We spoke to several brands at the Taipei Cycle Show that are taking a different route to market, and Square Root is an upstart that’s using the power of the Interwebz to get you a deal on a new carbon fiber wheelset.
At launch, they’ll offer a full range of mountain bike wheels with full carbon rims consumer direct for $1,199 per wheelset. The line will include models for downhill, enduro, trail and XC, all in 27.5 and 29er (except no 29er DH). They were mum on tech details until the official launch later this year, but it does look like they’ll have multiple hub options…
Rims look approproately wide by modern standards, and get wider as the intended use gets more aggressive. All are hookless and tubeless ready.
A standard flanged hub with J-Bend spokes has Synergy Drive, which isn’t explained, and Interchangeable Technology, which refers to their axle, freehub and end caps system that’ll let you fit them to whatever frame and drivetrain setup you’ve got.
The axle, shown in a cutaway of their direct pull spoke hub option, runs all the way thru the hub, with the non-drive side end cap threading onto it.
Why present at an international show before they’re ready to launch? “Just to put some feelers out there and get people talking” was the response. Interested? There’s no website yet, but hit them up on Facebook here and look for a June 2017 launch.
