Reynolds introduces new gravity focused wheelsets

Thursday, 1 June 2023 Simon Cox

Reynolds has announced the launch of a range of new gravity focused wheelsets with the arrival of new 307 / 309 DH and Enduro wheels, along with the Trail TR.

Available in both 29” – 309 – and 27.5” – 307 – versions, with separate models for DH or Enduro competition, the new DH and Enduro wheels have already been tested and raced by the Pivot Factory Racing team, who competed on the new rim for an entire season of UCI DH World Cup racing.

We’re told that feedback from Pivot Factory Racing riders has been integral to the overall design direction and development of the new wheels. No surprises there. What will grab attention: Testing with Pivot Factory Racing highlighted that adding compliance to the wheelset actually increased tracking capabilities and control, translating to better handling and faster overall performance.

The ‘compliance for performance’ shift in thinking, has, Reynolds state, resulted in a wildly different rim design when compared to previous iterations.

Standout characteristics

Materials

Reynolds Impact Dispersion Matrix (IDM) is used for the rims, which the brand explains is a combination of high-quality carbon fibre, paired with a unique resin with exceptional impact dispersing characteristics. As used with Blacklabel 309/289 XC and DH wheels, this sees a layup schedule optimized to improve impact strength, to tune ride quality, and achieve very low weights – all without sacrificing durability.

Rims

Reynolds point out that the new BL307/ BL309 is visibly different, even to the naked eye, being 5.5mm shallower – going from 26mm in the previous version to a vastly shorter 20.5mm – which is said to aid in vertical compliance to the tune of nearly 40% in the IDM/Black Label version (30% in the TR version).

The new wheel is also slightly wider, featuring a 30mm wide internal channel (37mm external) is said to make for a better tyre interface, and add additional compliance through better overall tyre performance.

The new, low profile rim design is also slightly asymmetric which allows for more equal spoke tensions which result in an extremely robust and reliable wheel build.

Of the the Enduro wheels, Reynolds highlights that these receive a 28 hole build in an effort to further increase the compliance and lower weight. The DH version on the other hand gets a 32 hole build as the downhill athlete requires a slightly stiffer, more precise performance, with less emphasis on overall weight.

Hubs

Pro spec wheelsets use the Reynolds designed, Industry Nine produced, proprietary Black Label Hydra hubs, fully CNC machined and said to offer an instantaneous .52 degree engagement to delivers efficient and immediate power delivery. Expert and TR level wheels transfer power via Ringle Super Bubba X and Bubba hubs.

The range