Wheel Sets

Tufo Alca tubular wheelset first-look

TUFO ALCA TUBULAR WHEELSET

Words: Steve Walker

Exclusive!

Tubular wheels for a mountain bike? Are you mad?

Helmut at Sonic Cycles has kindly loaned us here heathens at Bike Magic a set of the wheel/tyre combo that requires glue and a bit of patience.

The jury’s still out on whether it’s necessary to run such a set up, but first impressions are likey, likey.

Tufo Alca wheels. Do we really need tubulars for mountain biking? The jury’s out but The Butcher will soon let us all know.

Here’s some maths:

– Pair Tufo wheels + QR skewers + XTR rotors + XC2 (2”) Prima tubulars = 3,000grams.

– Pair DT Swiss Tricon S10-CL wheels (came on my super-light Scott Scale Premium) + XTR rotors + Schwalbe Rocket Ron tyres (2.1”) set up tubeless = 3,300grams.

(Those are home-weighed on my Butcher Scales, not made up weights found on company websites and both include sealant.)

Full test and review to follow after I’ve hammered them a bit and ground out a few miles.

More information: Tufo Alca tubular MTB wheels

‘Butch’.

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