Santa Cruz rolled out its Reserve wheel line as an upgrade to the company’s top-end ‘CC’ level bikes this summer. As of today, you can purchase these carbon wheels from any authorized Santa Cruz retailer.
Santa Cruz kicked off aftermarket sales with this video of Danny MacAskill showing that while the wheels are not impervious to damage, it takes a hell of a lot of abuse to break them.
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Santa Cruz Reserve wheelset details and pricing
Santa Cruz offers the Reserve wheels in two 27.5 options and three 29in versions (all with boost axle spacing). The rims are laced to your choice of DT Swiss 350 or Industry Nine Torch hubs with double-butted DT Swiss Competition Race spokes and Sapim Secure Lock alloy nipples.
Reserve with DT Swiss 350 hubs: $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2848
Reserve with Industry Nine Torch hubs: $1,899 / £1,899 / AU$3,298
Why Reserve?
Santa Cruz had a close-knit partnership with high-end carbon wheel manufacture Enve, so why did this bike brand choose to develop its own carbon rims?
“We thought we could do something better,” said Santa Cruz product manager Josh Kissner.
“There were two problems we saw with the existing products. One, they break too much and two, they have a harsh ride,” he added.
In order to balance durability and weight, the Reserve rims use variable wall thickness, removing material from areas of the rim where the risk of failure is low and increasing it in high-stress regions. Features intended to bolster durability include hookless beads that are claimed to be 30% thicker than most and additional carbon reinforcements around the nipples.
Santa Cruz makes some significant claims about the strength of these wheels, citing these rims outperform the best rims on the market by a large margin in impact tests.
The company is backing up its claims with a lifetime warranty — and not just against manufacturer’s defects. If you’re the original owner of a Reserve wheelset and break a rim while riding, the company will ship a replacement within 24 hours, Santa Cruz claims.
Visit www.santacruzbicycles.com for more information.
