
However, during mass start competitions, certain riders do use non-standard wheels (rims higher than 2.5
cm, fewer than 16 spokes, spoke thicknesses of over 2.4 mm). If any of these conditions is noted, the wheel
is deemed to be a non-standard wheel and must have passed a rupture test in order for it to be authorised
for use in competition.
The manufacturers inform the UCI of the names of wheels which have been successfully tested. The names
of these wheels are shown in the list below. The wheels can therefore be clearly identified. If this is not the
case then the wheel is not authorised for use.

Johan
Johan
11 years ago

I like the look, would love to try them, I wonder what the distribution of the weight in the wheel is as opposed to ‘çonventional”
Couldn’t care less what the uci says

Steve
11 years ago

If these had an aluminum braking surface, they would look rad on my Scott Endorphin with HS33s.

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