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Gear Merchant
WTB Laser TCS Trail 29in Wheelset
In the beginning, 29ers were built for cross-country. Of these, a high percentage were singlespeeds. Wagon wheel technology just hadn't come far enough yet to allow big-wheelers to tackle big terrain. Over the past couple of years that has all changed. Industry leaders like WTB have been pushing the limits of what 29-inch wheels can do with products like the Laser TCS Trail 29in Wheelset.
At first glance, the Laser TCS (Tubeless Compatible System) Trail wheelset looks about like most of the 29in XC wheels that have come out in the past. They are tough to spot, but WTB has loaded the TCS Trail with technologies to make it a much tougher, more reliable wheel.
The most important of these features, from a smashing-through-a-rock-garden standpoint, are WTB's proprietary I-Beam and Unbendium Bulge technologies. These innovations increase rim strength to directly counter 29-inch wheels' reputation for folding in gnarly terrain. The first, I-Beam, is a centrally located vertical support that counters spoke loads and provides torsional rigidity for increased strength and resistance to failure. The second, the Unbendium Bulge, is an aluminum rib added to the rim's sidewall that increases the rim's torsional, radial, and lateral strength to keep it from flexing under heavy loading or severe impacts. The weight gain is negligible. WTB has also put quite a bit of thought into its tubeless rim/tire interface. GBS (Global Bead Seat) design utilizes deeper grooves for the bead seats. Two raised lips lock the tire's beads into the rims to reduce burping under heavy torsional loading. The result is faster, more confident cornering at the ragged edge.
WTB's hubs answer to a higher standard as well. WTB builds its hubs around beefy and lightweight aluminum axles. The freehub body is also aluminum and has been machined to remove any excess material to keep the weight to the bare minimum. WTB also uses a clutch-pressure system to engage the pawls instead of a traditional spring system that can be gummed up with dirt and trail debris. This means quick, simultaneous engagement of all six pawls, as opposed to other systems that can rely on one pawl actually engaging at the moment of acceleration. WTB also beefed up its spokes with proprietary double-butted spokes. WTB adds a half-millimeter thickness at the j-bend, traditional spokes' weakest point, for a stronger, stiffer wheelset. WTB spokes are still lighter than traditional spokes, so they achieve the ideal of lighter, stronger, and stiffer.
In the pursuit of the true all-mountain 29-inch wheel, WTB has added significant strength to each component at a minimal weight gain to achieve what would have been considered impossible just a few years ago. The Laser TCS Trail is both UST tubeless and tube compatible and accepts only 6 Bolt ISO standard disc rotors. The wheels come with UST valve stems. Rims, spokes, and hubs are all black. The front wheel is 910 grams and the rear wheel is 1050 grams for a combined wheelset weight of 1960 grams.
Price: $234.99 (67% Off!)
Regularly: $720.00
Buy Now
In the beginning, 29ers were built for cross-country. Of these, a high percentage were singlespeeds. Wagon wheel technology just hadn't come far enough yet to allow big-wheelers to tackle big terrain. Over the past couple of years that has all changed. Industry leaders like WTB have been pushing the limits of what 29-inch wheels can do with products like the Laser TCS Trail 29in Wheelset.
At first glance, the Laser TCS (Tubeless Compatible System) Trail wheelset looks about like most of the 29in XC wheels that have come out in the past. They are tough to spot, but WTB has loaded the TCS Trail with technologies to make it a much tougher, more reliable wheel.
The most important of these features, from a smashing-through-a-rock-garden standpoint, are WTB's proprietary I-Beam and Unbendium Bulge technologies. These innovations increase rim strength to directly counter 29-inch wheels' reputation for folding in gnarly terrain. The first, I-Beam, is a centrally located vertical support that counters spoke loads and provides torsional rigidity for increased strength and resistance to failure. The second, the Unbendium Bulge, is an aluminum rib added to the rim's sidewall that increases the rim's torsional, radial, and lateral strength to keep it from flexing under heavy loading or severe impacts. The weight gain is negligible. WTB has also put quite a bit of thought into its tubeless rim/tire interface. GBS (Global Bead Seat) design utilizes deeper grooves for the bead seats. Two raised lips lock the tire's beads into the rims to reduce burping under heavy torsional loading. The result is faster, more confident cornering at the ragged edge.
WTB's hubs answer to a higher standard as well. WTB builds its hubs around beefy and lightweight aluminum axles. The freehub body is also aluminum and has been machined to remove any excess material to keep the weight to the bare minimum. WTB also uses a clutch-pressure system to engage the pawls instead of a traditional spring system that can be gummed up with dirt and trail debris. This means quick, simultaneous engagement of all six pawls, as opposed to other systems that can rely on one pawl actually engaging at the moment of acceleration. WTB also beefed up its spokes with proprietary double-butted spokes. WTB adds a half-millimeter thickness at the j-bend, traditional spokes' weakest point, for a stronger, stiffer wheelset. WTB spokes are still lighter than traditional spokes, so they achieve the ideal of lighter, stronger, and stiffer.
In the pursuit of the true all-mountain 29-inch wheel, WTB has added significant strength to each component at a minimal weight gain to achieve what would have been considered impossible just a few years ago. The Laser TCS Trail is both UST tubeless and tube compatible and accepts only 6 Bolt ISO standard disc rotors. The wheels come with UST valve stems. Rims, spokes, and hubs are all black. The front wheel is 910 grams and the rear wheel is 1050 grams for a combined wheelset weight of 1960 grams.
Price: $234.99 (67% Off!)
Regularly: $720.00
Buy Now
