Coming from the manufacturing side of the industry, I know how hard it can be to hold tolerances, and this just looked to be far-fetched as a realistic long-term tubeless solution. I thought it wouldn’t likely seal very well. To be honest, I thought it would be cheap or flimsy. “1” is the special rim, “2” is the TLR rim strip, and “3” is the TLR tire with sealant:Īt first glance, I found this very interesting. This covers up all of the spoke holes completely, and effectively converts the internal shape of the rim to Road Tubeless.īontrager provided this handy diagram. However, however… if you want to run tubeless, you use the Bontrager TLR plastic rim strip. Put on your favorite tires and tubes, and ride to your heart’s content. Just use a standard rim tape, such as Velox cloth. If you want to run standard tires with inner tubes, you are more than welcome to. Next up, these rims have a very unique internal shape and accompanying rim strip – and this is where the TLR part comes in.
For the geeks out there, that means it fits tires of the same diameter (622 – or “700c”), and has an internal width of 17mm. Its official measurement is ETRTO 622-17c. Yes, this is a 23mm rim (measured outside-to-outside at the braking surfaces). First off, Bontrager got on the wide rim bandwagon.
Bontrager race x lite update#
What, then, is the big update to this wheel line-up? In a few words – it’s all about the rim, baby. The front hub features the now-standard minimalist Bontrager design and straight-pull spokes: There is also a separate option for Campagnolo compatibility. Note that the rear hubs on the Race Lite and Race X Lite models are compatible with the new Shimano 11-speed standard (and retain compatibility with 9 and 10-speed systems). My test set of wheels are the highest-end Race X Lite, with DT Swiss 240 hub internals. This is all standard fare for the industry. The middle “Race Lite” model falls somewhere in between. The top-end model features hub internals from the DT Swiss 240, along with straight-pull bladed spokes and a lighter rim (pictured below). The lowest end model features a very basic hub with standard J-bend spokes, and a heavier rim. Lucky me, though, got to test the full-bling Race X Lite model.Īs you could also expect, the hubs, spokes, and rims change throughout the lineup. And really – you could race or train on anything you darn well please – so I try to avoid getting in to those discussions altogether.
Bontrager mentions that the top-end Race X Lite can also double as a racing wheel, but given its shallow rim profile, I’d venture a guess that they’re aiming the “race wheel” role at road racers (not triathletes). All look fairly similar at a glance, and fill the same basic purpose… they’re shallow section aluminum wheels for training. In that order, they go from heaviest to lightest – and cheapest to most expensive. There are three key wheel models: Race, Race Lite, and Race X Lite. In addition to the wheels, there are two new tires, and a brand-new latex-based sealant. Essentially they’ve done a massive overhaul in key areas – but actually made it rather easy to understand. The basic structure of the wheel line stays the same, and even the names are the same as in the past. To begin, I will attempt to reassure you. They’ve had it for years in mountain bike wheels and tires, but it’s all-new for the road scene. What does TLR mean? It’s short for TubeLess Ready – or Bontrager’s take on setting their own proprietary tubeless “standard”. This is a review of Bontrager’s new complete TLR road line-up. And quite an interesting concept at that. It had me thrown off from my normal routine at first. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No… what is it? It sure isn’t Superman - and it’s not your typical review.