Though I don’t typically salivate over cross-country mountain bike wheelsets, the all-new Crank Brothers Cobalt XC wheelset is about the sexiest looking set of mountain bike wheels I think I’ve ever seen! 24 twin-pairs of spokes are laced to the anodized blue rims via twelve integrated eyelets. The hubs are built in typical Crank Brothers fashion–functional and great looking.
I’m a big fan of Crank Brothers and have used their pedals exclusively for the past several years. One thing that stands out to me with Crank Brothers… they are always leading the industry in the aesthetics of their designs. Everything is built with Apple-like finishes from the packaging to the product’s look and feel. They truly do stand out to me as being the leader in smart and good-looking bike component design–those looks aren’t just skin-deep. The all-new Crank Brothers Cobalt XC wheelset continues to solidify themselves as THE leaders in component design and function.
About the Crank Brothers Cobalt XC Wheelset
Built for the XC race crowd, these hoops will find homes on high-end XC race or endurance bikes. Their look is truly unique and the build is equally stunning. These tubeless-compatible rims are 19mm wide and weigh in at 1540g per pair (688g front / 852g rear), which is just a hair heavier (15g) than Shimano’s XTR wheelset, but way better looking and considerably cheaper.
More info on the Crank Brothers Cobalt XC Wheelset:
- Rim Material: 6061-t6 aluminum
- Internal Rim Width: 19mm
- Brakes: Disk-specific (do people actually still use V-brakes???)
- Spokes: 14 stainless steel butted (2.0 / 1.6 / 2.0) spokes
- Nipples: 6061-t6 aluminum
- Hubs: Sealed cartridge bearings (2 front / 4 rear), 100mm width front, 135mm width rear
- Tire Width: 1.9 – 2.3
- QR: Unique split quick-releases included
- MSRP: $1000
3 Comments
Jason, we’ve got a set on test over at bikefix- you can read Charlie’s initial impressions here (http://www.bikefix.net/2008/07/bikefix-initial-review-crank-brothers.html)…
marc
we went thru 5 rear hubs total on 2 sets of Cobalt Wheels, CB took care of the problem each time but it was a PAIN IN THE ARSE specially because it happened during our racing season. I hope they have fixed the problem and do a massive recall for the rest of the wheels.
I had heard about the hub issues with the early-generation models. Lame that you had to go through 5 HUBS!!! Uggh! Sorry to hear that. You rolling smoothly now?