First Ride: Reserve 30|HD Carbon Wheels Can Take Serious Hits
Remember when Santa Cruz sent out Danny MacAskill to detonate their beautiful carbon rims? Well, Reserve's most recent carbon wheel, the 30|HD, is equally impressive, and I quickly put them through the wringer on some torturous North Shore trails. Situated between the strengths of the 30|SL and 31|DH, the new lower profile rim is aimed at aggressive trail riding and enduro racing, weighing in at 1800 grams with Industry Nine Hydra hubs.
The 30|HDs will replace the current model 30|30s starting at $1,799 with Industry Nine 1/1 hubs, with the option to upgrade to the Hydra hubs with a whopping 690 points of engagement. Santa Cruz also builds a handful of bikes that exclusively use mixed or mullet wheel bikes, so if you're looking for the latest incarnation of 27.5" carbon hoops, you're in luck.
The 30|HDs will replace the current model 30|30s starting at $1,799 with Industry Nine 1/1 hubs, with the option to upgrade to the Hydra hubs with a whopping 690 points of engagement. Santa Cruz also builds a handful of bikes that exclusively use mixed or mullet wheel bikes, so if you're looking for the latest incarnation of 27.5" carbon hoops, you're in luck.
Reserve 30|HD Details
Intended use: Aggressive trail and enduro
Wheel sizes: 27.5" & 29"
Rim: 30 mm internal width, carbon fiber
Hub specs: Boost spacing, XD or MS12 driver options
Spokes: 28x double butted spokes J-bend w/aluminum nipples
Disc mount: 6 bolt
Weight: 1879 grams - 29" w/Hydra hubs, valves and rim tape (actual)
Price: starting at $1799
More info: www.reservewheels.com
Intended use: Aggressive trail and enduro
Wheel sizes: 27.5" & 29"
Rim: 30 mm internal width, carbon fiber
Hub specs: Boost spacing, XD or MS12 driver options
Spokes: 28x double butted spokes J-bend w/aluminum nipples
Disc mount: 6 bolt
Weight: 1879 grams - 29" w/Hydra hubs, valves and rim tape (actual)
Price: starting at $1799
More info: www.reservewheels.com
The new 30 HD has a revised profile replaces the 30 rim.
Features & Construction
Reserve didn't just throw more carbon to tag the HD title. Well they did, because they are thicker and wider externally, but there's more to it than that. The height of the 30mm wide profile rim has been revised and now sits lower for increased impact resistance. More vertical compliance and yet improved lateral rigidity are claims we hear frequently, but we've seen a trend in deep dish carbon hoops slimming down in order to improve the feel out on the trail.
If you take a closer look at the 480 gram rim (29") you'll notice the rim bed is identical to the current 30 | SL model, which is optimized for 2.3-2.5" tires, and features a bead bump for less cursing while seating tubeless tires. Other familiar characteristics are the square reinforcement shapes around the 28 spoke holes that lie offset for greater symmetry and equal spoke tension.
As for the hubs, 6-bolt is the only rotor mounting option and for drivers there is the choice of a SRAM XD or Shimano Micro Spline 12-speed cassette interface.
Our wheels came with the new Fillmore valves. They inflated a variety of tires with a regular pump and the resilient rim tape endured multiple installs.
The new Reserve wheels are available with SRAM's XD driver or Shimano's MicroSpline freehub bodies.
Installation & Setup
Tubeless tire setup can be a messy hassle, but 30|HDs posed no issues with common Maxxis Double Down tires and a standard pump. I didn't need to pull any special tricks, like removing the valve core, since the Fillmore valves let plenty of air through in a single burst from the pump.
The rim tape was also well adhered all the way down in the channel and butted up right to the inner edge of the rim. I've found that some tires can pull the tape down into the rim bed if it's not properly applied, but there were no air bubbles in sight and it survived multiple tire changes. The rim bed holds the tire tight enough that I didn't have to deal with sealant leaking out of the tire before the bead was set, nor did the folding bead tires require levers to install.
Initial Riding Impressions
I like to think I'm relatively kind to my equipment. It gets used, but not abused. Well, it didn't take long for that thought to disappear from my head when I came up well short on a sizeable step down gap during my first ride out on the 30|HDs. I thought I would be sending an apologetic email back to the folks at Reserve that evening, but much to my surprise, the rim survived without a hiccup. Even the spokes remained intact and evenly tensioned.
It's likely that other carbon rims may have failed here, or at least some spokes, while an aluminum rim would have surely left me walking out with a wheel looking like a pie with a missing slice. That evening I inspected each eyelet and the inner channel for any signs of cracking, but it still looked brand new. The flatter profile rim promotes more vertical compliance and those square reinforcements around the spoke holes do their job.
Under normal riding conditions, the wheels have a blended feel; firmer than alloy rims, but without the unwanted shock that resonates up to your hands or feet from overly rigid carbon hoops. I didn't find their predecessors, the 30|30 wheels, to be overbearing, but the new model does feel comfortable while plowing down rocky trails at high speeds. I would place them along the lines of a We Are One Union, a rim that I've spent plenty of time on. Both rims hit objects with more of a thud than a ping, and have less feedback than Race Face's Next R wheels. Diving into turns hasn't caused any sudden redirects when the stored energy is released after hard cornering, and across long off-camber sections of trail they don't do anything out of the ordinary.
Moving down to the hubs, the Industry Nine Hydras are known for the buzzing bee-like noise, and that's because they have an exceptionally high number of engagement points - 690, or every 0.52-degrees to be exact. That means if you prefer to ratchet up and over some steps in a technical climb, the power will be almost instantly transferred from the pedals to the wheel. I never found them distracting on the trail and their sound is more of a low hum than a loud tick. For riders looking for a quieter hub, the Industry Nine 1/1 has a still-quick 4-degrees between engagement points, and it's less expensive.
I have noticed on multiple sets of Hydras that the friction can cause the cranks to ghost pedal if you are on foot and pushing the bike. In the bike stand, the hubs spin for a decent amount of time, but may not run as freely as a DT Swiss system.
All in all, the Reserve 30|HD wheels have proved their might as a hard hitting rim for all sorts of pedal worthy bikes and shown improvements in construction and ride quality to the already popular 30|30 model. If you're counting grams or need the utmost in security, you can step to either side of the fence with the lighter duty 30|SL or bomber 31|DH rim options, but the characteristics of these new Reserve wheels are a comfortable and solid choice for all out trail riders or enduro racers.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
1. OMG The price. Who the F would buy these. Response: Apparently a lot of people, they must be selling well if they're making more
2. Why would you ever buy carbon, Aluminum is cheaper. Response: On the cover, but Carbon comes with a lifetime warranty, requires no upkeep and is less likely to fail/have a dent that requires a rebuild, etc. so they may be cheaper over several years. If you're light, slow, ride smooth trails AL makes lots of sense.
3. Why would you buy anything but We Are One. Response: You want them to match your SC bike?
Sorry for triggering you.
I will reserve judgement until they are raced head to head by Henry and Jason against Koozer XF2046s with Mike Bears as control tires
I have seen three sets where the the ratchet ring has stripped free of the hubshell, in the pawl and tooth version. Usually leaves the rider walking back to the trailhead/car/home. Pretty crappy performance. Hence the nick name Poozer.
A Chinese copy of a Chinese copy, lol.
I need to get a micro spline and stop saying I am sorry. This will boost my confidence and help prevent me from becoming the double butt of people's jokes.
Y'all need to get over your xenophobia and stop letting the marketing team tell you what to buy.
As far as warranty is concerned, it isn't lifetime, but 2-3 years and honestly, if I break one I can just buy another set and still have money left over. If I am breaking more than one set of wheels I need to look long and hard at how I ride and maybe trying to get better at riding.
You can be a ww and still ride hard. Not mutually exclusive. Even my dirt-paved highway trail wheels get taken on the single track. They hold up just fine.
I have also used Nextie and Carbonfan. I would say zero issues with those too except I had a bead break on a tire causing it to burp and crack the rim on the Carbonfan in the middle of a rock garden during a race. No wheel aluminum or carbon at the weight of that rim would have survived. Off the top of my head it was like 280g for the rim.
The wheelset on my enduro bike is well under 1700g and is 34mm internal width laced with DT350 hubs so you could easily dump a few more grams just buy going to the 240 and a 30mm ID, but then price jumps up a bit, probably to $1000 for the set.
Also I assume you understand that I have different wheels on different bikes?
I have used their wheels on a road bike built for racing. 50mm deep dish laced to gasp "Chinese" Bitex hubs. Some of the smoothest wheels I have ridden.
Used a pair of plus wheels on a HT that would climb and descend everything. Zero issues.
Have two gravel bikes with their 40mm deep wheels laced to DT350 and Carbon-ti hubs. Take them on single track pretty regularly no issues.
Have a pair of 28mm ID laced to DT350 on my FS XC Sniper. I believe they weigh in under 1400g and it gets raced hard and still hits jumps. No issues
On my enduro bike like I said above. No issues.
Not affiliated at all, don't get discounts, can show you receipts for all the purchases if you are skeptical. Just a product that has worked and can fit the bill of light, strong, cheap (relatively) pick all three.
Regardless, I was referring to ordering random Chinese carbon wheels from ebay or amazon. That feels sketch to me.
www.farsports.com
wheelsfar.com
Also I could tell you about a $350 set of Carbon road wheels I have used off Amazon, but that’s neither here nor there since we are talking mtb.
Can I interest you in the $1000 suspension fork I am selling in the buy/sell.... www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3219711
But back to Paul Aston, we have to be fair. Just because Enve sucks balls doesn’t mean Reserve do. (In fact Luescher temnik cut through LB amd Enve and demonstrated that Lb are better built) These look good as they have xtra thick walls and thicker they are, the more durable they are. It took Paul a few months to waste Newmen rims aimed at XC/Trail.
thank you
In addition, Where do you think Santa Cruz learned how to make carbon wheels? Do you think they stood idly by when ENVE sponsored The Syndicate all those years.... doubt it. Bet they learned a thing or two.
I stick to my opinion: just because Enve sucks doesn’t mean Reserve or WeAreOne suck too. Enve still sucks.
You are defending some company making overpriced and shitty products, like your livelyhood depends on it.
Also not arguing that the rim cracked. But reading deeper into Pauls review he was looking for any carbon product to take the fall for his soapbox. Not saying it didn't fail, we all saw that. But I do question the circumstances and how they were told.
All wheels will fail... like all product. Manufacturers build in AQL and Confidence and Reliability levels for this. It would be interesting to see the actual warranty/complaint data from these manufacturers. That's the real indicator, not he who yells loudest.
I will admit that Shimano brake points wander.... that is fact.
But to your second point... when I was shopping around the only hydra's that were available in the complete wheelsets I was looking at were the 6 bolt (not waiting 2 months for a custom build).
and: the one I cracked was a v1, they sent me a v2 as replacement. Still coming up short on all jumps two years later LOL
Also the NP have 32 spokes and so if you say that the spokes are on the Sapim Race level at 6g then you are looking at an increase about 50g and closer to 60g if they are using brass nips.
So really the wheels are only about 150g heavier all things being equal.
You can buy 4 full sets for the price of the Hydra reserves and have cash left over, or 3 of the 1/1 version with cash left over, plus you would have all those hubs and rims that you could keep making sets out of.
From the sound of it I would get my wheels from across the pond quicker than getting a warranty replacement (in general, not just Reserve)
Watch entirely to the very end for your curiosity:
www.gmbn.com/video/how-strong-is-a-mountain-bike-wheel-blake-sam-reynolds-mtb-wheel-wrecking-challenge
The article doesn't mention anything about performance difference that these wheels offer over the lighter model..
Blake from GMBN testing Spank wheelset:
www.gmbn.com/video/how-strong-is-a-mountain-bike-wheel-blake-sam-reynolds-mtb-wheel-wrecking-challenge
youtu.be/XTvhc5AsYh8?t=938
I can't believe Matt Beer brought up the Danny MacAskill video. There's been enough broken Reserve rims with far less abuse for everyone to know the video is horseshit. But hey, Reserve are a sponsor now, so goodbye credibility and hello gushing fanboys.
I've cracked one rim in 2 seasons. I'm also a 225lbs rider who rides dh tracks year round. I spend most of my free I've in the summer in whistler bike park, and where I've typically gone through several alloy rims, the reserves have kept going strong. The cracked rim was fully rideable, and to add that Santa Cruz had a brand new wheel at my door in 4 business days.
Keeping in mind this was the beginning of the pandemic, and Santa Cruz County was locked down.
No these wheels aren't bomb proof, but they are impressively durable. They have shrugged off impacts that would have completely obliterated an alloy wheel.
Honestly though, the most impressive part was the ride quality, put all else aside, and these brought my bike to life, making cornering more snappy, and giving a more refined feel to the bike.
I was expecting a bit of a wooden ride, but on the contrary.
I am by no means supported by Santa Cruz, and I am a fan boy of what truly works and has good value and peace of mind.
When it's all said and done, that's the beauty of consumerism, there generally are enough options for everybody.
These might not be for you, but I fully feel my reserves were an investment, and worth every damn penny.
2: no, ive never had a driver fuse to a cassette, because i use grease and torque things down properly. i also do basic maintenance and cleaning before each season. .
should also be noted that the wheels in this context are $1800 carbon fiber wheels, and i did mention you can sell the driver (i have seen them for around $150) that came with the bike
Matt Beer the racer is very fast. However, Matt Beer the reviewer needs to understand that you can’t say one material is stronger than another without evidence in support of your argument.
Carbon is lighter than aluminum and may require less maintenance, but it’s not more durable or stronger, the “fact” that the EWS races on Aluminum is proof that it can handle big hits, just like carbon.