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EB14: American Classic Carbonator Wheels Get Official, Sprint 350 Gets Upgraded

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American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (2)

Spotted as just a prototype in Taipei, American Classic’s Carbon mountain bike wheels made their official debut in Germany. Called the Carbonators, the wheels are built with fairly wide rim profiles to provide excellent handling characteristics while still remaining light enough for cross country use. Available in 27.5 and 29″ diameters, the wheels will offer tubeless compatibility along with multiple hub configurations all for an impressively low price….

American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (6)

American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (3) American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (8)

As one of the latest mountain bike wheels to go hookless, the Carbonator rim uses a much thicker spoke bed and rim wall for great impact resistance and durability. The tire seat itself uses a gentle slope down towards the rim wall rather than an aggressive bead lock. The rims will be tubeless compatible with American Classic’s standard Honey Tape (included), and offer a 33mm wide external, and 26mm internal width and 24mm deep.

American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (7) American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (4)

Built with American Classic Disc 130 and 225 hubs, the wheels allow for standard QR or 15mm/142×12 thru axle configurations. In spite of the fairly light 1595/1676g weight (27.5/29), the wheels are laced with 32 14/15g DB spokes front and rear with aluminum nipples. Perhaps most impressive is the wheelset’s price of only $1799.

American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (10)

American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (11) American Classic Carbona carbon wheels sprint 340 tubeless (1)

On the road side, the popular Sprint 350 wheelset gets an upgrade to the rim to make it both wider and tubeless. Now sporting a 22mm external and 19.7mm internal width, the tubeless ready rim uses the same AC tubeless tape. While the rim is wider and now tubeless, AC managed to make the rims lighter as well resulting in a wheelset weight of 1396g – all for only $899.

amclassic.com

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Eric.NM
Eric.NM
9 years ago

Beautiful wheelset. I think their biggest competition however, will be from in-house, because their Wide Lightning 29er’s (wiiiiiide at 29.3 mm internal!) weigh in only 1548 gm (actual weights from 29 inches.com review), and at only $849 USD, they are perfectly priced.

Full disclosure: I have been riding the heck out of a pair of Wide Lightnings on my Tallboy C for the past six months. They are amazing; the 2.4 Ardent looks like a 29+ tire! Stiffness is no problem for trail riding, hubs are awesome, and I haven’t touched a spoke or needed to. It plumps out the tire like you wouldn’t believe.

Although I had long sworn that I’d never have rims other than Stan’s (disclosure #2: I have eight (!) Stan’s-based wheelsets in the garage since the whole family rides tubeless), this is my favorite wheelset currently.

I’m sure the Carbonators will be ‘all that and a bag of chips’, but the AC Wide Lightnings have been just incredible for me. Good job, AC!

scentofreason
scentofreason
9 years ago

Have to confirm what Eric.NM said. I too have been thrashing a set of Wide Lightnings all season, they even got me through the Breck Epic this year… and I’m 220lbs…so they can take some abuse. Can’t see spending twice as much for heaver/narrower just because they are ‘carbon’.

Al Boneta
Al Boneta
9 years ago

Do the decals come off? That is a cheesy looking font on the carbonator.

drew-and-not-u
drew-and-not-u
9 years ago

These Carbonators look awesome! A bit expensive compared to the Control Carbon 29s (1580 gr) or the Control SLs at the same price (1370 gr), but sure to have excellent build quality, support, and asthetics.

Aaron
Aaron
9 years ago

Any signs of their magnesium wheel that was touted earlier in the year?

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