by The CXM Test Crew
Cyclocross, gravel, mountain biking and disc brake pavement pounding are now all possible on one wheelset, and can help justify putting down more of your hard-earned money knowing the wheels could get year round use. In Issue 29, we rounded up many of the latest “do it all” wheels, hoops that promise to handle your rides and races on several different bikes, or in several different disciplines.
And in Issue 30 we looked at the go-anywhere disc brake tubeless wheel options seen here. These wheelsets are easily swapped between bikes or help extend the versatility and performance of a single rig. Want to enter a road race on your cyclocross bike? Or add volume to your rubber for some more gnarly adventures? High pressure-tolerant, aerodynamic or wider rims can help get you there. And of course, they can help you ride lower pressure, flat less and shed some rotating weight come cyclocross season.
Our test crew rode these wheels on trails, pavement, gravel and even up and down stairs to see if they’d remain round, true and burp-free under typical rider use and abuse. Read on to see if there’s a wheel here that's right for you.
WILLIAMS SYSTEM 25
Williams Cycling, based in California, has set the goal of getting high-quality cycling components into the hands of enthusiasts at a low cost. The System 25 wheelset is less than 20% the total cost of the most expensive wheelset in our review, sitting pretty at $549 USD for a 1,735 gram (1,686 grams claimed) alloy clincher disc wheelset. Not the lightest wheelset, but neither the heaviest, and on par with wide rim, tubeless-ready disc clinchers such as the Zipp 30 Course and American Classic Hurricane wheelsets. And they are only bout 100 to 150 grams heavier with a similar bullet shaped 25mm rim depth, bladed spokes and reliable tubeless performance with proper tubeless tires. A great value.
©️ Cyclocross Magazine
TUBELESS: The System 25 wheels are tubeless ready, meaning they have a rim design that is conducive to mount a tubeless ready tire and come with a rim strip for tubes. Add valve stems, a tubeless strip and the right tire and you’re theoretically ready to go. We easily mounted both a Vittoria XL TNT tire, a Hutchinson Toro, and a Bontrager CX0 non-tubeless 34c tire as a conversion. The conversion required a compressor to seat the tire. While it is unfair to do a conversion on a wheel that was not advertised with this “feature,” it shows the real compatibility of the rim for tubeless. Replacing the stock clincher rim strip with a NoTubes strip, or sticky sealing tape will seal the deal and you’ll be good to go for tubeless use. The converted tire did not completely unseat or flat-out, but we can’t recommend using non-tubeless tires on these wheels.
©️ Cyclocross Magazine
DURABILITY: The William System 25 wheelset came round and true out of the box, the endcaps for the front wheel to convert from QR to 15mm thru-axle pressed in and popped out easily—almost too easily as one of the 15mm end caps kept falling out when the wheel was out of the frame, similar to some NoTubes hubs. Once clamped into the wheel though it was seure. Spoke tension is tight and even, and so far the wheels stayed like new despite the layers of dirt and dust. Our test courses include long trails with rocks and roots, as well as short fast courses with sand, gravel, pavement and curbs. There was no spoke-settling pings on the initial ride. A couple of mis-timed sharp hits didn’t dent the rim despite burping the converted Bontrager CX0 non-tubeless tire.
PRICE: $549 USD
WEIGHT: 1,735 grams
OPTIONS: QR or 15mm thru axle front, QR or 142x12mm thru axle rear
More info: williamscycling.com
