Rapidé TR27-27 Trail Racer Wheelset 650b I was looking for a new wheelset for my bike and came across the Rapidé website, I saw the wheels posted a few times on Bikehub. I could not find out much about them other than what was on the website. So after a lot of questions to them on their web chat, I decided to go for it and buy a set. Firstly I need to make it clear that I am in no way receiving any benefits from Rapidé whatsoever and I bought the wheels at their marketed prices, nor do I have any vested interest with them. This review is completely independent. That out the way, Wayne advised me that the best set for my bike would be the 27mm internal rims as I also purchased the Maxis Minion DHF & DHR from them. Payment was made and within a short time I had the courier knocking on my door with my new wheels all neatly boxed up. First impressions Out the box they were solid and very well built, rim tape and valves included. The rims are solid and have a deep bead to grip the tyres. The hubs are their own branded version of the Novatec D791SB/D792SB hubs with their spec of bearings etc. Novatec hubs have been around for ages and are well known. Nice solid little workhorses. They also come in thru axle and QR so will fit any non boost bike. (Rapidé also have a boost hub available) Fitting So rim tape and valves already fitted, all that was needed was to fit the tyres and throw in some sealant. The tyres fit very snug and the beading grips them very well. They went on well with a quick blast on the compressor and a loud pop. No issues whatsoever. The free hub was a perfect fit for the Shimano SLX 11 sp cassette and for the SRAM people there is a compatible free hub for you too. These guys really have thought of everything. Wheels fitted (Pyga Pascoe 140 650b), I headed off to my favourite trails at Karkloof. It is important to note that I am a very average rider who tends to crash his way through things than float over the top. In other words, I’m hard on my wheels. Now for those of you who ride at Karkloof you will know the trails I’m mentioning are relatively technical and pretty tough on wheels and tyres alike. On the Trails The first trail was The Batchelor which was part of last year’s Enduro stage. With my crash through riding and poor line selection, a few drop offs and rock gardens and a jump line later, I survived and the wheels performed well. Nice and stiff and a feeling of control through my chaos. Next up was Sid Vicious, an appropriately named trail. This trail is just one long rock garden from top to bottom. It has challenging lines and a great place to rip a tyre and buckle a rim. Again the wheels just did their job without any hassles. This is a wheelset review, but oh my how well the Maxis Minions performed. Because of the deep bead on the rims, I was able to run the tyres at 1.5bar through this trail with no burps or issues. The last torture trail was the recently opened Puff Adder Pass. This is one tough trail with very little time to get any momentum, its pedal all the way up, down, up and through one rock garden after the next. Again a flawless performance from the wheels. I also spent my December leave riding most of the other trails at Karkloof the wheels held up well, rolled smoothly and always engaged when required. All in all I must say, for the price point vs quality and functionality, you won’t find too many better deals on the market. As you can see from the bike I ride weight is not an issue when you ride technical trails and have all your fun downhill. I would recommend these wheels if you are like me who does not have deep pockets but loves to ride. It would be good to see future reviews on these wheels from other riders who have them. To see the specs check out their website www.rapide.co.za. The fast and friendly service is an absolute pleasure work with.
