[Tested] Chris King ISO / Santa Cruz Reserve 30 Wheelset

Last, but certainly not least Chris King use made-in-house sealed angular contact bearings. Although they are clearly a different size, in concept these are the same bearings which make their headsets so long lasting and legendary. Most hub manufacturers use radial bearings, which can’t be tightened as they wear – rather, they need to be thrown out and replaced. King bearings can not only be re-adjusted, but they’re also easily serviceable…All you need to do is carefully use a pick to remove the snap ring and seal, then you can clean and repack them with fresh grease.

While the list of benefits from Chris King hubs are rather long, one of the first things that you’ll notice on trail is “Ringdrive” – the system that gives the hubs their iconic “Buzzzzz”. The basic stats are that 72 points of engagement provide bite every 5º, which is quite fast. One thing that’s unique about Ringdrive is that it sits entirely inboard from the driveside hubshell bearing. This allows it to be larger, thus providing more contact and an increased load bearing – a freakishly high torque load of 800 foot pounds to be exact. According to King, that amounts to 3X the load of competitors’ hubs. In any case, you’ll notice a pleasant, not-too-high pitched noise out back when coasting at speed. When coming out of corners, getting on the gas and fumbling through awkward sections of a climb, you’ll feel a very firm, fast and positive engagement.

This wheelset was tested in a 28 hole configuration, which is slightly leaner than a fairly standard 32 hole, but not as anorexic as 24 spoke wheels. It’s worth pointing out that as these are laced 2-cross, which results in a stiffer wheel. Santa Cruz lace their wheels as 3-cross which provides a little more compliance. In the 27.5″ size tested, these wheels were indeed quite stiff, which can mainly be attributed to the rims, although stout hubs with fairly tall, canted flanges do add some rigidity as well. Having tested a wide array of carbon fiber wheels over the last few years, I’d rate the Reserve wheels as being on the more rigid end of things. They handle brilliantly well and don’t deflect too much, but if you’re looking to carbon rims more for their damping characteristics than for their steering accuracy, these may not be the rims for you as they are a bit on the stiffer side. That said, they do take the edge off more than an aluminum wheel and provide that lovely, lively feel. It’s also a safe bet that the 29″ diameter version of these same wheels will be a bit more forgiving.

In terms of strength, I’ve had great luck over the past 6 months – no cracks and no flats to report. At TDS Enduro I absolutely freaking wailed my front wheel on a sneaky melon-sized rock in the high 20/low 30mph range, which resulted in the gnarliest, scariest rim bottom out that I’ve experienced. The wheel was unscathed and the tire didn’t flat – I was actually shocked thinking it had to have cracked. For what it’s worth, no tire insert was installed and the tire was a Schwalbe Magic Mary with a Super Gravity casing in the 23-25psi range. That incident as well as frequent abuse without ever using tire inserts on my longest travel bike meant that these wheels saw the worst of my pedal powered recklessness. In terms of rim/wheel strength and durability/longevity of the hubs, I’d rate this wheelset at 10/10. The hubs are spinning as smoothly and freely as they did at the beginning of this review. I keep checking to see if they need a rebuild, but they just aren’t there yet.