First Look: Prototype Novatec Factor Carbon Rim - Taipei Show

Mar 22, 2013 at 3:52
by Mike Kazimer  
photo
Since entering the US market four years ago, Novatec has increased the depth of their product line, and now offer wheelsets for everything from dirt jumping to XC racing. In an effort to ensure they stay a viable option in the highly competitive aftermarket wheel market, the company spent the last twelve months reworking and refining their lineup. They've even brought in Brian Lopes, Kyle Strait, and Eric Carter, riders who are certainly capable of thrashing rims and wheels, to aid with product testing and development. Now, Novatec has decided to jump into the world of carbon mountain bike wheels. We were able to get a look at a prototype of their new carbon rim, which will be used on an upcoming wheelset called the Factor.

Rim Details
The Factor carbon-rimmed wheelset will initially be available for 26" wheels, but 27.5" and 29" options are in the works. Internal rim width is 23mm, external width is 30mm, and the rim depth is 32mm. The wheelset is intended for all-mountain riding, and will come outfitted with Novatec's patented Synergy hub technology. The rim has a bead designed to work with tubeless tires, and Novatec has been able to get tires to seat at pressures as low as 20psi. We put the rim on a scale and came up with a weight of 407 grams.

Hub Design
The hubs on the Factor wheelset use an oversized driveside bearing to deal with the loads generated from pedaling. To create the quick engagement riders look for in a high end hub, each of the six pawls on the freehub has two teeth that mesh with the teeth on the hub body - it only takes four degrees of movement to get the hub to engage. The aluminum cassette body has a steel insert to make cassette removal easier, which means no more struggling with a punch and a hammer to take off a stuck cassette.


Novatec Demon wheelset
Novatec also had their Demon downhill/freeride wheelset on display. The rims use the company's proprietary 6000 series alloy, which is claimed to be ten percent stronger than the more common 6061 alloy. Internal rim width is 25mm, with a 31mm external width. The wheelset is available with Sapim spokes laced up into a 32 or 36 hole configuration and with the full gamut of axle options. Claimed weight for the pair is 2025 grams. MSRP: $749 USD.

novatecusa.net/

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63 Comments
  • 53 3
 well they are round
  • 49 1
 *slow clap*
  • 7 0
 Good point! Big Grin
  • 9 0
 Being round is always a good start.
  • 2 16
flag jaybird951 (Mar 22, 2013 at 12:15) (Below Threshold)
 and they do suck....
  • 23 1
 octagonal would be eight times the fun though!
  • 1 5
flag rhiwfawrdirt (Mar 23, 2013 at 7:36) (Below Threshold)
 I see what you did there
  • 5 0
 round but not UST. Pre-cambrian ideas.
  • 3 0
 How about a round of applause!
  • 12 0
 "proprietary 6000 series alloy"... lol... the only thing proprietary is they're not revealing what alloy model number it is, but there are several 6000 series alloys that can be welded, way more than just 10% stronger than 6061. You could have rims rolled from 6013 or 6066 or 6069 and then welded (or sleeve/pinned).
  • 4 0
 Agreed hehe, was thinking the same thing. That's bike industry for us...
  • 15 1
 Yeah! Metallurgy bitches!
  • 1 0
 If only 7075 was weldable....
  • 4 1
 Technically it is, but you have to friction stir weld it, it's gets really cool because you can stir in things like ti as well, I think they should use it in the bike industry. I did research on making 7075 machined hollow cranks and joining it with friction stir but it didn't work really well at the 90 deg angle; luckily what they are doing is easy and is a very typical application (mechanically and geometrically speaking) and you can do it all day. Most of your chassis welds on new cars today are friction stir because then they don't have to heat treat and they can just stick one on the end of a six axis arm and have it do it easily on the line. deeeight, it can be a proprietary alloy, it just means it just doesn't fit into an ANSI standard.
  • 10 0
 Carbon is more than strong enough to make a DH rim
  • 5 2
 Hell yeah. Look at ENVE.
  • 11 5
 The fact that they had testers such as Kyle Strait ride these gives me much more confidence in the durability of carbon rims.
  • 32 1
 They tell you who rode them, they didn't say how long they lasted.
  • 3 0
 well, it's not out on the market yet, but check their alu wheels, all excelent reviews regarding durability Wink
  • 5 0
 I'm just messing mate Smile
  • 5 1
 Novatec does a lot of OEM - hubs and rims. SunRingle, Scott, Spec and most of the "better" anodised boutique brands. They also sell Novatec as brand. They have two pawls designs. Dual engagement pawl is really loud and aggressive, single is quiet. Like Novatec - they know what they are doing. 4 years of dh on one set and - nothing.
  • 1 0
 add Felt, NS Bikes, etc... to that list Smile
  • 6 1
 That carbon rim looks just like what Light-Bicycle makes. Price for the carbon wheels? DH were $749...
  • 1 0
 My thoughts exactly. Light-Bicycle rim. Those have issues so maybe they opted for extra material and got the 400g rim out of the 360g rim that tends to explode.
  • 4 0
 I have been riding on a set of their wider 26" CF rims with no issues. The front is 374g and the rear is 380g with paint. They are laced to 2012 American Classic hubs, front is a disc 130/15qr and the rear is a 225 9qr. I used DT Swiss Champion 1.8-2.0 double butted black spokes with red anodized nipples. The wheel set cost me just under $700 total to have built with Stan's tape and valve stems and came in at 1500g before valve stems but with skewers. I weigh 220-225 and with gear end up being 240+ and have yet to break a wheel. My current bike is a 2011 Stumpjumper FSR Carbon Elite with a 2012 Fox 140 Talas FIT Kashima 15qr fork. Rides like a dream and with the old 9spd drive train weighs 25.04lbs. I helped Nancy at Light-Bicycle.com with her R&D for their 650B wheels and my experiences with them have only been positive.
  • 3 0
 I just got my light-bicycle 650b rims in and laced them up to some King hubs. Nice quality and finish overall and a very reasonable price. I was going to comment on the remarkable similarity between the rims in the pics and my rims on my bike ...
  • 6 0
 sbrdude1 review here is biased.
  • 2 0
 Light-bicycle sells Novatec hubs in their wheels. I would guess Novatec is doing the reciprical with a little more R&D, but similar outcome. I have a set of thier DH hoops in the mail about to be built up with DT 440s...we'll see.
  • 4 1
 Quite honestly, I don't understand why would anyone buy a carbon rim other than Light-Bicycle or Enve. If you want to support American production and pay the actual price for such jewelry then go for ENVE. But if you buy Asian or Mexican stuff then why pay than more what it's worth? LB makes good profiles at decent quality.
  • 1 0
 I agree 100%^.
  • 1 0
 If you don't think carbon is strong enough, you're just scared of it, plain and simple. When built as a rim, the amount of force necessary to crack the carbon would fold an aluminum rim in so far that the tire wouldn't seat. The carbon rims that break are usually the product of bad design, bad layup scheduling, bad molding, or bad quality control. All symptoms of cheap. Those who have ridden carbon rims on a mountain bike will tell you that they really do track straighter over the rough, deflecting much less over those angled bumps that want to send the wheel sideways. Just nerding out in defense of carbon.
  • 1 0
 Exactly
  • 4 2
 Omg they are the sexiest wheels I have ever seen. How much does a set of those bad boys set you back. Probs more than my bike haha
  • 2 0
 Aah.."each of the six pawls on the freehub has two teeth that mesh with the teeth on the hub body "..like the American classic where they have a "patent" on lol
  • 2 2
 Piece of crap everything. I had their demons on my tracer 275. Two blown out free hubs later and horrible warranty service, I'm done. The free hubs look like they have been milled down to accept the 12mm rear, but it left the fee hub with horrible thin side walls. Rolling on Stan's for the last two weeks, pretty happy so far.
  • 2 0
 I'm just gonna leave this here:

www.light-bicycle.com/buying-your-first-mountain-bike.html

I work in bike retail and I was LOL-ing while reading this out loud.
  • 4 0
 "You should also use standing in discretion as it provides more energy and effectiveness."

A point well made.
  • 4 2
 carbon new generation on dh rig awesome Smile
  • 1 0
 Yeah, nice lookin rim and hub, but make a 29mm internal width, and I'll consider it.
  • 1 0
 Decently priced carbon wheelset!? Get these for the same price as a set of DT's ish...
  • 1 0
 My Bontys are 28mm wide and roll hard! 25mm is weak sauce when will they ever learn.
  • 1 0
 internal?
  • 5 3
 Crack*
  • 5 4
 You don't can trust carbon components everywhere
  • 2 0
 so true
  • 4 1
 you can't trust aluminum or steel components everywhere either...so?
  • 1 0
 Novatec has been around forever
  • 1 0
 Ratchet pawls are hard to patent, like for 2500 years or so.
  • 1 0
 I can bet my bikes... this wheelset will be worth every penny.
  • 1 0
 Sexy sexy rims
  • 1 0
 More than carbon
  • 1 0
 Welp, I'll take em!
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