Craftworks Enduro Wheels
Craftworx wheels out of Brisbane are in no way related to Adelaide-based Craftworks bicycles; nor are they connected to Kraftwerk, the iconic ’70s German electronica act. Actually that last bit may not be true, as I haven’t asked master wheel builder Steve Craft whether or not he likes to lace hoops to the sound of ‘Trans Europe Express’.
Craftworx make three different types of MTB wheels; Xtrail, Enduro and Gravity. The Xtrail and Enduro are offered in either 27.5 or 29-inch format while the Gravity wheels are 27.5 only. They’re all hand-built by Steve and they retail for between $1,149 and $1,199. All wheels feature the same Craftworx-branded 32-hole hubs and readily available DT Swiss Competition spokes. What does change is the rim width, the internal measurement goes from 20mm for the Xtrail to 25mm on the Enduro and 30mm for the Gravity version. Our 29er Enduro wheels weighed in at 1,850g, which is pretty respectable for a set of alloy trail/enduro wheels. They also come with a conditional money back guarantee, so it appears that Steve Craft is confident that his wheels are up to scratch.
The Trail Lite hubs are said to weigh just 314g for the set, which is impressively light. At this stage they’re only available in the popular 100x15mm front and 142x12mm rear axle standard but boost options are on the way and you can choose between either regular or SRAM XD freehub bodies. Basic cleaning and maintenance can be done without tools in a few minutes, so they’re impressively simple. Aside from the seals on the cartridge bearings, there’s little additional external sealing, so I doubt they’d deal well with prolonged damp conditions. In most parts of Australia however, I think they’ll be perfectly up to the task.
Three double pawls engage with 24 teeth in the ratchet, and the pawl springs feel particularly strong. In addition to delivering a nice clickety-click noise, this also provides secure pawl engagement, which should in turn improve the service life. Despite the 40g weight penalty, all Craftworx wheels are laced with durable brass nipples—a move we wholeheartedly applaud.
The rims are made from a special ‘STSS’ alloy and eyeleted for extra strength at the spoke hole. They’re not only tubeless compatible but also taped from the factory; just add valves, sealant, tyres and you’re ready to hit the dirt. Our test set aired up easily with a floor pump and held the tyres firmly in place for the duration of the test. The black anodised finish looks superb and the finish on the laser-etched graphics is understatedly classy.
Rim Width Rant
Time for a minor rant; wide rims are the ducks nuts. If you haven’t tried a set of 30mm wide rims, you really don’t know what you’re missing in terms of improved traction, cornering support and pinch-flat resistance. Unless you’re really weight obsessed and running 1.9-inch wide tyres at 50psi, I don’t feel that 20mm wide rims are a good option for ‘real’ mountain biking. I’d consider our 25mm wide ‘Enduro’ wheels as suitable for XC and trail use while the 30mm Gravity wheels would be appropriate for all-mountain and enduro applications. So now we can move on…
In terms of build quality, our Craftworx Enduros were excellent. The spoke tension was both high and very even, and they didn’t have the usual ‘run in’ that you often encounter with new wheels—I haven’t touched them with a spoke key and they remain straight and true. At 70kg I’m no clydesdale, but I put them to work on an aggressive hardtail 29er where the lack of suspension puts a lot more stress on the rear wheel. I also deliberately ploughed through rougher lines to see if I could rattle their composure; they shrugged this abuse off and came through with flying colours. Whilst the freehub engagement speed is towards the slower end of the spectrum, it was very positive and I never heard a single pop or other complaint under load, even when ratcheting the pedals heavily on stepped climbs.
Overall I have to say we’ve been very impressed with the Craftworx Enduro wheels. They’re a reasonably light, well-made and tough set of trail wheels. If you really do want to go ‘enduro-ing’ or ride hard on particularly rough trails, I’d go with their wider ‘Gravity’ wheelset. The added 5mm of rim width will only cost you an extra 50 or 60 grams and you’ll appreciate the added tyre support. Whichever way you lean, Craftworx is offering up handmade wheels that are competitive with big brand factory wheels on price and smash most of them on quality; the fact that they’re built in Australia is just an added bonus.
Craftworx (07) 3285 3858 / www.craftworx.com.au
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