Tested: Halo Vapour Carbon 29er Wheels
Since 1995 Halo have become one of the market leading brands of wheel products in the UK. Halo have always been right at the forefront of the 4X and Dirt Jump markets and over the years have expanded the range to add quality products for the DH, XC, Trail, Enduro, Fixed Gear, BMX and Road markets to this list. Halo introduced one of the first wide DH/Jump specific rims to satisfy riders needs before the millennium, and continues to develop new products to cater for all sectors of the bicycle wheel market. The Halo range includes wheels, rims, hubs, spokes, nipples, tyres, cogs, rim tapes, freewheels, skewers and tubes.
Halo are now stepping into the carbon wheel game, with their latest addition to their Vapour range, so who are Halo?
Halo products are designed in the UK. by riders for riders, engineered to the highest standards and offer exceptional value and performance.
Since the beginning Halo products have been developed, used, abused and approved in conjunction with some of the World’s finest riders including: Sam Pilgrim, Matt Priest, Lance McDermott, Fionn Griffiths, Blake Samson, Chris Smith, Chris Delia, Josh Bender, Glen Coe, Pat Campbell-Jenner, Mark Cornick and Lance Canfield to name just a few… With Team Riders such as these you can be confident that Halo products are designed and built to perform at the highest level.
The new Vapour lightweight XC/Trail carbon wheels are available in 26″, 650b (27.5″) or 29″ sizes. The 28mm wide profile is perfectly suited to Trail riding with confidence and are also marketed at being lightweight enough for any XC rider to race with, so perfect for Enduro. (29″ weigh in at 460g). We tested tubeless ready 32H Vapour Carbon rims on superlight high performance Halo sealed bearing hubs, laced with double butted spokes and precision CNC 7075 Halo alloy nipples.
Hubs:
Front: NEW SD6F hub – with 20mm, 15mm Thru-axle and 9mm QR fittings included. Rear: NEW Spin Doctor 6D hub. 6 reversed pawls all independently sprung and featuring double tips giving 12 point simultaneous engagement on a 30 click Cr Mo drive ring, light Alloy cassette spline. Comes with 135xM10 QR and 142x12mm Thru-axle end cones. (optional extra axle kits: 135xM10 bolt in. 135x12mm Thru-axle). Optional SRAM XD 7050 alloy freehub.
There is also the option (not seen here) of the Supadrive hub, with 120 point pick-up rear cassette hub with QR 10mm axle as standard. (optional extra axle kits: 10×135, 12 x 135 or 12 x142mm). Optional SRAM XD 7050 alloy freehub. Factory built wheel colour options: Carbon Rim, Black hub, Black spokes and Red nipples. APPROX. Weights: 29″: Front: 875g, Rear 960g.
So how did they perform?
These have now been fitted to the Carbine 29 race bike for around 2 months, they have done a massive selection of rides, from weekly rock/mud/root strewn shitty night rides to street, trail and Downhill uplifts, with a cheeky race thrown in for good measure! They have been slammed down steps, hauled off big drops, nailed down fast wheel killing rocky fast sections, with not one care being given. Some of the bangs coming (especially from the rear) on impact of nasty rocks have left me in amazement that they have not broken, let alone punctured. They still run totally true and smooth, with amazingly not one spoke having come loose or tyre burped!
At 439.99GBP front, 439.99GBP rear or 509.99GBP for the Superdrive rear these are a serious contender for a fantastic reliable tough carbon wheel that we class as highly recommended
Words: Jim Buchanan Pics: Doc Ward, Jim Buchanan
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