News / Test: With the Crankbrothers Synthesis, the cult manufacturer from California is introducing a new series of wheels with carbon rims, where many things are done differently than before. There are three different series for different driver types and areas of use. We have already tested the bikes with the unusual concept in the E11 Enduro variant.
Crankbrothers wheels have always been special. They always stood out from the crowd visually. The latest generation of Californians is again different from the competition. This time, however, the technology has been improved more than the optics. A few weeks ago, some press representatives got the opportunity to have the hot parts screwed to the bike to test them.
The Crankbrothers team chose the Käseralm am Samerberg as the location. In the bike park there are suitable routes for the first test rides. Rainer Gerster, who has been working for Crankbrothers in Germany for a long time, received extra support from Jason Schiers and Kellen Trachy for the presentation. Kellen has been the global contact when it comes to marketing for some time. Jason Schiers has worked in product development at Crankbrothers and sister brands such as Fizik and Selle Royal since early 2016. The announcement of his presence made one thing clear to me: one could prepare for carbon rims. After all, Jason is one of the co-founders of Enve.
During a cozy get-together on the Käseralm on the Samerberg, we were told what the new line of wheels had in mind. In the following weeks we hit the trails with the Synthesis E11.
What the Crankbrothers Synthesis wheels promise...
The Crank Bros Crew speaks of a "Tuned Wheel System". The front wheel and rear wheel have to cope with different requirements in tough everyday mountain biking and were precisely adapted to these different tasks by the developers. As a rule, the same rims, number of holes, spokes, etc. are installed on the front and rear of a wheelset.
In the case of our test wheel set, the Enduro variant E11, a lighter but wider rim is installed at the front. The number of spokes and the spoke tension is lower. As a result, the front wheel should be particularly forgiving, improve grip, for example in bumpy corners, and not jump as easily or pass fewer hits to the pilot.
At the rear, the number of holes or spokes is larger and the spoke tension is also higher. The rim is a little narrower, but is built more robustly. According to the Californians, the rear wheel must be stiffer in order to keep the track clean and to be able to convert power perfectly into propulsion. Many riders will be happy about the more stable design of the rear wheel, as this is where the problem of durability usually comes up first.
Together with Mello Bouwmester, Jason Schiers came up with the concept, which makes a few things different from the competition, especially when it comes to rims. Two different approaches have found a – supposedly perfect – compromise. Mello wanted more comfortable rims, Jason wanted high rigidity. Crankbrothers put it this way: “The thesis is that a wheel should be as stiff as possible… The antithesis says a wheel should be forgiving. We built the synthesis out of it.”
The Synthesis wheels are available in three versions for different areas of use. The Synthesis XCT are made for XC and trail bikes and also use different rims, but they are lighter and narrower than the Synthesis E version we tested, which is aimed at all-mountain and enduro bikers. The DH variant comes with wide, very stable rims at the front and rear. The XCT and the E variant are available in two quality levels. The same high-end carbon rims are installed in the 11 version with Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes or Sapim Sprint spokes and a higher-quality hub. The cheaper version uses a Sapim D-Light or Race spoke.
The difference in the hubs is also visible from the outside. "Made in the USA" is written on the hubs of the top models. Project 321 was brought on board for the development - the small manufacturer produces exquisite hubs in Oregon. The hub of the Synthesis E11 has magnets instead of springs in the freewheel, which allow six pawls to engage at 144 points, i.e. every 2,5 degrees. The hubs are very quiet, and a kit for conversion to "more discount mode" is available on request. The hubs are allowed to rotate on sealed Japanese precision ball bearings.
Of course, options for the common wheel sizes 27,5″ and 29″ are available (DH only in 27,5″) and the common hub standards are covered. Confidence in the rims is high, so the rims are also offered individually. The prices seem normal for the market. The rims are all at 699 euros. The cheaper wheelsets cost 1699 euros, for the top versions you have to shell out 2399 euros.
How do the Crankbrothers E11 perform in our test?
A total of three riders were on the wheels during our test. From a body weight of around 70 kilos and a very brisk, ambitious driving style, to a body weight of around 120 kilos and a rather clumsy “it will be fine” driving style. The trails in the Bavarian Forest and the Bikepark Geisskopf served as test areas. The Orange Stage 6 serves as the test bike from our bike build story.
There is currently an increasing trend on the trails for larger wheels with narrower tires to be installed on the front wheel than on the back. I was told that this should be particularly helpful on e-mountain bikes. What has established itself in motocross can't be wrong for MTB either - so the theory goes. I couldn't really discover the approach for myself. Totally different forces are at work in motocross than in MTB, and the tires are built very differently. Also, the idea didn't fit with my experience of more than a decade of trying tires and wheels.
It was an aha experience for me when I built two wheels that were as identical as possible in terms of weight, width, etc., but very different in terms of stiffness. Same hub, spokes, nipples, rim tape, tube and tire. I used hot glue to bring a carbon rim to the same weight as an aluminum rim of the same width. The front wheel with the elastic aluminum rim is also spoked a little softer, the one with the carbon rim is tighter. The effect: When switching from the aluminum wheel to the carbon counterpart, it felt as if someone had screwed up the compression stage. The front wheel jumps much more easily, the ride becomes more restless. At least the effect was so clearly noticeable with a tendentially high tire pressure, with lower pressure the effect was somewhat dampened.
Why am I digging up this story? Because I was immediately enthusiastic about the Synthesis approach. Positively biased so I let other testers do it first. They also found the not endlessly hard front wheel to be very comfortable and fast to ride. But what I had to feel and what I then had to agree with my colleagues: The rear wheel feels harder than necessary in some situations. The front generates high traction and the rear bounces behind, you could say. What feels great in berms or on shaped routes is annoying in other situations. Take the curve a little sharper than usual, drop the bike and put some pressure on the pedals: "Braaaappp". Every step is also converted into propulsion.
On the stony and rooty trails in front of my front door, it sometimes rattles quite a bit and the rear wheel moves more often than usual. In any case, the rim works very well as a tubeless system, at least with the installed Maxxis tires, which is what we are used to from Crankbrothers. The freewheel was really very, very quiet at the beginning, but can now be heard a little more clearly. The bearings run like they did on the first day and are smooth running, even under preload. We also subjected the test bikes to descents with deliberately very low air pressure, but despite a few "plonk", rim-meets-rock events, no real damage is visible. Should something unexpected happen, we will supplement this test.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5fquZs6fH8&feature=youtu.be
