Bike Ahead ac29 Biturbo Carbon Wheels

Wheels are considered to be one of the most noticeable upgrades that you can do on a bike. Road or mountain its well known that new hoops puts a spring in your step and makes climbs a whole lot easier. How much gain can you make though? Christian Gemperlein from Bike ahead composites believes that he really has revolutionised the high end mountain bike wheel with his new ac biturbo wheel range.

 

The 6 spoke wheels are something that you might expect to see more on an 80s BMX however these wheels are quite exceptional. The wheels are made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) specifically for the off road market and are made in Germany.

The wheels come in the three mountain bike standard sizes 26, 650b and 29er in carbon clincher and tubular (apart from the new 650b which are carbon clincher only). 

Hubs are supplied by Acros of Germany offering freehub and axle fittings to suit most standards including the new XX1 freehub. Finish is also adaptable with either matt, satin or gloss finish avaliable to the wheels and either black or red anodized finish to the hubs...a nice touch. 

The wheels are light, I mean really light. The tubular 29er wheels come in at 1189g's and the clincher 1289g's. Due to this fact they do come with a weight limit of 95kgs.

The current RRP of these in clincher is £2499 and £2399 in tubular (prices based on the 29er model). If you are interested in seeing these wheels or giving them a go, we currently have a demo set that are avaliable to test in store.

Scapin Oraklo 29errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

2013 was certainly the year of the 29er. Every mountain bike brand has successfully tinkered with the big wheels and come out the end of the year smiling. As a result we were dead impatient to see what some of the brands were going to offer for the 2014 season. We started with a bit of a stunner....

The 2014 Scapin Oraklo 29er S1 is a beaut! The monocoque frame set is built with T700 grade hi modular carbon finished in a stunning UD matt finish and utilises some of the tried and tested MTB standards such as press fit 92 bottom bracket giving both great stiffness and fantastic reliability and a direct mount front mech for solid shifting and stable performance. With a tapered head tube the Scapin is married up to the Fox Float R32 100mm fork with 15mm QR.

The S1 model is the top spec that Scapin have to offer on the Oraklo. The frame is dripping with 2014 Shimano XTR...yep that's right the new 2014 XTR. With carbon brake levers and a double specific chain set, this build says race me all over it. The weight also says this...20.5lbs!!

This build also has the finishing kit to add to this wonderful build. Ritchey WCS bar, stem, seat post and grips really do give the Scapin a classy finish and a nice contrasting finish in gloss. We think this bike is a winner before even hitting the dirt of the trail. Scapin have yet again managed to produce a beautiful bike that will give as good as it gets....a natural born winner.