A deep dive into Industry Nine Wheels

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Here’s how I went about speccing my particular Industry Nine wheelset build…

First of all, I spent ages dicking about on the ‘Design My Wheels’ webpage. It’s a very simple and enjoyable process as it turns out. And very addictive. Ultimately though I eventually calmed down, made a cup of tea, and got down to the business of thinking and clicking…

I was tempted to go down the mullet route but as I’m a taller rider I’ve not been that fussed about smaller rear wheels. So full 29 it is. With regular Boost thru axles front and rear.

I wanted a narrower rim width than most wheels offer at the moment, something better suited to 2.25 to 2.4in tyres (and offering better mud clearance). I went with 27mm internal width.

Low spoke count. 24 spokes in this instance. I’m a relatively light rider (73kg ish) and I’m not overly hard on my equipment.

I also wanted wheels to put on my steel full suspension bike that has coil springs front and rear. It’s very much a compliant riding mountain bike. I didn’t want super stiff wheels. I like the bike to track the ground at all angles.

This is also why I went with an aluminium rim as opposed to carbon. Although Industry Nine’s carbon rims are seen as comfier than most, I still like the feel of aluminium and it suits the full-metal vibe of the bike in general.

What I did want with a new wheelset was a good ratio of sprung to unsprung mass. Basically, if you have light wheels your suspension performs better.

Helping hands holding hoops
The option of Hydra hubs was a no-brainer. That super quick pickup is what Industry Nine wheels are all about.

Having said that, if you’re not into quick pickup or want to spend a but less, you can choose the Industry Nine ‘1/1′ Mountain’ freehub which offers 90 points of engagement.

As for the anodising colour choice… I couldn’t really decide at first and then I thought of the answer. All of the colours, all of the time. Rainbow for the win!

The wheelset I designed is essentially a pair of Industry Nine Trail 270 24H wheels, with rainbow coloured spokes. OMFG. They came in at 1,585g by the way.