[Dan Gerous]

For those wondering what are our wheelset options for Leftys, Industry 9, with their one piece-alloy-nipple-spoke that thread directly in the hubs, has Lefty wheelsets available to compete with the Mavic Crosmax SL. Their 'standard' wheels are:

Ultralight Lefty: built on Stan's ZTR 355 rims. 1380gr $924
All-Mountain Lefty : built on DT 4.1d rims. 1580gr $849.99
Enduro Lefty : built on DT EX 5.1 rims 28mm wide. 1800gr $859.99

You can choose from a 3 or 6 degree engagement freehub. They can also lace them to any other 32 hole rims, any combinations of red, black or silver spokes and hubs are possible (even mix and match like a red hub with 30 black spokes and 2 red ones around the valve hole for exemple). They also have 8 custom colors but they charge an additional $75 and they can now even do color fades on spokes but that adds a whopping $150. I don't know how long the process takes from placing the order to receiving the wheels but they look great.

 

[TheProphet]

Ohhhh mmyyyy gossshhhhh....those are beautiful. I wonder if they do employee deals? Those look awesome. Do I wanna get rid of my Chris King in the rear...hmmmm...

 

[Dan Gerous]

I considered dropping my Crossmax SL wheels for those. Had a few wacky color ideas and I don't like silver rims much. And I think their freehubs are much better than Mavic's too. But $$$$$... Maybe I could try to score the super limited edition black Crossmax SL that are featured on the 35th anniversary Rush...

I'm getting way too much superficial am I?

 

[mcoen]

I guess it will be difficult to get those in Europe? :-(

 

[Boozzz]

I guess it will be difficult to get those in Europe? :-(

Probably, and with import duties and all that jazz, those prices are very not competitive here in Europe, considering the Crossmax SL Lefty here already costs way less (over a 100 bucks) than the prices Dan quoted. However, in the Netherlands, there is a source supplying aftermarket Crossmax XL Lefty hubs, for 150 euros a piece, to convert your Crossmax XL wheelset

Now that we're talking Lefty parts: Hope is coming out with a Lefty/Headshok stem, in pimpin' colours.

 

[Dan Gerous]

Forgot that you can choose from two different spoke gauges too...

 

[raelx]

I have been hearing about this for a while but I still have yet to see a picture of the Lefty hub, let alone one laced to a rim.

Where did you get your pricing from Dan?

 

[Dan Gerous]

I have been hearing about this for a while but I still have yet to see a picture of the Lefty hub, let alone one laced to a rim.

Where did you get your pricing from Dan?

Look at the last picture of the silver-blue fade wheel in my top post... in the background. Could this be a red Lefty hub?

The prices are directly from Industry Nine.

 

[raelx]

That does look like a lefty hub, way to look between the lines (or in the background) in the photo!

 

[Dan Gerous]

That does look like a lefty hub, way to look between the lines (or in the background) in the photo!

Professionnal deformation, I'm a graphic designer...

 

[NS2000X]

Dan!
Those are tooo Hawt!

But boy are they pricey. The Ultra-Light set would save me about 280g over my current wheels. Most of that would be in switching to Stans Olympic from 819's.

Have you come across any reviews that suggest they have similar performance benefits to the Cross Maxx SL's, in terms of ride characteristics (not just weight saving).

Cheers!

 

[Dan Gerous]

Not many reviews (even in the wheels and tires forum), the company itself is almost new so there aren't that many wheels out yet. There are long waits to get them in many cases (the times grow with custom options obviously) and they take longer to build than a conventional wheel: each spoke needs 2 minutes just to be machined!

First reports are good though. Very fast engagment of the freehub (there are two speeds available: one is faster to engage, the other has less friction and is lighter, you choose what's the most important for you). I would be very interested to see a comparison between those and the Crossmax SL too. They are both Alu spoked wheels so maybe the I9 wheels have a similar feel and stiffness. Long term durability is unknown as there are no wheels that have lived a long time yet.

I'm sold on Mavic UST design so if I were to have these babies built on XM819 (lightest real UST rim), they end up heavier than my Crossmax SL so I'll be sticking with the Crossmax and keep lubing that rear hub once in a while. But damn, those wheels look nice. Imagine a black rim with the spokes fading from black at the rim to a nice color with a matching hub... I was sad when Mavic went silver on the Crossmax SL... Those hubs remind me of the old Pulstar hubs in the 90's...

 

[Stry]

Now that we're talking Lefty parts: Hope is coming out with a Lefty/Headshok stem, in pimpin' colours.

Want one???

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11932

 

[Anders]

You need to check this out I tokk at Sea Otter.

 

[prodigalcyclist]

I can give you a bit of a story regarding the durability of these wheels thus far.

I know a bike mech guru, and wicked fast XC riding, dope smoker and all around good kid (all meant with the greatest of affection for the lad) who has a set of the I9 XC wheels on his Santa Cruz VPS Blur. I believe he has them laced up to a set of DT rims. Not sure which ones. Sharp looking wheelset for sure with the quicker engagement on the free hub. Sound just like CK hubs.

Anyhoo....A couple of weekends ago we were all out on a big group ride. We get to this particularily gnarly section called '"Cornhole". Some one constructed a 5 foot ladder drop which hangs out over this um big dip or gully in the terrain. My description does not do it justice. With momentum the gully spits you out the other side to a small kicker which can give you some nice air. The kicker I've hit before with moderate success. The drop forget it. I have kids to feed. So my buddy here hits it up and makes the drop and lands it clean. Impressive for a guy riding a XC rig with his seat post jacked up. The second time (when its being filmed of course) he augers the front wheel hard and goes right over the handlebars landing on his shoulder. It though for sure, I was bring him home with a facked up shoulder. Not case thankfully. He was sore but made it. His front I9 wheel also held up pretty well. The rim had a slight wobble which is to be expected after such a hard crash I suppose. Did I mention that these were a XC wheelset too?

I gotta say after witnessing first hand what happened that day I was quite impressed by the way they stood up. Not completely sold on whether or not they will replace the CM XL's in my books, but they are up there for sure.

BTW - The pic that looks like it may be a Lefty is not. It's one of their 20mm thru axle hubs.

 

[Dan Gerous]

You need to check this out I tokk at Sea Otter.

Single Speed?

 

[losjefes]

I believe he was speaking of the wheel behind the white wheelset. The red wheelset in the background is a Lefty....for sure. I made it.

 

[prodigalcyclist]

I believe he was speaking of the wheel behind the white wheelset. The red wheelset in the background is a Lefty....for sure. I made it.

Ahhh...Now I see it. My apologies. I didn't look that far into the background.

Do you have any better pictures of it? I'd love to see a detailed shot, as I'm sure the rest of C-dale heads here would too.

 

[Kspr]

*Drool*

But the rims and spokes can't be used with a UST rim, can they? There's no hole in the rim bed to pull the spoke through...

 

[Dan Gerous]

*Drool*

But the rims and spokes can't be used with a UST rim, can they? There's no hole in the rim bed to pull the spoke through...

Yes they can. If you look at a Mavic UST rim, you'll see you can't put a standard nipple through the rim bed. That's why they use a 'nipple cup' that screws into the rim after you place the nipple. They can do the same with their one piece spoke/nipple. It will cost more since it's harder and takes longer to build and XM819 rims and such cost a bit more typically. I think it's a 50$ extra and you have to wait even more.