RRP: £4499.99
www.upgradebikes.co.uk
Review by Dom
Those $6000 Reynolds RZR wheels were just in the next room. Just next to my design office.
In a box.
With tubs on.
So I snuck in and nicked ‘em. Took them home and slid them onto my KR-810. [yeah I know I need to MTFU with my ladies chainring!]
The difference these wheels make to the ride is amazing. First thing I did was ride out of my driveway and hit my elbow on a parked car because the the turn-in is ‘instant’ there is seemingly no resistance to turning the bars at slow speed. This translated into a ‘twitchy’ ride for the first 200 yards, but you soon dial it out. By far the most impressive thing is the way you can spin up to speed on the flat, thought I had one of those ’seatpost motor’ thingies!
Maybe I was just trying to live up to the ‘Reflected Glory’ of those shiny [but a little tacky] RZR decals, but short sharp climbs felt astoundingly rapid and the lack of flex meant corners could be railed confidently on the way back down! I guess the tubs make a pretty big difference too.
It does make you a tadge nervous riding wheels that are worth £3350 more than the car you drive to work!! But it felt great and a chance well taken.
But now they are safely back in the box in the office next door. I’m sure I can hear them struggling to spin out of their cardboard prison.
Would anyone realise if I set them free?…
What they say:
The World’s Lightest Wheels
Visionary innovations. Superior materials. Handcrafted precision.
These are the essential elements of the Reynolds RZR 46.
Available in both tubular and clincher (coming in 2010) models, the RZR is, without a doubt, the world’s most advanced carbon fibre and composite wheel system.
In every aspect of wheel performance; light weight, torque response, durability and aesthetics, RZR has been concieved and constructed to exceed performance requirements of the world’s most demanding cyclists.
• Sub 900 grams per pair
• Carbon Rim – 46mm
• Swirl Lip Generator for unmatched aerodynamics
• Tubular or Clincher
• Carbon Spokes – N.A.C.A 0033 drag coefficient
• Replaceable Spoke Technology
• Carbon Hub & Axle
• Torque Flange
• Shimano / SRAM / Campagnolo Compatible
Lighter By Half
RZR is destined to re-define composite wheel technology and establish a standard of performance that formerly existed only in the imaginations of a few wild-haired composites engineers.
Reynolds Composites Studio designers started with a blank sheet of paper to create the lightest, strongest, most responsive bicycle wheel on the planet.
How light? The RZR 46T is an extraordinary sud 900 grams per pair. With seven patents pending, you could say, the whole of the Reynolds RZR is less than the sum of its parts – especially when measured in grams.
