Rolf Prima releases first aero, carbon fatbike wheelset
Originally posted on April 1, 2012 at 21:47 pmIf you’ve missed the craze lately about ft bikes, then it’s time to crawl out from under your rock. While the term fatbike has been around since the sport of mountain biking was developed in the 70’s, the more recent reference to the allāterrain fat bike refers to a unique animal all on its own.
Taking it to the next level, Rolf Prima is releasing the first ever aero, carbon fatbike wheel.
“The inspiration for the new wheelset came about on a recent ride,” said Senior Engineer Joel Wilson at Rolf Prima. “We were killin’ it on some sweet Oregon single track and came up on rider on a fatbike. Having to considerably slow our pace, we had time to think to ourselves, how in the world can we make these #$*#$@& things faster!?!”
How the model made its way to production from there is a little hazy; let’s just say it was a dare that Rolf Prima couldn’t resist.
The new wheel set features a width of 3.75” and low spoke count of 24 in the front and 24 in the rear to lower the rotational weight and decrease wind resistance. The unique 55mm deep section rim has been designed and proven in the wind tunnel to optimize its aerodynamic properties at typical fatbike speeds, around 6 mph.
The new Megalodon, meaning “big tooth” is still in the final testing phases, but will be available for order in late May.