Sea Otter 2018: New carbon wheels from Syncros

Full carbon wheels are not a new idea, but this is the first from a mainstream brand that I can remember. Scott has be slowly ramping up the technology at Syncros since it was purchased from Ritchey a few years back. These wheels are a no-holds-barred implement going as fast as humanly possible on a race course.

Silverton SL 

Price: $3499
Weight: 1250 g

The pictures tell the story here. These wheels pop out of the mold with rim, spoke and hub flange as one piece. The spoke flanges are spread apart to bond in a hub shell which creates tension in the spokes. Tensioned spokes can be lighter while still supporting tremendous loads.

A special DT Swiss hub body is glued into the carbon shell. Standard bearings and cassette bodies are used and the bearings are user-serviceable.

Syncros claims these wheels are both torsionally and laterally stiff, but the rim design and spoke tension creates some horizontal give for a better ride of rough terrain. The wheels aren’t the lightest on the market, but Syncros put ride quality above absolute lightest weight. The spokes are claimed to have twice the impact strength

These wheels aren’t for everyone. A huge price tag and no way to repair accident damage will keep these off the bikes of anyone but the rich, the committed or the sponsored riders. Cross-country racing is an important part of Scott’s racing program, and these wheels show some serious commitment to the team riders and XC racing as a whole