It has been an incredible year for the NOBL family! Our enduro athletes raced some of the most unforgiving terrain in North America. By the time the dust had settled NOBL was the wheel choice of the following title holders:
- Canadian National Enduro Series Pro Elite Men
- Canadian National Enduro Series Open Men
- West Series Champion Open Men
- East Series Champion Pro Elite Men
- 2nd Overall West Pro Elite Men
We’re fortunate to have a slew of shredders and ambassadors who can push the limits of our product while providing valuable feedback on the handling characteristics. We take this feedback seriously and blend it with hours of R&D and countless design iterations to produce wheelsets that can not only perform at the top echelons of our sport, but also withstand years of use and abuse with minimal maintenance.
Now the tech stuff…
Rims
For 2017 we have revised the layups on our TR33, TR36 and TR38 rims. (Check out our recent product releases!)
On the TR36 and TR38, we have tweaked the layup to offer roughly 25% more vertical flexibility. This improves the handling characteristics, allowing the wheel to track the ground with much more control while offering better impact resistance on bigger hits. This product line is targeted towards the aggressive Enduro/All Mountain rider who runs tires in the 2.3”-2.8” range and demands a stiff and responsive platform.
The TR33 rim has quickly become the perennial favorite for anyone from the aggressive XC rider to EWS racer. Adjustments to the layup in the 2017 model bring forth improvements with the layering and wrap process. The result is a wheel that more effectively disperses impact forces while eliminating ‘hot spots’ which can be a point of failure. Handling characteristics remain slightly stiffer than that of an equivalently profiled alloy rim, while retaining a much higher strength to weight rate. Optimized for tires from 2.2”- 2.6”, the TR33 is once again the jack of all trades mountain bike rim.
Decals
With the new rim designs, come new graphics. All 2017 rims feature a NOBL waterslide decal which can be customized with a colour decal pack to ensure your bike is ultra coordinated. Because looking fast is half the battle. Right? Not to mention, they’re also 20g lighter than our previous decals.
NOBL Hubs
Also new for 2017, we’ve introduced lightweight alloy freehub bodies for our NOBL hub. The meticulously designed freehub body features steel inserts in key stress areas to prevent cassette gouging and maintain durability. Testing has shown them to be resilient for over 1,000,000 torque cycles, while competitor’s alloy freehubs typically fail at 150,000 cycles. The alloy XD driver saves 38g over the standard steel XD driver, while the alloy HG driver saves an incredible 71g over the standard steel HG driver. The alloy freehubs are available as an upgrade option on any purchase.
