SRAM Announces New Roam 50 Carbon Wheels

Jan 23, 2017 at 18:04
by SRAM  
Press Release



SRAM Roam 50
SRAM Roam 50

SRAM’s extremely versatile trail wheel extends its reach this year by adding a carbon rim to the mix. Backed by the rapid engagement of our Double Time hub, the new Roam 50’s stiffer, wider-profile carbon rim offers a whole new level of responsiveness, predictability and speed to every ride. The new Roam 50 is a true mountain biker’s wheel set, whether you’re racing the clock, your friends, the setting sun—or just out enjoying the view.


Roam 50 Features

• Fully featured carbon wheels designed for trail riders
• Sizes: 29”
• 25mm internal rim width
• Hookless, tubeless-ready rim
• Double Time, four pawl hubs for quick engagement
• Includes 6-color sticker pack to match your wheels to your bike—red/blue/ green/yellow/orange/red-orange
• Entirely designed and manufactured by SRAM
• Weight : (Front 15x100 765g) (Rear 12x142 XD 890g) (Pair 1,655g)
• Price: $1298 USD. Front/Rear: $599 / $699 | €653 / €763 | £554 / £646

SRAM Roam 50
SRAM Roam 50

Additional Details

Spoke count: 24
Spoke pattern: 2 cross
Spoke type: Bladed, Double-Butted 2.0 to 1.8mm
Finish: unidirectional carbon fiber / matte clear coat / bake-on labels / decal pack included
Rim: carbon clincher, hookless tubeless-ready asymmetrical profile
External nipples: aluminum
Cassette compatibility: SRAM XD, SRAM/Shimano MTB
Front axle compatibility: QR, 15x100mm—regular or torque caps, Boost 15x110mm—regular or torque caps, Predictive Steering
Rear axle compatibility: QR, 12x142mm. Boost 12x148mm
End caps available separately for QR or 12x135mm


www.sram.com

Author Info:
SramMedia avatar

Member since Apr 1, 2011
178 articles

137 Comments
  • 99 11
 lost me at 25mm internal width
  • 60 1
 and me at the spoke count
  • 45 9
 Lost me at 29ers....but shhhhttt quiet no one shall say that...
  • 6 2
 So, what internal width do you propose?
  • 12 1
 Lost me at everything, including predictive steering
  • 20 1
 I was genuinely hoping for a 50mm internal width wheel....
  • 24 2
 @Lagr1980: Gotta love SRAM, thanks to them a 15mm fork axle could be any one of five different 'standards' now, good work fellas.
  • 16 4
 I agree. 25mm seems a little too narrow the way the industry is going these days. I thought the magic number is around 30mm. Thoughts?
  • 76 0
 Everyone knows that if you're not stretching out your 2.3s on a set of 35mm rims, then you're not a real PinkBiker.
  • 9 0
 @Thustlewhumber: They already made that. It was called a Doublewide.
  • 11 1
 @FLATLlNE: 30mm is becoming the norm it seems. Since these are labeled as Trail wheels though, and with a 24 spoke count, I assume they are meant for faster rolling skinnier tires.

I am glad to see the price point of carbon wheels coming down. Building a set of carbon hoops with decent hubs is around the $8-900 mark if you source all your own parts and have a local shop build them.
  • 25 5
 @Two-planker: 25mm internal width is the optimum width for 2.3-2.4" tires which is likely the size most people who would run these wheels use.
  • 6 0
 Me at why the #50 is in the name.
  • 32 1
 @Two-planker: All depends on your tire choice. 30mm is too wide for a lot of 2.3 and 2.35 tires (in my humble opinion). Minions for example were designed around the 23mm-25mm width as far as I know. Go too wide, and they get boxy and don't hook as well when leaned.

Given that people are still riding world cup dh, and events like rampage on rims with 23mm internal widths with solid results, I'm not hopping on the 30mm+ internal widths just yet, for the riding I do.


25mm is about right, for me. But, that doesn't make it correct, or right for anyone else.
  • 10 1
 24 spoke count?! Good luck finding hubs. I'm pissed Santa Cruz spec'd my Nomad with 28 hole rims.
  • 7 2
 They're going to sell the shit out of these. Perfect for anything minus park riding.
  • 5 1
 @DBone95: I wish I could upvote this more than once. LMAO
  • 21 2
 I went in, looked only for internal width, scrolled straight to the comments. I don't even know what color they are
  • 4 0
 @FLATLlNE: agree. actually that 30 mm trend made maxxis develop the WT series, not the other way round...
  • 6 1
 sold me at "6-color sticker pack". let's see, $1300 USD = ... a gaagillion CAD.
  • 2 0
 @jzPV: Makes sense. Tires need tweaking for the wider rims. Just having a look, and it seems the added weight is pretty reasonable between the regular and WT granted the bump up in size. I'm sure the combo works well for many scenarios. But, I don't feel the need or see much benefit for wider tires where I live (for me), so for me 23-25mm with 2.3" tires strike a pretty solid balance between weight and overall performance.
  • 6 1
 lost me at 25mm internal. 24 spokes . alluminuim nipples and the price. im a sucker for stickers tho
  • 7 1
 lost me at aluminum nipples or allewwminium for the brits
  • 13 0
 Lost me at SRAM. 25mm is great for 2.35" tires. You know, that size that actually helps wins things by being the quickest.
  • 4 2
 @markg1150: plus I know a dude whose bearings in X0 hubs didn't last even half of a year...
  • 5 0
 @shawnca7: You don't need to find hubs, they come as a wheelset not rim only.
  • 9 0
 @WAKIdesigns:
In the time I have been on Pinkbike I have learned you have either ridden a product or know a guy who has a ridden a product.

It's pretty impressive.
  • 5 1
 @2bigwheels: I am hanging out with the cool kids with the cool toys. Or rather, with bike mechanics who see tons of different shit Big Grin And my other riding buddies work in different bike shops in town. It's a very fine bunch. I am very fortunate. These are the real life associations. I also know many people working with bikes, through internet, and don't shy away to write to the "people in the industry" when interested in something (for good and bad, they recognize me). I try not to talk using exclusively the contents of my arse.
  • 4 0
 @Lastpikd:
My I9 Arch ex29er set weighs only 100g more....why go with these?
  • 1 0
 @vicrider: no room for logic here.
  • 3 0
 @Drago: The weight isn't really the biggest reason people go to carbon wheels, and if it is, that's a little unfortunate.

If carbon was only about the weight than the same company who made your rims wouldn't have bothered with their all new carbon rims.
  • 6 1
 @jrocksdh: It's their new naming system: 29er wheels 24mm wide = 29 - 24 = 25 x 2 wheels = 50!
  • 2 0
 @CircusMaximus: Very true.
  • 1 0
 @Two-planker: See i think 24 to 27 mm is the perfect range for tire widths 2.2 to 2.4, at least for trail / 'enduro', If you must. I run 2.3 tire with 25mm rims on my 650b DH rig with no problems at all. so i dont see a reason to run wider tires / rims on my trail bike.
  • 1 0
 @tsuful: I've sent the cheaper Roam 30s off 8-10 footers more times than i can count, in the last three years, and have yet to break a spoke or have any of them come loose or out of true / round. Cant say they are the stiffest wheels but i bet these carbon ones take care of that.
  • 1 0
 @tdryan242: it's not about that. When Your spoke will get a hit from a rock or a stick and break the wheel will go out of true so much that coming back home will be a challenge. When a spoke in 32h wheel breaks, You berly notice Wink
  • 1 0
 @tsuful: as long as the rim is rather solid it's ok. I messed up spokes on Deemaxes and Crossmaxes and getting the rim back was ok. The problem is if you have little tyre clearance... I heard a story about dude breaking a spoke on mavic crossmax and then keeping on riding for a few days with tyre rubbing on the stay. He had additional problem though, that was his frame being a rather light XC carbon frame. When he came back home he noticed that he had a nice hole on the inside of the stay Big Grin
  • 3 0
 My experience going from 23mm internal to 30mm internal:

I didn't have to be super fickle with the tire pressure anymore. It wasn't a balancing act to go low enough to get grip without the sidewall collapsing. I could run a much wider range of pressure, especially on the low end.

My tubeless setup burped less and was easier to setup.

I had more grip for the same pressure, and could run lower pressures.

Unfortunately, since I was running lower pressures, feeling more confident, and riding faster through the rough, I pinched through the sidewall of my Hans Dampfs
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: pinching sidewalls of Hans Dampf tyre is nothing that 5 year old child would be surprised about... it heard it's daddy spitting insults about durability of Schwalbe tyres since it was in mothers womb... at least my semen have it in their genetic information. Yet another waki way to say that it is not a good argument for the wider inner rim widths Big Grin
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: At least not with a regular width tire. You bottom out your rim on the sidewall instead of the tread.
  • 3 0
 @FLATLlNE: Schwalbe Evos have such thin sidewall than you will pinch flat them by the rim even with a rather slight bottoming (I don't even mention knobs tearing off under braking or when spinning off on a sharp rock step in a climb). I did puncture Maxxis Evo and Specialized Grid by bottoming the tyre into the rim but the hit was rather hard and the puncture was on top between the knobs. One time I cased a rock while launching from another one, and my Rock Razor Evo got 3 punctures from that impact. Two near the rim and one huge one (1cm long) on top.
  • 3 0
 @Two-planker:

I have some super stiff 24 straight pull spoke SRAM wheels which are great for XC and lighter stuff, but just not confidence inspiring for all mountain. Its got to be at least 28 SP or 32 J-Bend in my book for AM.

For width I'm on 30mm now and loving the tyre support....no worries about squirm/burping etc. Saying that I don't think I would go any wider either given how flat they make the tread..maybe 27/28mm is the sweet spot...For less bulky race orientated guys I can see 25mm being competitve.
  • 1 0
 @Travel66: As manufactures slowly adapt their tire to wider rims, I think that 35mm (what Derby originally wanted) will be the new sweet spot for aggressive trail/ light freeride.
  • 1 0
 @jrocksdh: recommended tire width
  • 2 0
 @WAKIdesigns: "I try not to talk using exclusively the contents of my arse."

But sometimes you just can't help it, eh? Big Grin
  • 1 0
 @billreilly: "It's their new naming system: 29er wheels 24mm wide = 29 - 24 = 25 x 2 wheels = 50!"

You, sir, are a marketing genius!
  • 1 0
 @tsuful: I had a rock break one spoke and it didnt hardly come out of true on my roam 30s. i rode gently back to the car for just a few miles. later replaced it with a round spoke instead of bladed. that was 2 years ago. no problems at all. i weight about 180 lbs with gear on.
  • 2 0
 @sevensixtwo: I would imagine the carbon rim would handle a broken spoke better than the aluminum one. just trying to show that 24 spoke is not to be feared. at least with my experience on the aluminum Roam.
  • 37 5
 Is it just me? Carbon wheel releases don't get me excited anymore. Companies need to release something exciting.... say a $700 carbon wheelset.... Chinese carbon doesn't count... I want warranty, and quality hubs....
  • 55 4
 And I want a toilet bowl made out of solid gold, but its just not in the cards...
  • 45 2
 Its all chinese carbon
  • 39 1
 WE WANT WOODEN WHEELS AND THERE BETTER BE A 26 OPTION
  • 4 0
 700 is possible but itll be chinese for sure, hubs too
  • 10 0
 @yupstate: that sounds good in theory but afaik gold is a very good heat conductor, so it would be absolutely arctic on your ass!
  • 5 2
 Or how about more reviews of non-carbon wheelsets which mere mortals like us can afford. It's hard for me to get excited about ANY $1000-plus wheelset. There are just so many of them these days.
  • 17 1
 These are Chinese carbon. And FYI the LB Chinese Carbon rims have just as good a warranty as most anything else. Don't fall for the name hype..
  • 4 1
 If you build them yourself you can get an excellent set of wheels for surprisingly little money. There are tutorials all over the internet. Just go for a ride right before you start to build. Then it's easier to avoid the desire to rush the job in order to get on the trails.

Learning to build wheels has been an excellent investment for someone like me who has more time than money!

Or if you don't want to spend the time (or know that you're not the kind of person who will work carefully at it) buy the parts online and pay a good wheelbuilder to do it. It's still going to be cheaper, and the quality of work done on the wheels will probably make them last longer than quite a few brands of factory-built wheels.
  • 5 1
 Graphine dopped carbon is coming.
  • 5 0
 well you won't be getting a warranty with SRAM on carbon wheels!!!! I broke a Roam 60 rim and they wouldn't even sell me a new rim.... told me I had to buy a whole wheel. They did offer a crash replacement price on the whole new wheel though.
  • 1 0
 @freestyIAM: And then graphEne.
  • 3 0
 @therage43: This is true. I rode a set of LB rims on my old nomad for a couple years with no issues. If you really are concerned with a brand then buy some nice hubs and have blank rims.
  • 4 0
 @Lambkoes: I compressed a Rail 50 last year. Same thing. I waited 2 months to find out that no rim was available. They sold me a new Rail 40 at a discounted rate. The Rail lasted 1 week at TransBC before the freehub bearings seized in those garbage 4pawl hubs. I subsequently re-rimmed the better Rail 50 hubs. But, not soon after, I deformed the rim again in a compression. Threw them in the trash.

The rear wheel would benefit from 4 more spokes, at least. The front was stiff enough.
  • 2 0
 @Lastpikd: I've had a set of LB wheels on my ONE for about 3 years now. I've broken 3 rims, but they've replaced every one, all I paid was shipping at $40 / rim. I've been so impressed I bought another set and put them on my Jedi, got 2 seasons on them so far. I did put the pro-core in the DH wheels for added protection, I do believe that has saved me on multiple occasions.
  • 2 0
 @chachmonkey: It's incredibly hard to beat Universal Cycles' prices for both parts and a hand-built wheel that they build. They do excellent work. I am not employed by them, but have had wheels built and can speak to the quality and value of their products and service. www.universalcycles.com
  • 1 0
 @freestyIAM: Actually, it's already here.

www.vittoria.com/wheel/race
  • 4 0
 I've been eyeballing LB rims/wheels for a good long while. If I go carbon, it's gonna be LB. How about a LB review from Pinkbike? (not that I need one)
  • 2 1
 @ukr77: and here was me thinking @SramMedia were just pulling that one on the carbon wheels. I mean €1,600 for a set of wheels only to be told "if something breaks we're going to take another couple of hundred euros off you for a discounted replacement whole wheel".....

It's a pretty much unheard of situation to me and have to say has soured my view of SRAM completely.
  • 3 0
 @yupstate: You CAN get a carbon toilet seat pretty reasonably, however.
  • 1 0
 whats all the hate on chinese products? people seem to buy chinese over other countrys' products and then complain that they bought it. like they were forced.
  • 1 0
 @freestyIAM: graphene alone doesn't have the properties desired for mountainbike rims. it has a similar strength and rigidity to carbon. it's very interesting because it can hold and conduct electrical and heat energy and is nearly transparent. If you had a pure graphene wheelset it would build up quite the static charge and shock you. it's cool if you like that sort of stuff haha
  • 1 0
 @GumptionZA: heated seats!
  • 1 0
 @miguelcurto: Ok, a urinal then Smile
  • 1 0
 @endlessblockades: Yes, but its likely Chinese carbon.
  • 1 0
 @therage43: thought I read that Sram aquired Zipp wheels. Don't know where they lay the carbon though
  • 1 0
 @kabanosipyvo: If you dont care about weight too much just buy yourself a nice set of hubs from DT or I9. build it up on Stan's rims or whatever your preference is. blow through two rear rims a season and not a f*ck to give since the rims are 90 dollars not 900.
  • 1 0
 @sjdeweese: Zipp is under the SRAM umbrella now. Actually I think my Rockshox get sent to the Zipp building for service (they get sent to Indy anyways).
  • 13 1
 Trashed my roam 30 rear wheel in 4 rides, probably due to the stupid 24 spokes on a 29" wheel. Even better that you can't source spare rims.
Don't think I'll be getting any SRAM wheels again.
  • 5 0
 After only 4 rides? More than likely could have warrentied them yeah?
  • 2 1
 @2bigwheels: tried and wasn't able to sadly
  • 2 0
 @petrfd:
What was their reasoning for not allowing the Warranty? I have dealt with Sram a fair amount and always have had good luck.
  • 9 1
 It's nice to see the pricing come out of the stratosphere for modern, first-party wheels. The only thing I'd question is the width to weight ratio. We're trending to 2.4-2.6 tires on the trail side that work best on rims with an ID closer to 30. 25mm is almost an XC size at this point, but this set is 150g heavier than I'd want to see for that. Still, the actual transaction prices won't be far from the best of the Chinese outfits. That's pretty compelling for what's likely to be a very durable wheelset.
  • 3 1
 Indeed its good to see pricing come down but 8 more spokes and 5mm more width wouldnt have added much cost and wouldve made these wheels much better. I guess these are aimed at budget xc 29ers?
  • 1 2
 @BryceBorlick: 25mm strikes me as a compromise width. While it's only optimal for about a 2.25" tire, it'll work well enough for just about every non-plus tire available today.

I'd like to see 28 spokes, though they may not be necessary. I suspect the rim build is well into enduro territory. 32 spokes would probably feel excessively stiff on the vertical.
  • 2 0
 Keep in mind this wheelset is 29 specific at this point. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 27.5 option (when it comes out) features a wider rim width.
The weight is another issue altogether... but this is a 'budget' wheelset. (And the argument that stiffness overcomes the weight penalty could be made.)
  • 7 1
 I am guessing you will likely see this wheel mostly as OEM wheels for companies looking to spice up their build kit without jacking up the price if they were to spec Enve or some other boutique carbon wheel. I personally believe this wheel would be an excellent on a 110mm-140mm trail bike, running 2.3" tires.
  • 9 0
 24spokes at 2 cross on a 29er? Popcorn; check; candy; check; safety goggles check
  • 5 0
 use mavic´s crossmax sx (2010) for so many years. sure - still 26", the weight ist around 1750 g. You get newer once for less than 300 $/pair. The manufacturers have to reduce theire prices enourmously to make me buy. This is just a plastic rim, not high-tech NASA-stuff. I´ll agree with 700 $/pair. Guess I have to wait for some more years
  • 4 0
 I was skeptical of the 28 spoke straight pull Line Pro wheels from Bontrager that I'm running but have actually found them to be much stiffer than my last set of wheels which were just your standard 3 cross 32 spoke setup.... Now maybe SRAM knows something we don't know but dropping another 4 spokes just doesn't seem like a wheelset that's gonna last. Also as many else will note, SRAM 30mm inner or we ain't listening.
  • 6 1
 Sorry but $1300 for a incredibly porky 1700 grams wheel set (where are the carbon savings?) that according to bike rumor has a "fork travel" limit at 140 mm (? travel limit ?) is really not a good deal.
  • 1 2
 not really as a 1700gram alloy wheel will ride like spaghetti in comparison
  • 1 0
 @markg1150: not true. My skinny alloy Mavic are stiff as hell.
  • 1 0
 It would weight even more if it was 32 spokes. As it should be.
  • 4 0
 XC weight weenie here: Folded my 24 spoke SRAM wheels in the first year of ownership, no warranty support (they swore I crashed them, didn't). Unless you're under 120#, I'd say 28 spokes is a minimum. And I'm talking XC...

Oh yeah, they were heavy, narrow, not reliable and not durable. I love SRAM, but the wheels are bottom of the barrel.
  • 2 0
 Do the hubs come with "custom" SRAM only bearings that are sold out and leave you without wheels to use for over a month?...........
I dont expect an answer.

But Hey! They come with colourfull stickers. Its a must buy! - NOT
  • 1 0
 My friend has had nothing but trouble with his Roams - there's not much sealing on the rear hub to save weight, and the bearings are toast after a month or two. And that included (UK) Summer riding... Sram didn't exactly fill him with confidence with their warrantee either - luckily he bought from a decent bike shop that sorted him out.

I know some brands have dropped the Roams as OEM equipment this year as a result. Has anything been done to address this?
  • 1 0
 Their Custom sized bearings are a Joke! rendering last years Roams to be a worthless pile or crap. Bearings wear out rapidly and SRAM cant supply replacements resulting in bike downtime. Hope Hubs only from now on for me.
  • 5 1
 Should I consider myself a roadie for still running 21mm internal rims on my enduro rig? Wink
  • 1 0
 I built my own wheels with LB carbon rims (not sure if they still sell rims alone.. looks like the new asymmetrical rims are only sold as a complete wheel with Industry Nine hubs..), Hope Pro II Evo hubs and DT Swiss spokes.. I've done 2 seasons on them and not a single problem. 29mm internal width works well with Hans Dampf tires.. their profile is round enough! Total cost was around 900$, plus my time, but it's a great winter project!
  • 3 0
 make something better than anything industry nine makes and you'll grab my attention.
  • 1 0
 I have 2.3" on a 19mm id... I used to run 2.5" on 29mm id on my old bike, all this bs about rim width forgets the other details like how it squares your tyre off and how having a stiffer casing is a better alternative
  • 2 0
 These are going to be mostly OEM, i doubt they will make much of an impact in the aftermarket.
  • 2 0
 Bladed 24 spoke count, i25 wheels. Does anyone make a boosted, disc road bike for these wheels?
  • 6 0
 They'd make pretty rad CX wheels, lol.
  • 1 0
 Not as cool as these. You decal lovers should go nuts for yellow wheels. www.bikemag.com/files/2013/06/Mavic-Crossmax-Enduro-2.jpg
  • 1 0
 Why are most Pinkbike prices in USD? It'd be nice if they were in CAD cause then us NZers would be finally able to look at a price and say, 'oh it won't be that much here'.
  • 2 0
 Price is nice, wish they were wider.
  • 2 0
 Falling for the straight pull spoke meme...
  • 2 0
 Tell me again why these cost more than my car wheels?
  • 1 0
 You drive a jalopy?
  • 2 0
 Probably cracks like an Enve
  • 1 0
 Does anybody else think its ironic they offer a sram wheelset with a shimano compatible hub? Does shimano do this too?
  • 1 0
 They should let someone who's actually owned a set of Sram wheels write a review on them.
  • 1 1
 Did I read that correctly? The same wheelset is boost and nonboost compatible?
  • 1 1
 Just add caps right?
  • 8 7
 *clicks on review sees 29 throws computer at wall
  • 3 0
 Because?
  • 2 0
 Oh yes, the teenage temper tantrum years.
  • 1 0
 @2bigwheels: sensibly hates anything 29er related
  • 1 0
 @jrocksdh: If I were his father, he'll be replacing that computer out of his own money. And fixing any other repair himself! Smile
  • 1 0
 @truffy: maybe even a timeout from pinkbike..could u imagine?
  • 1 0
 Maybe the 27.5" will have a larger internal width. Just a guess.
  • 3 0
 SRAM already makes a wider 27.5 carbon wheel. It is the Roam 60.
  • 2 1
 26" 135x12 and 20mm front?
  • 1 0
 Rock it till I can't anymore
  • 1 0
 I have a 26 rise 60 carbon rear wheel to sale if you want one...
  • 2 0
 Yawnnnnn
  • 1 0
 How is SRAM now making hubs that convert between QR, 142, AND BOOST!?!?!?
  • 7 0
 Exactly my thoughts.
March 2015 : Sram releases Boost to increase stiffness on 29in wheels by widening the umbrella
January 2017 : Sram releases a 29in wheel set that does NOT take advantage of that.
Thank you, Sram.
  • 2 0
 Yea that makes no sense. . . . . ?
  • 2 0
 Apparently it is different set but only listed together. At least in Germany they sell different versions.
QR + 142 and then Boost version.

For QR + 142
www.bike-components.de/en/SRAM/Roam-50-6-bolt-Disc-29-XD-Wheelset-2017-Model-p54875

For Boost
www.bike-components.de/en/SRAM/Roam-50-6-bolt-Disc-29-Boost-XD-Wheelset-p54876

@MoreBerms @thebryson @Minikeum @MX298 FYI
  • 2 2
 Why only 24 spoke count, and why only 25mm internal width? I dislike these a lot !!!!!
  • 1 0
 Needs more marketing acronyms.
  • 1 0
 32h Nox Farlow+Hope Hubs+Sapim CX-Ray Spokes=Best Bang For The Buck
  • 2 2
 Cool







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