BWW Blackset Race 26 RT 700c wheel set 1680g*

Description

For the longest time, if you wanted a really nice set of road wheels but didn’t know what to buy, you ended up on a wheel set built with Mavic Open Pro rims.  So many of the “nice” road wheel sets out there are dedicated towards racing, or low spoke count, or some other niche parameter.  But if you want a super nice wheel set that’s meant for everyday riding, and don’t want to have to mess around with procuring a custom built wheel set and sorting through a list of component options, you’ve found your solution.  The Blackset Race 26 RT wheel set checks all the important boxes.  These wheels are light weight, strong, comfortable, and will hold up for a really long time without fuss. After so many years of doing this, we know exactly what rims to use with which hubs, spokes, and nipples, and can create a wheel set that serves as a top notch, everyday solution.

The number in the wheel set name, as in Blackset Race “26” refers to the rim height.  Thus, the BSR 26 rim is 26mm tall, 23mm wide, with an 18.5mm inner width.  The wide 18.5mm inner profile offers a smoother ride because the mounted tire will have a fuller profile.  The BSR 26 rim profile was designed to offer both weight savings and strength, and employs a “large tube diameter” design concept in order to do so.  Wheels built with these rims are strong, durable, and are still very light weight.  The BSR 26 rim does Not have a tubeless ready inner profile, (like the Blackset Race 24, 28, and 30 do).

While there are plenty of spoke and nipple combinations available, in “stock” form, we are building these wheels with Sapim Race Double Butted 2.0/1.8/2.0 black spokes and brass nipples in a 32 hole, three cross configuration front and rear.  Sapim Race spokes offer legendary quality and performance.  If you didn’t know a thing about spokes, know that your wheels would come with a really top notch spoke product.  That being said, we’re offering precisely one upgrade option, in the form of black Sapim DLight 2.0/1.65/2.0 double butted stainless spokes and silver Polyax nipples.  There are two great spoke manufacturers in the world, DT Swiss and Sapim, (in alphabetical order).  Essentially, you might be able to find a spoke product that approaches their quality, but you’d be hard pressed to find a company that consistently makes a better spoke product than these two.  All their spoke products, from straight gauge to their elliptically bladed and butted products, are all the best of the best.  Sapim Dlight spokes will perform at the same relative level as DT Competition or Sapim Race spokes, but with alloy nipples will shave off approximately 120g from the wheel set.

More Wheel Facts:

-Blackset Race 26 clincher rims are 26mm tall, with an 18.5mm inner, 23mm outer width, and weigh approx. 450g/ea.  The rims come with Velox 16mm cloth rim tape, but it is not installed.  These rims are designed to work with inner tubes, (presta) and clincher tires.

-Compatible with a wide range of tires, 700 x 23c – 42c will all work.

-The wheels are built with internal stainless steel washers

-Hub set is the BWW RT, sealed cartridge bearing, Front = 100g, Rear = 300g, Shimano road 8/9/10/11 speed compatible

-Approximate Wheel Weights with RT hubs, 32 hole front and rear:

-with DT Competition Spokes/brass nipples: Front = 800g  / 32 Rear = 1000g, Wheel Set  = 1800g

-with Sapim Dlight Spokes/silver alloy nipples: Front = 740g  / 32 Rear = 940g, Wheel Set  = 1680g

*Wheels will ship with QR levers and Velox 16mm cloth rim tape.

Blackset Race 26 RT Clincher Specs

Wheel Weights

(without QR’s or rim tape)

• All options include rim tape and QR levers.

Where is Your Wheel Set Weight?

Not all wheel weight is equal. This is an 1800g wheel set with a 32 / 32 (or 36/36) spoke count may built with strong, light weight  rims, spokes, and hubs, compared to a lot of other “race” wheel sets with lower spoke counts. When you lower a wheel set’s spoke count, you run the risk of decreasing durability, as well as lateral stiffness, (the wheels could flex and rub with the brakes).  So a lot of times the solution is to use a really heavy rim, which can result in wheels that tend to feel a dull, or lethargic.  These wheels start with the use of a superior rim profile with purposeful wall thickness.  So the rim is light weight, but not flimsy.  The utilization of 3D shaped internal stainless steel nipple washers that match Sapim’s Polyax nipples mean that where the rim is doing the most work, at each spoke hole, we’re increasing the surface area in which the work is conducted.  This reduces rim stress, reduces the likelihood of rim cracking, while promoting rim life.  Expect these wheels to feel better, and last longer than your current mid 15-1600g wheel set now.