Nextie 36" carbon rim

pierrox · September 29, 2021, 8:26am

Good info Terry!

Now it’s time to present mine!
I probably told that story before, but what happened was that I’ve been willing to get a 125mm hub for my 36" as I think it makes for a more sturdy wheel. So I was lucky to pick up a bargain of Oracle parts sold by @rvs and I was going to replace my hub, fork of my 36" and just relace its rim and have a wider 36. And put the spares on a shelf until god knows when… Then I realized that the spokes sent along the other parts where the exact correct dimension to lace a Nextie! I just needed to go 4 crosses instead of 3 on the Oracle. Add to this that Nextie was still giving a discount and free shipping… I also had a spare saddle, so really the only thing needed to make a new 36" was the rim and an inner tube.

So here we are, finished yesterday, haven’t ridden yet.

I went for the “glossy” finish, to change from the usual carbon look. And got the black decals.

The color is deep grey almost black, but not fully black. I was not expecting this but it’s actually pretty neat. In real life, it’s even darker:

Build is done, just need to true/tension the wheel:

Here’s a weight comparison between the QUAX wheel set:

And the Nimbus/Nextie. Almost 600 grams, not bad!

And finished uni. Wait wait wait, it looks much beefier even though they have the exact same tire - Night Rider Lite.

Yep, still looks bigger without the perspective effect from the previous photo:

Wider is the word:

Let’s rely on science then, let’s put the same amount of air inside both tires and measure:

And yep, on average, the tire is 9mm wider on the Nextie rim.

I guess the Nextie rim being nearly half an inch wider, the tire is more spread. Which also results in a less “pointy”, more round profile. I’ll try to compare the rides, but the QUAX has 150mm cranks and the Nextie has 137. They don’t have an identical setup.

All in all, pretty pleased with the build. The Nextie 36" weights just above 6kg, and I’m sure I’ll get under 6 once I put 125 light cranks and some lighter pedals. It won’t make a difference, it’s just to brag with myself that I have a light 36".

The wheel has been sitting for a week with 2.5bar/35psi without blowing. I went for the 29" inner tube option. And the tire was so hard to put on that I think (hope) it’ll be ok. I don’t like riding with more than 2.5bar as I don’t go very fast. I’m 75kg in total, and the tire hardly squeezes when I hop on the uni. But I have to admit I’m a bit concerned when I see the photos posted by @WeaponizedBacon Scary!

Next… a test ride!

Hammer · September 29, 2021, 10:57am

Ohh I love science, and nice build!

Here’s the Vee Tire T-Monster at at ~2.5bar/35psi (I’ve had it at ~3bar/45psi for the last month) on the Nextie rim.
I just relaxed the pressure a bit to take the picture and I will have a test ride to see if it makes the ride a bit more comfortable.

The change in width from 2,5bar to 3,0bar seems to be ~0,5mm and that is so small that it might just be measurement error or that the tire is not completely uniform / evenly fitted to the rim.

But the Vee tire is approx 5mm wider than the Nightrider Lite on this rim.

mowcius · September 30, 2021, 11:07am

OK so with the Qu-Ax sprag clutch freewheel hubs being available best case next year, I feel I’ve got a bit of money to throw at other things now, and my 36er hasn’t had any new parts since the NR Lite was released.

Has anyone else been holding off who wants to go in on an order of 6 to get a hooked version into production at ~£300 a piece?
(Nextie 36" carbon rim - #143 by Unikev)

Any interest from @rogeratunicycledotcom ?

Duff · September 30, 2021, 11:50am

I’m interested.

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 1:48pm

A couple of days ago I sent an email to Nextie inquiring about getting a hooked version of the 36er carbon rim. They replied:

"The price for Hooked rims is the same as Hookless, USD398/pcs.

If your MOQ reaches 8pcs, we’d love to offer a 10% discount on them. Price: USD398x8x0.9=USD2865.6.

The shipping cost is USD232 ship by EMS to the USA.

Total: USD3097.6"

So if 7 of you want to go in on this deal let me know. I’m definitely in! My other option would be to purchase them all myself and sell them.

mowcius · September 30, 2021, 2:11pm

If you’re happy to sort shipping around the world from there, I’m happy to go about it that way.

Price should be basically the same as me ordering direct from Nextie (following fulfilment of the MOQ) including the additional shipping of them to the US first.

I think I’d want a UD matte finish, 36 holes, with a wrap over black outline logo.

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 2:18pm

I’ve just sent an email to the company asking if we can just put in 8 individual orders for the hooked version, then once that minimum is satisfied, each person can pay for their rim and shipping to wherever they go, rather than all 8 go to one location. This makes the most sense logistically.

mowcius · September 30, 2021, 2:23pm

If that’s possible, absolutely.

I would presume that the MOQ is there so they know they’re not wasting money on the flexible tooling they’ll need to make up, rather than anything to do with the normal additional options and delivery.

Even if we couldn’t get the discount, for many people that would probably work out the same price as the double shipping plus import. Is the MOQ actually 8 though now, or 6, but a discount if we go for 8?

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 2:26pm

Yeah that’s a little bit of confusion there. It’s either 6 with no discount or eight with a discount I’ll have to get clarification on that. But we shouldn’t have too much problem getting 8 interested parties in purchasing a hooked version especially if it would mean a 10% discount.

pierrox · September 30, 2021, 2:46pm

Seeing how well packaged it was, I’d think that they would give a discount for a shipment of 8 as they would save a lot of time with only one parcel.
But hey, worth asking. And shame I got mine already (didn’t realize it would be hookless), I would be in on the order.

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 2:57pm

So by my count, including myself, we now have 3 interested parties. 5 to go! So hop on board and let’s do this!

Unikev · September 30, 2021, 3:13pm

I would be interested in the hooked version but cant do anything until the new year.
Just for my piece of mind
If I knew Nextie where doing a hooked version I would of waited.

mowcius · September 30, 2021, 3:21pm

Yeah this is the big one for me. Yeah it might be fine hookless for me, but it’s definitely going to be a less worrisome setup having that hook when I’m riding faster than I can run.

I just want to save a bit of weight over the Stealth II rim I’ve currently got. I don’t want narrower (Brauss), I don’t want 32h (Brauss), I don’t want tubeless (Brauss/Nextie), and I don’t want any fancy graphics (Nextie). I just want black, and lighter.

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 4:25pm

Just got an automated reply that they will be out of the office until 10.7 for the Chinese holidays

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 4:27pm

Just seems strange that both Brauss and Nextie knew that tubeless 36er tires don’t exist, and likely won’t anytime soon, yet they still decided to go with a hookless rim, which are made specifically for TR tires.

mowcius · September 30, 2021, 4:37pm

Especially when (according to Nextie’s pricing and willingness to make them), making a hooked rim is basically no more effort for them.

UniGeezer · September 30, 2021, 4:52pm

Good point.

JimT · September 30, 2021, 5:29pm

Hooked rims were originally made for folding tires or tires without a steel bead reinforcement. There are no folding 36" tires so why, with proper care during installation wouldn’t a non-folding 36" steel bead tire work on a hookless rim?
It seems that they do work but just as installing a tire on a “normal” Stealth rim, care must be taken to center the tire on the rim. If installed incorrectly a tire will blow off a carbon rim just as it will blow off a Stealth rim.
This is what happens if the tire is not centered correctly on the rim.

mowcius · September 30, 2021, 7:17pm

I think the thing here is that it’s not so much that it couldn’t work, it’s that no testing seems to have been done with it, and no tyres are designed for it. Now with hookless rims, I’m sure 36er tyres could be designed and manufactured to ensure compatibility, but right now, there are no guarantees.

A small difference in fit between different manufacturing batches of the same tyres is not unknown, and tyre manufacturers/their distributors (or customers) test their tyres on their rims to ensure compatibility.

In your picture,the bead is clearly damaged in multiple places - did that happen when it blew off, or might it have contributed to the failure?
Clearly it’s possible to have blowouts with a hooked rim though - it was an issue with the prototype 32" Nightrider tyre IIRC having a bead that was very slightly too large to fit the rims properly.

JimT · September 30, 2021, 10:55pm

The damaged bead happened when tire blew off the rim, it was not damaged before. The reason it blew off is because I did not spend enough time to center the tire on the rim, I figured it was close enough. Taking greater care to center the tire I re-installed it on the same rim with a new 29" tube and have put hundreds of miles on it with no problems.