Carbon rims might garner all the attention, but aluminium can often deliver superior value.
An example of this is Industry Nine’s revised Enduro 305 and Ultralite rims. The Carolinian mountain bike component specialist has reshaped the profile and bead of its aluminium mountain bike rims to reduce trail buzz and increase pinch flat resistance.
The new Enduro 305 wheelset features a 45 per cent wider bead wall, which means there is less of a sharp edging to punch flat your tyres when rolling at speed through rocky, technical, terrain.
Although Industry Nine’s engineers have kept the Enduro 305 internal rim width at 30.5mm, it now has a 1.5mm wider outer width. Those dimensions were specified with the current generation of wide 2.4- to 2.6-inch trail tyres in mind.
With a wider outer rim width, the new Enduro 305 wheelset offers a bit more structural support to the tyre, when leaning into high-speed berms or pinging through a rock garden. The rim Enduro 305 rim profile is also shallower than before, by 3mm, which Industry Nine claims to improve ride quality.
Beyond its redesigned Enduro 305, there are also changes to Industry Nine’s Ultralite wheels, which are wider than before.
The new Ultralite 250 aluminium wheelset has seen Industry Nine increase the internal width of its rim from 23.5- to 25mm, which should see most cross-country racing tyres shape nicely once inflated.
Similar to Industry Nine’s Enduro 305, these new Ultralite 250’s have a rim structure which is shallower but also has that 3mm greater outer width. The bead material increase calculates to 11%, mitigating pinch flats.
Both the Enduro 305 and Ultralite 250 wheelsets are built with Industry Nine’s Hydra hubs, with feature 690 points of engagement.
Weight ratings depend on wheel size, with the 27.5in Ultralite 250 wheelset registering at 1450g and the 29in version, 1520g. The Enduro 305 wheelset is available in all three traditional wheel sizes: 26” (1,710g), 27.5in (1,780g) and 29in (1,850g).
Pricing for Industry Nine’s new aluminium mountain bike wheelsets start at $1,325 for the Ultralite 250 and $1,355 for an Enduro 305.
