Having taken the world by storm less than a year ago with the release of their Reserve Wheels, Santa Cruz have upped the game again. Desined to hit the sweet-spot between the wide-trail tyres we are accustomed too and traditional 'plus' tyres, the 37mm Reserve is designed around a 2.6" tyre. This is no comprimise though, 2.6 takes only the best bits from either end of the spectrum and leaves behind everything else. The result is unbelievable traction and support, with optimal air volume and tyre profile, but without the squirm and rolling-resistance of 'plus' wheels.
Backed up by a no-nonsense lifetime warranty should you ever need it, these reserve wheels were designed, tested and hand-built in California.
Setting strength and impact resistance as their highest priority hasn’t led to an uncomfortably stiff ride, this wheelset is compliant enough to remove the ‘wooden’ feeling that some carbon rims suffer from, yet so strong it sailed through UCI testing standards so easily Santa Cruz had to develop their own tests, in which the Reserves beat all competition.
Thanks to relentless prototyping and testing everything from the thickness and shape of the rim beads to spoke hole reinforcements has been perfected to maximise strength, so much so that spokes will fail before the rim does. Thanks to a sensible build that doesn’t require a whole new set of tools, a broken spoke won’t slow you down for long though.