Santa Cruz Bicycles

Reserve 30 29in Chris King Boost Wheelset

Sturdy wheels certainly help in the confidence department when blasting berms, hitting big drops, and mobbing over chunky rock gardens. Constructing those same wheels out of gram saving and stiffness enhancing carbon fiber takes things to the next level and improves the ride in every conceivable trail situation. The Reserve 30 29in Chris King Boost Wheelset brings all of that to the table and takes on gnarly trails at speed with aplomb. Santa Cruz designed the Reserve Wheels to be the strongest carbon hoops on the market by ensuring critical failure points are beefed up, so you can charge hard without worrying about rim issues even after bottoming out on square edge rocks or casing it in the bike park.

Instead of replicating the pothole-like impact test used on traditional carbon hoops that are better suited for road wheels, Santa Cruz developed its very own testing protocol that simulates one-sided impacts that normally occur when a rider is traversing over trail obstacles at speed. As it began testing the leading manufacturer's carbon wheels, it became readily apparent that most carbon wheels not only broke along the bead, as expected, but they also failed along the spoke nipple interface due to the drastic increase in spoke tension as the wheel flexed upon impact.

To prevent these breakage issues, Santa Cruz beefed up the rim bead, increasing its thickness by one millimeter on each side for improved resiliency when you're thrashing the living hell out of these wheels. The design engineers at Santa Cruz then fortified the spoke holes with square-shaped reinforcements you can visibly see, which protect the spoke nipples from suddenly pulling through due to harsh impact. Santa Cruz isn't the first company to reinforce a carbon wheel's high-stress areas, but it's one of the first to offer a lifetime warranty. This warranty applies as long as you actually break them while riding and racing and not due to running over them with your car, into the garage, etc.

Of course, it's worth noting that this particular Reserve Wheelset is laced to the ever-impressive Chris King hubset for ultra-quick engagement of five-degrees. This allows you to get on the gas quickly with little lag time as you navigate technical trails with the hub engaging without delay, transferring pedaling motion into forward movement. It's also what gives the hubs its signature "angry bee" sound that is an audible reminder of the quality moving parts inside the beautifully machined hub shells. It's finished with J-bend spokes and external, mechanical locking nipples for easier replacement should you break a spoke while traveling with your bike.