Anyone has experience with Exar Carbon Wheels?

[pedal menace]

I am having an unhealthy itch to supplement my current Gravel Wheelset (Easton EA 70 AX) with an Exar Carbon GR45 Pro Gravel wheelset. Anyone has experience with them? Quality? Hubs? They seem to be priced quite reasonably compared to other brands which most are at double the price - and we know you pay more for the brand that the actual product. 

Edited October 30, 2025 by pedal menace

[Danger Dassie]

Hey PM, I do some occasional stuff with the brand and their agents in SA, Bicycle Power. https://bicyclepower.co.za/

Exar is the wheel brand of Magene who do computers, radars, power meter cranks, pedals etc. 

On the spec side of the wheelset, they’re a high modular carbon, flat blade Pillar spokes into a straight pull hub. Which runs on a DT Swiss type internal. 
The rims are a 25mm internal width, 32mm external and are 45mm deep. And are UCI approved/certified, if that’s of consideration. Additionally they’re tubeless ready. 
rrp is approx 16/17k afaik

Kent Main has been racing them and has some worthwhile feedback overall. I’ve not had much time with unfortunately, but haven’t found anything to nit pick over. 
 

[pedal menace]

17 hours ago, Danger Dassie said:

Hey PM, I do some occasional stuff with the brand and their agents in SA, Bicycle Power. https://bicyclepower.co.za/

Exar is the wheel brand of Magene who do computers, radars, power meter cranks, pedals etc. 

On the spec side of the wheelset, they’re a high modular carbon, flat blade Pillar spokes into a straight pull hub. Which runs on a DT Swiss type internal. 
The rims are a 25mm internal width, 32mm external and are 45mm deep. And are UCI approved/certified, if that’s of consideration. Additionally they’re tubeless ready. 
rrp is approx 16/17k afaik

Kent Main has been racing them and has some worthwhile feedback overall. I’ve not had much time with unfortunately, but haven’t found anything to nit pick over. 
 

Thank you - I have reached out to my bike shop for a more formal quote on the wheels. There are a few reviews on the road wheels, and they all rate these wheels very positively. 

 

[Ncayi]

2 hours ago, pedal menace said:

Thank you - I have reached out to my bike shop for a more formal quote on the wheels. There are a few reviews on the road wheels, and they all rate these wheels very positively. 

 

I have been riding the Exar road wheelset for over 2 month's and it has been great. 

Edited October 31, 2025 by Ncayi

[Guy LRC]

I just rode the Gravel Burn on them and despite having two hard hitting snake bit punctures they held up well. No complaints. I did however have to replace front wheel and free hub bearings within the first month but the Gravel Burn rivers and weather may have been the cause of this. Happy with the wheels, strong and a good upgrade on the 23mm rims I was using.

[pedal menace]

Unfortunately discovered that the wheelset does not support 12spd Microspline cassettes. Dealbreaker for me. Now looking at Zero Two Wheels - a bit more expensive but looks solid as well. My son has them on his dual suspension and have dealt with many offroad events very well. Zero issues (excuse the pun) ..and they support microspline. 

[Danger Dassie]

9 hours ago, pedal menace said:

Unfortunately discovered that the wheelset does not support 12spd Microspline cassettes. Dealbreaker for me. Now looking at Zero Two Wheels - a bit more expensive but looks solid as well. My son has them on his dual suspension and have dealt with many offroad events very well. Zero issues (excuse the pun) ..and they support microspline. 

Sorry to hear, where did this info come from? 
The standard supply is 11spd, but their design is compatible with the DT Swiss Ratchet, which does allow swopping out with different freehand, including a microspline freehub and cassette.

@pedal menace

https://bicyclepower.co.za/shop/exar-wheels/exar-carbon-fiber-wheelset-pro-gravel-series-2025-disc-brake-45/#:~:text=Table_title: More Powerful Design Table_content: header: |,GR45 Pro: Clincher tire%2C tubeless tire |

https://support.magene.com/hc/en-us/articles/26100814823193-What-Cassettes-are-compatible-with-the-EXAR-Carbon-Fiber-Wheelset

 

Edited November 6, 2025 by Danger Dassie

[G P]

Speak to Nick the Wheelbuilder on this forum for wheel options.  The Nextie wheels and hubs are next level.

[droo]

Surely a wheelset sold in 2025 must have a microspline option... they'd be cutting out a massive share of the market if they didn't.

[pedal menace]

29 minutes ago, droo said:

Surely a wheelset sold in 2025 must have a microspline option... they'd be cutting out a massive share of the market if they didn't.

Agreed and was told it is on the cards for the next iteration of gravel wheels but no timelines can be given - so they lost a deal there I am afraid. 

Edited November 7, 2025 by pedal menace

[pedal menace]

14 hours ago, Danger Dassie said:

Sorry to hear, where did this info come from? 
The standard supply is 11spd, but their design is compatible with the DT Swiss Ratchet, which does allow swopping out with different freehand, including a microspline freehub and cassette.

@pedal menace

https://bicyclepower.co.za/shop/exar-wheels/exar-carbon-fiber-wheelset-pro-gravel-series-2025-disc-brake-45/#:~:text=Table_title: More Powerful Design Table_content: header: |,GR45 Pro: Clincher tire%2C tubeless tire |

https://support.magene.com/hc/en-us/articles/26100814823193-What-Cassettes-are-compatible-with-the-EXAR-Carbon-Fiber-Wheelset

 

If you look at details on website:

Freehub	Standard Shimano 11-speed (Campagnolo N3W and Sram XDR freehub are available separately)

As per my bikeshop feedback:

"....work as micro spline won't fit on that wheelset, and they will luanch the wheelset with micro spline but they can't give a timeline"

Edited November 7, 2025 by pedal menace

[Danger Dassie]

1 hour ago, pedal menace said:

If you look at details on website:

Freehub	Standard Shimano 11-speed (Campagnolo N3W and Sram XDR freehub are available separately)

As per my bikeshop feedback:

"....work as micro spline won't fit on that wheelset, and they will luanch the wheelset with micro spline but they can't give a timeline"

Doesn't make sense, it's the same ratchet system as DT Swiss so it can be converted by default. As received "we tried with a DT HG and it worked"

It does work, perhaps theres a miscomm. 

You can run a 

Shimano Micro Spline cassette on the Magene EXAR GR45 gravel wheelsetby purchasing a compatible Micro Spline freehub body. This will replace the stock Shimano 11-speed freehub that comes standard on the wheelset. 

 

Compatible Micro Spline freehub 

The Magene GR45 Pro wheelset is built with a DT-compatible ratchet system, which allows you to use a DT Swiss-compatible freehub body for conversion. 

• DT Swiss Ratchet freehub: The Magene GR45 Pro hub uses a 36T ratchet system compatible with DT Swiss parts. This means you can use a DT Swiss Shimano Micro Spline Ratchet Freehub Body for conversion. Be sure to purchase the correct version that matches the ratchet system in your hub. 

Edited November 7, 2025 by Danger Dassie

[Andymann]

4 hours ago, G P said:

Speak to Nick the Wheelbuilder on this forum for wheel options.  The Nextie wheels and hubs are next level.

I'll second that.  I've been riding  set of Chinese Carbon road wheels that Nick built for me in 2019 and they have been brilliant.  He knows his stuff and has some pretty good gravel wheel options