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IB14: Kappius Road Wheels Get Official, Plus New Fat Bike Hub

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Kappius’ new rims and wheels first popped up this summer, but are available now, offering 29er and 27.5″ carbon clinchers and road clinchers and tubulars. All of the clinchers are tubeless ready, and the road wheels are disc brake specific. And they’ll work for cyclocross, too, as evidenced by Brady Kappius’ involvement on Niner’s team.

The road clincher uses the same channel and bead hook shape as their MTB rims, they’re just narrower. MTB rims are 30mm/26.4mm wide (int/ext) and the road clincher is 25mm/19mm. The tubular is 25mm wide.

The tubular’s profile was designed to be a little shallower than some, having a center channel depth that matches up with the glued shape of most tires.

Read on for cutaway photos and a look at their new fat bike hubs!

Tubular rim weight is 320g, depth is 35mm with an asymmetric design that has 2.3mm offset for better spoke triangulation.

The road clincher is also 35mm wide deep and comes in at 410g.

The 29er rim is 355g at 19mm deep. The 27.5″ comes in at 330g.

The new Kappius KH2 fat bike hub is available now, and a front hub with a carbon shell is coming soon.

It’s a 190/197 mm axle depending on whether you’re running QR or thru axle. It’ll come with your choice, and extra end caps are $29. Retail for the hub is $499 and uses their 240-point internals with 1.5° engagement. Claimed weight is 340g. The front hub will use their existing front hub just with a wider carbon shell in the middle. Look for that one by November.

Opposing magnets on the pawl and freehub body push the pawls against the drive ring without relying on small springs.

KappiusComponents.com

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Xavier
Xavier
9 years ago

Love the magnets idea

jake
jake
9 years ago

Any reason why the 29er rim couldn’t be as the cross rim? It’s 60g lighter and running a 32-38c tire should fill up the rim nicely.

jake

Kenjo
Kenjo
9 years ago

35mm wide road clincher? That has to be a mistake.

Tad Dickman
Tad Dickman
9 years ago

The magnets are a freakin brilliant idea.

Greg
Greg
9 years ago

@Xavier&Tad
Absolutely

lawyerknowitall
lawyerknowitall
9 years ago

Why were magnets never used before? Such a good idea with those super high powered ones.

why, WHY
why, WHY
9 years ago

Niner has a road bike?

Tim
Tim
9 years ago

Do these use the Kappius proprietary cassette body, or the standard one of the KH2 hubs?

caliente
caliente
9 years ago

will the magnets lose power over time from impacts, etc?

jake
jake
9 years ago

Would the 29er rim options be viable on the cross wheels? The are ~60g lower in weight and 5mm wider. It should fill up a 32c tire pretty well and then double over to your MTB when it gets really muddy.

Jake
Jake
9 years ago

What happens when the magnetic poles shift??

pete
pete
9 years ago

Springs lose their springly tension over time due to metal fatigue. Magnets do not.

Derek
Derek
9 years ago

Tune has been using magnets in their hubs since 2009.

http://www.bikeradar.com/us/news/article/eurobike-tune-uses-magnets-in-new-hub-23279/

I don’t really think that the springs offer many disadvantages though. They are easier to assemble and won’t attract debris. I don’t think they cause a meaningful amount of friction.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
9 years ago

Rare earth magnets only lose their magnetism if he heat them beyond their Curie temperature. If Kappius is using the most common rare earth magnets, neodymium magnets, that temps is at or above about 590°F. So, I think it’s safe to say that those magnets won’t lose their magnetism unless you’re riding in lava.

JH
JH
9 years ago

There goes my trip to Mt. Vesuvius!

Brady Kappius
9 years ago

Just to clarify, the road clincher rim is 35mm deep, not 35mm wide. It should read it “is also 35mm DEEP.” The internal width on the road clincher is 18mm.

The 29er rim is a bit wide for cross use as most tires will exceed the 33mm max width requirements set by the UCI. If you’re not racing, it would be a good option though!

Tim: the KH-1 with the proprietary cassette interface is still available but we have 2 hubs, the KH-1.5 and KH-2 that use a standard cassette interface in both 11/10 speed and XD freehubs.

Jake: I’m banking on the poles not shifting soon, cross your fingers!

CDG
CDG
9 years ago

@why, WHY…it’s Niner’s new BSB 9 RDO (Carbon CX Bike).

http://www.ninerbikes.com/BSB9RDO

Angst Sucksmore
Angst Sucksmore
9 years ago

I only ride downhill- when are you going to make dem?

Fatso
Fatso
9 years ago

This hub is probably one of the neater things I’ve seen in awhile. 240 points of engagement is too much tough. I spun this hub in my hand and it has so much drag when you freewheel. The magnets are awesome.

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