Most folks may not realize this but Crank Brothers started making wheel sets last year and this year they’ve expanded the line to include All Mountain wheels. The iodine line has a through axle hub and felt super lightweight–the front wheel is just 870g! And like all Crank Brothers products the wheels come in an array of color combinations that allows you to customize your ride.
One interesting thing to note in the photos is the appearance of thicker, colored spokes closest to the hub. These are not spokes in fact they’re elongated nipples (sounds dirty, eh?). The elongated nipples give the bros’ a chance to add a little color around the center of the wheel but they also provide increased strength while shifting weight away from the outside the wheel. This means the wheels feel lighter and spin faster than if the weight of the spokes were evenly distributed toward the rim.
We also got a chance to check out the Cobalt wheels as well and they were even lighter than the Iodines, even with quick release bolts attached! Look for the Iodine wheels to be released in the next few months (they’re not even on the Crank Bros website yet!).
