SEA OTTER CLASSIC 2010 – Industry Nine had some prototype versions of their new carbon-rimmed mountain bike wheels that use a proprietary Edge Composites rim.
Presented here by Jeff Baucom who says “if I didn’t look like some sort of dirt bag in your photos, Tyler, it just wouldn’t be a good Bikerumor picture,” they’ll be available in both 26″ and 29er models, with rims for AM, XC and tubulars.
So what’s different about them? I9 worked with Edge Composites to develop a proprietary drilling shape for the spokes. Shown after the break, their normal spokes, which are all machined in-house in Asheville, NC, typically have a rounded head to work with standard rims from Stan’s NoTubes and Edge. The new version uses a flatter head on the spoke to reduce stress risers in the rim, and the rim was molded specifically to accommodate I9’s thicker spokes.
As Jeff put it, the new wheelsets combine “the stiffest hub and spoke system with the stiffest rim for a wheel built with parts that are entirely made in the USA.”
The All-Mountain version (left) will have a 30mm wide rim and come in around 1720g. The XC version will have 24mm wide rims and weigh about 1580g 1480g. Pricing isn’t firm yet, but expect it to range between $2,500 and $2,700.
Larger spoke holes were molded into the rims for the Industry Nine models. This creates a stronger rim than if they had drilled the holes big enough to accommodate the thick aluminum spokes.
These are I9’s standard spokes with the rounded head. All color options should be available with the new wheels,
