RaceFace Arc 35 Custom Bicycle Wheel Set

Description

The RaceFace ARC 35’s (formerly Easton) is a Rad rim proposition for anyone looking to build their own set of MTB wheels.  When Easton, (now RaceFace) introduced their Arc rims several years ago, they immediately shook things up.  Arc rims are easy to understand, they are competitive in terms of weight and price, are easy to build with, and they hold up.  Is Airwolf the Raddest 1980’s TV attack helicopter starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, and the guy with the eye patch?  Absolutely.  Not convinced?  Look at where they park the thing!   What were we Musing about?  If you’re into racing (Yeah, That kind of racing), riding hard, or you simply prefer to buy really nice gear, this is your starting and finishing point.  Pretty straight forward.

Like all Arc rims, the Arc 35 offers a lot of width, for not a lot of weight.  Consider that 26″ disc rims for all mountain riding, with a 21mm inner width, used to weigh in at 500 – 575g only a few years ago.  The Arc 35’s with a 35mm tubeless ready inner width, in a larger/27.5″ diameter, weigh in at 540g, (our scale).  That’s a radical miracle.  Arc 35 rims are tough.  They’re not going to flex while you’re trying to bomb through a rough patch, or fight you in a tight turn.  It’s a quality rim, offering wheel stiffness without the harsh ride of some carbon options.  Given this rim’s width and strength, it’s an ideal choice for a pretty broad range of riding types.  But it’s definitely an excellent option for larger volume, lower pressure set ups.  If you need traction and you know it, we’d recommend building up a set of these, messing around with your tire pressures to see how low you can go, and you might be able to set new time records for your favorite trail sections, even before you mess around with your shock settings.

Build Level Breakdown

RaceFace Arc 35 Tubeless Ready Clincher Specs

Wheel Weights

(without QR’s or rim tape)

What Others Are Saying…

You have the choice to build these wheels with ST160/ST280 MTB hubs or go all out with DT Swiss 350 disc hubs featuring the DT Swiss Star Ratchet engagement mechanism.  Both are great options.  The Speed Tuned Super 6 2.0 hubs feature 36 points of engagement, (10 degrees) via a 4×2 pawl freehub.  The drive ring and pawls are overbuilt in terms of diameter, (drive ring), height, (drive ring + pawls), and materials, (quality stainless).  Their bearing placement is proper, in terms of overall design meant to promote hub function and durability.

DT Swiss 350 hubs are excellent, they are finished to incredible standards, and include DT Swiss’ Star Ratchet engagement system, (same exact drive mechanism as with their DT 240’s and 180’s).  These hubs get the job done, hold up extremely well in an assortment of conditions, and have proven reliable even in the emerging context of high torque drive trains, (29er wheel bikes with 1×12 Eagle drive trains).  Essentially, DT 350’s offer you the option of buying one of the best-performing hubs available anywhere, for only a modest price bump.  Given their huge value proposition, they are hands down a great option for any MTB rider that cares about their gear.

In “stock” form, these wheels are built with Sapim Race Double Butted 2.0/1.8/2.0 black spokes 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 a spoke upgrade option, in the form of Sapim DLight 2.0/1.65/2.0 spokes.  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 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 Sapim Race or DT Competition spokes but will shave off approximately 75 – 80g from the wheelset.

The RaceFace Arc 35, (formerly Easton) is a stellar wheelset option, in a field that’s composed of some of the best aluminum alloy MTB rims ever.  Given their level of performance,they are an unbeatable deal, (coupon codes here).  We’re not joking around here.  If you don’t have a lot of time to research all the rim options in the marketplace, if you don’t have a lot of money, and if you can find this product page, maybe that’s Magic.

Should you buy this wheelset?  Entirely your call.  Should you watch this short but sweet rock climbing video?  Absolutely.  One More Fun One.

Make That Two.

Wheelset Facts

• Comes with tubeless tape & valves installed.
• The RaceFace (formerly Easton) Arc 35 (welded joint), has a 35mm inner width, is 22mm tall, 39mm wide, and weighs about 545g (27.5″)
• Recommended for use with 29er x 2.4″ – 3.2″ tires
• These wheels are built with internal stainless steel washers.
• Wheelset weight will vary with end caps, freehub driver, and nipple selection.  Tape + Valves adds approximately 35g for the wheelset, on average.