2017 Pinkbike Awards - Value Product of the Year Nominees
Best Value Product Nominees
Show of hands—who likes spending unnecessary amounts of money on gear? Absolutely no one. Well, aside from that rare individual who’s come to Pinkbike fresh from installing a golden toilet in their garage…. But speaking for the majority of human beings, value matters. Most of us want to feel like our money is well spent. The three products here are, in our opinion, three of the best values of the year.
Are there less expensive products than the Huck Norris, X-Fusion Manic and Bontrager Line Pro 30? Certainly. This, however, is not an award for Cheapest Product of 2017—we’re looking to find the 2017 product that delivers the best bang for your buck. Here’s why these three nominees made our list.
Why it's nominated:
Nothing banjaxes a ride like flatting a tire. Best case scenario, you waste five minutes repairing a slashed sidewall or installing a tube. Worst case scenario, you find yourself walking out with both a mushy tire and a ruined rim. The market, consequently, is rife with products that seek to eliminate the dreaded pinch flat. There are carbon wheels that are said to be unflattable. And there are a growing number of inserts and liners that promise to end pinch flats and their associated ills. Huck Norris is one of the latter. The product debuted with an outrageous list of claims—it'd stop pinch flats in tubeless tire sets ups, prevent your rim from being dented, make installing tubeless tires easier and even eliminate the need to use an air compressor while installing tubeless tires.
Here's what Paul Aston found during testing: Huck Norris works really well. Yes, the foam tire insert from Finland adds up to 240 grams of weight to your wheels, but it still weighs less than many other flat-protection devices, is fairly easy to install and, in our testing, allowed us to ride ridiculously low pressures on technical trails without either pinch flatting or denting our rims. It's not "cheap", but if you're not prematurely replacing tires or flat-spotting expensive rims, you are saving money in the long run.
From the review:
 | Huck Norris lives up to most of his claims. An efficient way to add tire and rim protection with no added hassle. |
Why it's nominated:
What are the odds that someone sees this carbon wheelset in the nominee line-up and immediately rushes down to the comment section to call us a bunch of silver-spoon sucking, elitist, out-of-touch jackasses? The odds are damn good. But bear with us for a minute. If you want a carbon wheelset, there are relatively few options out there that match the value of Bontrager’s Line Pro 30. We live in a world of $3,000 carbon wheels, which are at least $2,000 more than most of us think a set of carbon wheels should cost. Enter the $1,200 Line Pro 30s—which come in both 27.5 and 29-inch varieties, sport a nice, wide profile (29 millimeter internal width) and feature a quick-engaging, six-pawl hub.
The Line Pros are not the first carbon wheels at this price point. Specialized (Roval) and Ibis both beat Bontrager to the punch on that score, but the Line Pro 30s tick all the right boxes—good price, nice and lively ride quality, great durability and they play well with the latest crop of wide tires.
Not everyone needs and/or even wants a carbon wheelset. There are plenty of great aluminum wheels out there that sell for less. If, however, carbon wheels are something you’re considering, the Bontragers present a strong value.
From the review:
| Bontrager may not be the first name that comes to mind when it comes to aftermarket wheelsets, but the Line Pro 30 wheelset is deserving of a place on any rider's wishlist.... they're a standout option, proof positive that high-end performance doesn't need to come with an astronomical price tag. |
Why it's nominated:
For many of us, dropper posts stopped being an optional “upgrade” years ago; they’re a necessity. Unfortunately, plenty of dropper posts still suffer from less-than-stellar reliability. That’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’ve blown nearly 400 bucks on a post that suddenly refuses to drop or rise.
X-Fusion’s Manic certainly isn’t the lightest post out there (621-grams, plus another 46-grams for the remote), but Mike Levy found the $199 dropper post to be exceptionally reliable, easy to install and smooth in operation. The post gets kudos for an excellent thumb-paddle remote, which pairs well with just about any brake lever and is silky smooth in operation. Should you need to replace the Manic’s guts, you’ll be happy to know that the post is easy to service and that replacement hydraulic cartridges only lighten your wallet by 25 bucks.
From the review:
| X-Fusion has a winner with the Manic.... No, it's not the lightest option out there, but at $199 USD and a reliable design, the Manic is easy to recommend. |
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Member since Jul 22, 2013
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happening. I'm guessing it's from the rim cutting through the insert on impacts.
Still super happy with mine though
$1200 wheels
$50 foam strips
$200 seat post
$50 foam strips that save waves of $100 tires and $100-$1000 rims from needing potential replacement.
$200 good dropper in a ocean of $500 good droppers.
They are all good value propositions, relatively speaking. If you don't think so, don't buy carbon rims and avoid dropper posts in general. Huck Norris isn't for everyone, but for aggressive riding in rough areas, sure, I see the use.
But we're looking at bikes getting more expensive because of all the new additions....but let's not forget you can still buy good aluminum wheels for under $500 (I've laced DT 350s to ex471s for less). Heck....under $300 if you are savy. And good rigid posts in the $30-50 range - carbon included if you keep your eye out for deals.
But $300 aluminum wheelsets and $50 rigid posts are nothing new and don't make for fun reading.
And MSRP is definitely indicative of street price, fyi. The x-fusion at deal price will still be half of what a 9.8 fall-line costs, which the vast majority pay full price on unless they have some sort of great shop connection. Same when comparing envy to bonty - twice the mrsp, twice the street price for surw.
And despite what you think, some people pay full price for silly envy wheel also. As stupid as that is!
Meanwhile I have top notch Asian carbon hoops which I am sure are comparable to envy in most respects, laced to DT 240s, with fancy spokes and 900 CAD, or about 700 USD, total cost taxes included. And last week my shop has friends and family sale and the same bonty wheels above were on sale for that same price point - 900 CAD, 700 USD, plus tax.
Some foam, cut to shape
DT Swiss alloy wheels
Brand X Ascend Dropper
Don't know about basic foam, seems just as heavy/reliable/damped to use heavier casing, which saves you some installation hassle too
A couple of strips cut to width/length and a piece of tape to hold them round while I install the tire - can't hurt to try!
They're a little bit cheaper but I would still get We Are One if I would have to but I'm just not into carbon.
I think Deore brakes are the high point on the value for money curve, though. I put some on my son's bike - paid just over $100 for both sets, they came fully bled and ready, shortening the tube was dead simple and didn't require a bleed afterwards, and they've been awesome for a year now. No fancy adjustments - but man, I'm almost wondering why I went with XT for my bike.
How much heavier would you all estimate mtb wheels made out of high-quality steel or steel alloy be compared to today’s aluminum and carbon wheels?
Thank you for the explanation and I honestly know very little about characteristics of metals and thought I’d just ask!
-> An extremely expensive product which has absolutely no benefits over alu-wheels - even though it is 'cheap' compared to most carbon wheelsets. Not even weight difference is that much.
-> There are cheaper, lighter and again reliable alternatives.
On the brakes - I hear the Guide brakes are nice these days; way more reliable than the Avids they've replaced. I hated the Avids that came with a bike I once had and replaced them with Shimano, because they constantly needed to be bled. Even with that problem apparently fixed, though, you still end up having to deal with DOT fluid instead of just mineral oil.
SRAM has been pushing really aggressively to get their complete groupsets onto lots of stock builds. The OEM pricing must be amazing, given that GX Eagle/Guide/Rockshox builds are pretty much the standard for mid-level bikes this year. But there's a bit of nasty hangover to the consumer when they then have to deal with the results of that later on. So in terms of value for money and troublefree ownership, I gravitate towards Shimano on that.
Pick all that apply:
-I do not live in an area with rocks that I hit at over 15 miles per hour
-I ride gravity casing tires for trail use
-I ride with 40 PSI front and rear
-I do not ride aggressively
I vote for Gorilla Tape however.
I don't know a huge amount about the Giant carbon wheels but what is the warranty like and do they allow a rider to test them for 30 days and return them if they don't like them?