All of the wheels use rims with a 30mm internal width – even the XC race crowd has made the switch to running wider rims and tires. The rims may be the same widths, but the construction varies depending on what the wheels are designed for, with more material added to the rims that’ll see the most abuse.
• Carbon fiber rims, 30mm internal width
• DT 180 hubs w/ ceramic bearings
• DT Swiss Revolite spokes
• XRC 1200: 1303 grams
• XMC 1200: 1495 grams
• EXC 1200: 1756 grams
• HXC 1200: 1908 grams
• Price: $2,911 USD
• dtswiss.com
New Carbon Rims
The carbon rims are constructed using a new layup process that’s claimed to create a stronger, more uniform product, with each layer compressed as much as possible in order to eliminate any unwanted air pockets.
With DT’s new method, the outer rim layers are not cut, which means there are continuous fibers covering the main impact areas for increased strength – think of it like a protective cap for the other laters of fiber inside the rim. The number of outer layers depends on what the rims are designed for – there are less on the XC wheels compared to the enduro wheels, for example.
The new process creates a rim that doesn’t need any finishing once it’s removed from the mold, which saves time, and the weight of any paint or finishing products.
All of the rims now go through a non-destructive, layer-by-layer inspection, another step the DT Swiss implemented to ensure the final products was as consistent as possible.
Spokes & Hubs
All of the wheels (except for the HXC 1200) are built up with DT’s butted, bladed Revolite spokes that launched last year. They’re made with a unique forging process that DT Swiss says creates the strongest spoke in their lineup while still maintaining a light weight.
Those fancy spokes are laced to 180 series hubs, which I’d also categorize as fancy, thanks to the use of ceramic bearings. The freehub system varies depenind on the wheel category – the XRC 1200’s use the lighter EXP freehub with a 54-tooth ratchet ring, and the EXC wheels use the new DEG freehub, which uses an oversized, 90 tooth ratchet ring. That design is said to be more durable, and it has quicker engagement, but it does come with a 90 gram weight penalty due to the larger ratchet rings and larger hub shell. Riders can choose from either freehub option for the trail-oriented XMC 1200 wheels.
Ride Impressions
I received a test set of EXC wheels a few weeks ago, and so far things are off to a strong start. The wheels have already seen a fair amount of hard miles, and so far they’ve shrugged off all the smackdowns they’ve been subjected to. They’ll be seeing some Whistler laps in the near future, so we’ll see how they fare after a good dose of the bike park.
These days it takes something really special or out of the ordinary for a set of carbon wheels to stand out – wheels that are overly harsh are increasingly rare, and most companies seem to have dialed in a comfortable ride feel. That’s the case so far with the EXC 1200’s – the 1746 gram weight of my mixed wheelset is very reasonable, and so far they haven’t exhibited any unusual characteristics on the trail. If anything, I’d say they feel more lively than muted – there’s a nice snappiness to them that can be be felt when pushing through a corner.
The biggest hurdle for the new 1200 series wheels is going to be the price tag – we’ve reached a point where there are multiple high quality carbon wheelsets out there that cost nearly $1,000 less. Sure, those lower priced options might not have hubs with ceramic bearings and heavily manipulated spokes, but $2,900 for a wheelset is a hefty sum no matter how you look at it.
