Whyte release carbon 29er wheelsets

There are quite a number of companies now offering 29er carbon wheelsets, but a lot of them either break the bank or…well, just break. The future looks bright for carbon hoops though, especially where this new set from Whyte is concerned.

Captions Thumbs Fullscreen

Previous Next Image Meta Data 0/0

Whyte Carbon 29er wheels are available in two guises: an XC spec; and a Trail spec. The latter is £50 more expensive but both are competitively priced at under £1k.

The Blast Skin coating is the same as used on F1 cars to deflect stones, but will it work on rock? Well we know one thing: that Whyte wouldn't claim it as working if they hadn't tested the material thoroughly, so we trust them on this one.

"Nothing but the best" in the spoke department, double butted DT Swiss can't be faulted. Every wheel build is "inspected by [the] Whyte QC team" too. We have the feeling that this could be one of the stiffest 29er wheelsets going. But we'll have to wait for a test ride to judge for ourselves.

Previous Next

Here’s what Whyte have to say about their new wheels:

We have just taken delivery of our in house designed wheelsets, one featuring an XT skewer and a second “trail” wheel that is Maxle or Shimano E-Thru compatible.

We decided to make our own wheel sets because we felt many 29ers were let down in performance by the wheels they have specced. Choice both in after market and off the peg bikes has been limited, so we decided take control and make our own, both for the M109 and T129 but also for after market.

Whyte R & D:

High Modulus UD rims with 1K outer ply, this helps stop high impact stone chips causing surface cracks to propagate, we learnt this from the F1 teams we have worked with over the years. This fine mesh (1K stands for 1mm squared pattern) is used on all areas of the car that are susceptible to stone chips, so it seems logical to apply this to the final surface of the rim, which clearly operates in a highly aggressive environment, we call it a “Blast Skin”.

Hubs are cartridge bearings and proven over the past 10 years of use on Whyte bikes.

Spokes, nothing but the best, Swedish manufactured Stainless Steel, Swiss engineered and machined, DT Swiss Competition Double butted spokes with DT Swiss alloy nipples.

XT Rear skewer, the favoured choice of any bike mechanic or Whyte product test, team rider.

Every wheel is hand built in one of the top wheel building facilities in the world. 28 Hole front and 32 Hole rear 3 Cross spoke pattern might not be the lightest option out there but we feel it offers the best weight to stiffness to durability, so you can make the most of your bike week after week.  After assembly, every wheel is inspected by our Whyte QC team.

Whyte Nylon rim strip designed specifically for these rims.

The XT skewer set has an RRP of £999 and the standard set of £949