Home > Event Coverage > Eurobike

Stan’s Enters the Carbon Wheel Game, shows Valor at Eurobike

25 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

SNT_ZTRValor_edtd

Stan’s view on the production of carbon wheels seems to ring true with discretion is the better part of valor. Before showing off their first ever carbon, tubeless wheel, Stan’s CTO and Co-owner STan Koziatek said, “The truth is we could have made a carbon fiber rim years ago, but it wouldn’t have been a genuine NoTubes rim.  High Spots of extra resin, ragged seams and overlaps, and shape and width deviations have somehow become acceptable on wheelsets costing several thousand dollars, but we require much higher tolerance. It took us years to find a technology and manufacturer able to consistently produce this rim”

Apparently, the time is now for a carbon wheel that is up to Stan’s standards with the introduction of the all new ZTR Valor Carbon. The wheel claims a more precise and consistent manufacturing process that results in the highest quality rim that is to their specifications.

SNT_ZTRValor_Detail3_edtd SNT_ZTRValor_Detail2_edtd

As the first carbon rim to include genuine NoTubes Bead Socket Technology for running tubeless tires, the Valor rim features reinforced spoke holes for strength and still uses Stan’s tape for the tubeless seal. The wheels will be offered in 26, 27.5, and 29″ sizes with a number of axle options and an 11 speed XD freehub available. Valor rims will be laced to 3.30 Disc Ti hubs with a 24/28 spoke patterns front and rear. In addition to the decreased weight and improved stiffness carbon typically offers, Stan’s claims the carbon layup is engineered to absorb radial vibrations from the wheel and will smooth out the ride.

No word on pricing, weight, or availability – hopefully by Interbike.

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

25 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jdog
Jdog
10 years ago

Stan is insanely picky. I would buy a carbon rim from him in a second.

Instant hit.

The Name and graphics are fairly lame, but stickers are made to be peeled off.

silverlining
silverlining
10 years ago

Interesting. Curious to see weights and prices.

Are these primarily targeted race day/light xc use?

Dustin
10 years ago

Any word on if these will be available as a rim only? I sure hope so.

If the price is right, this could be a game changer.

Michael
Michael
10 years ago

Will the rims be available separately for custom builds?

mateo
mateo
10 years ago

Interesting. Definitely curious to get some more details.

slyfink
slyfink
10 years ago

I’m only interested if it’s in the same category as the Flow or Flow EX. and 32 hole. and can be bought as a stand alone rim.

Benoit
Benoit
10 years ago

VALOR
ROVAL

funny 😉

Eric@505
Eric@505
10 years ago

I’ve been a NoTubes disciple since 2006 (we have seven Stan’s rim wheelsets in our family’s garage), I’ll bet I’m not alone in waiting for this announcement.

Easy prediction: this will be huuuuge.

And Stan, stand alone 32 hole rims, please. Take my money. Now.

Ck
Ck
10 years ago

Genuinely excited to see Stan’s move into the carbon market.

nouseforaname
nouseforaname
10 years ago

rim only too please!
– chris king disciple
(no offense to stan’s hubs…)

SugarBear
SugarBear
10 years ago

Stan’s makes great stuff–I am hopefully the name ‘Valor’ is a playful dis @ Spesh’s ‘Roval’ wheels.

Mike
Mike
10 years ago

Yes, hopefully only the 1st run will be geared towards weight weenie racer types and later runs will have 32h Flow caliber rims for those of who want all the benefits/strengths of carbon in a non-racer non-ww setup. Keep it in the 1800gr range for a 29er set and I’ll be happy.

Greg C.
10 years ago

Very cool, although the verbage doesn’t exactly scream “reasonably priced.”
Curious why the low spoke count? Maybe he feels the extra stiffness of carbon doesn’t warrant as many spokes? Personally I’ve always appreciated how my Stans wheels are so serviceable. (Regular J-bend spokes, standard spoke count/length, hubs that are easy to service, etc…)

Vincent
10 years ago

i heard 1230g and $1900… (29er)

moby
moby
10 years ago

+1 on 32 hole standalone. My 32 hole King iso winter wheels are begging for a tubeless rim upgrade and this would just the ticket.

Jay
Jay
10 years ago

I ride and race tubeless for everything except high end road, where I still ride deep carbon tubulars. I would love to see a cool XC wheelset, but would be even more excited for a sub 1500g tubeless carbon road wheelset with ~45mm depth.

Stan’s really does everything right, glad to see this company succeeding.

Tim
Tim
10 years ago

Yeah, 32h standalone, and a non weight-weenie one. Carbon rims should not be disposable.
Hope the price is lower than other carbon offerings, esp. since we know that carbon rims can be as cheap as 160 bucks apiece and still be ok (thinking of the “Chinese carbon rims” thread on mtbr.com, few have had serious problems with them). I will pay some extra to get warranty back up from Stan’s versus the off-brand carbon rims.
It’s a shame everyone orients themselves around Enve’s pricing of 800 bucks or so apiece per rim.

MattS
MattS
10 years ago

32h, 30mm wide (or 35), rim only. SVP.

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

“Bead Socket Technology” is a workaround for the age of non tubeless compatible tires. It is a hack, it stresses tire bead in a wrong way, and nowadays UST compatible bead is the way to go.

Topmounter
Topmounter
10 years ago

I love my Crests… flawless tubeless without the UST baggage.

I doubt I’m going to drop anything north of a grand on a set of wheels any time soon, but if I were, Stan’s would be at the top of my list.

Josh
Josh
10 years ago

@Mindless, That might be the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a while. Have a look at how many companies are spec-ing Stan’s rims this year.

Chadquest
Chadquest
10 years ago

Yea, if these are priced well and sub-400g I will be throwing some on my Ti Warbird.

Andrew
Andrew
10 years ago

Throw another vote in for a 32h standalone. Take my credit card, don’t care what the price is. I love you Stan.

alloycowboy
alloycowboy
10 years ago

Why do companies put heavy big ass stickers on ultra light ultra expensive carbon rims?

don
don
10 years ago

Waaay in the BST camp, UST is a crutch standard for companies who didn’t want to pay Stan royalties for a better design. When his patent runs out my prediction is UST dies, especially with carbon BST.

Hopefully that $1900 price tag is off the mark. I’ve been running the 3.3 stand hubs for a couple years now and they are bomber.

don

JasonS
JasonS
10 years ago

I can not believe Stan’s would make such bogus claims as the rim “absorbing radial vibrations” Not only does this violate physics and everything known about how bicycle wheels works, it just makes me think Stan’s is reaching for something… ANYTHING …to make someone want to buy this overpriced made in asia product. Carbon wheels do not make your bike harsher. Anyone that thinks so can read numerous peer reviewed scientific papers that show radial wheel stiffness for ALL bike wheels (even those made to be flexy which apparently these are) are still way too stiff radially for any human being to be able to tell the difference.

And why the low spoke counts? Again, it goes against what anyone that understands how wheels work, especially laterally stiff carbon wheels should be doing when designing a wheel. Get ready for your tires rubbing your fork legs, because this setup is a recipe for that for sure.

I suspect the price is so high to help offset the warranty replacement costs because those tiny bead lips are gonna be cracking after the first bottom out! I’ve been a stan’s believer for a long time, and I understand the need for him to market his product, but please do it based on real facts, not some made up unsubstantiated claims about comfort and “absorbing vibrations”.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.