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Sun-Ringle Black Flag Pro SL, Charger Pro SL Mountain Bike Wheels Roll Into Wild

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sunringle black flag pro sl 29er lightweight mountain bike wheelset

The guys over at Hayes showed us the new SUNringlé Black Flag Pro SL and Charger Pro SL wheels this summer, where we learned that they’re not only lighter than the non-SL comrades, but stiffer and faster, too.

To pull off that magic, they used a stronger alloy on the rims combined with taller rim profiles. The new metal let them use less material to save weight, and the extra height give them better lateral stiffness. There’s a small tradeoff in that they’re about 1mm narrower, though. BF’s are 23mm and Chargers are 27mm, making the latter their all-mountain option while the BF’s are more XC and light trail ready.

They also shaved material from the hubs, and gave them 50% faster engagement on the inside. Weights, pricing and more pics after the break…

Above, the Black Flag Pro SL rear hub. Below, the Charger Pro SL front hub. Both wheels come with end caps for all popular axle standards in the box. The rims use Stan’s NoTubes bead socket and come with their yellow rim tape preinstalled and a bottle of sealant in the box. They’re laced up with Wheelsmith bladed spokes, which also contribute to the wheels’ overall stiffness.

WEIGHTS & PRICES

  • Charger Pro SL 26″ – 1550g – $899.99
  • Charger Pro SL 29″ – 1700g – $924.99
  • Black Flag Pro SL 26″ – 1450g – $899.99
  • Black Flag Pro SL 29″ – 1600g – $924.99

650B/27.5″ wheels will come soon, but no official date is announced. Still no word on that carbon fiber rimmed prototype wheelset we saw, though.

“Riders count on us to provide a quality wheel that can still take a beating,” said Scott Boyd, SUNringlé product manager. “Our new SL series offers race worthy wheels that are competitive in terms of weight, but also have the durability that’s expected from our brand.”

We beat up on the regular Black Flag Pro wheels a couple years ago and really liked them, especially for the price. Daniel’s been running them since they’re still in darn near perfect condition. So, we’re looking forward to our test set, which should be here by the end of the year!

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Hell Yeah!
Hell Yeah!
11 years ago

I have some Chargers and they are some pretty nice wheels. Strong, and rather light but the graphics and engagement could he better. I looks like however they fixed those issues.

michael
michael
11 years ago

“50% faster engagement”
So what is the angle of engagement? Sun-Ringle’s website does not list it.

Christian Tucker
Christian Tucker
11 years ago

Looks good, Any idea on the rim weights?

mike
mike
11 years ago

is that total width or bead hook width?

WannaBeSTi
WannaBeSTi
11 years ago

If the Black Flag 29 SL are as good as my non-SLs, they’ll be a good upgrade. Mine came in at weight (1725g), but 1600g would have been better.

Andrew
Andrew
11 years ago

Loving my black flag pro 29ers,beat the crap out of them ans still dead true. Ditto on the graphics,removed all the tacky stickers for a 100% stealth look.

Not Greg Herbold
Not Greg Herbold
11 years ago

No purple anymore?

Luke
Luke
11 years ago

Engagement is 7.5°. Each pawl engages with two points of contact to increase durability even while making the teeth smaller.

CHLIM
CHLIM
11 years ago

Is Sun Ringle making the Sram XD drive for it hubs to fit the XX1??

Lusus
Lusus
11 years ago

any news on the XX1 situation?

Sconnie
Sconnie
9 years ago

How about a single speed hub to reduce dish?

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