Grit: The Grit is my endurance and racing MTB wheel. If you ride long, fast, hilly trail rides, race XC or Marathon, or are weight and performance oriented, these are for you. These are among the lightest XC wheels you can get, and I did not skimp on the width to do it! New for late 2022 and onwards the external rim width is now 36mm with a 30mm internal. I also opted to go to a very shallow rim depth, which seems to be more forgiving to impacts, and is now down to 20mm deep. With these dimensions, the Grit can be set up for trail riding with a chunky tire on your trail bike by adding a cushcore (not included) and still being XC light at 360 grams. I always recommend a liner in modern XC rims as the lower pressure performance easily offsets the weight, and the liner greatly reduces risk of rim damage.
The Grit is asymmetric again, after a few years having gone away from that. I find that a rim 28-30mm deep does not really need it to get good non-drive spoke tension so why add the complication? But at 20mm deep, now your spokes are more vertical and I find that these do build up much better with an offset. They are laced 28 hole 3-cross because that is what you want in an MTB wheel. I could build these with 24 spokes and they would hold up, but when you put on a modern width tire with lots of grip, the tire will start to overpower the spokes and the flex while turning will result in vague steering, which you don't want. The Grit tracks precisely and just plain rips all day. At 1275gr (DT 240) to 1375gr (DT350) you won't find anything as light and versatile with comparable performance.
Rims are constructed using graphene doped Toray T800 carbon fiber. Graphene doping is a process using wherein a very small amount of graphene (under 2%) is added to the carbon matrix during processing. My experience has shown this improves toughness, allowing pretty significant weight reductions in the rim construction..
Additionally, these rims have an internal reinforcement at the nipple which allows the rim to be thinner between the nipples, which is a low force area of the rim. This allows the new Grit to be so much wider than the old model while being the same weight.
If you ride a Microspline Shimano 12 speed drivetrain, check out about the XTR and M900 hubs I have. Straight pull, gorgeous, amazing quality, and at two good price points.
All wheels come tubeless taped with premium alloy valve stems installed, ready for you to mount tubeless tires. Through axles are not provided with wheels as they are part of the bike frame system.
Great Experience
Working with Jerry was great. I have a 2019 Cannondale Scalpel Trail MTB. It has a 142X12 rear hub with an XD driver. The main problem I learned was that no one makes a MTB specific hub in that size. I looked everywhere. Even Cannondale didn’t make a wheel with that size hub anymore. Luckily I stumbled across Jerry’s website and he was very helpful explaining the different options available to me. He also suggested I take a look at Onyx hubs. They do make that specific hub for MTB. Wow! What a relief. I was finally able to upgrade my bike with carbon wheels without having to buy a whole new bike. I’ve only put a couple of hundred miles on the rims so far, but they are nice and stiff and very responsive. And the hubs are so smooth and quiet! If you’re searching for carbon wheels and are unsure about what to go with, I would recommend getting in touch with Jerry and discuss your options. Especially if having to deal with Cannondale’s proprietary options.
So good!
The Grits are probably the best upgrade I have or could have made to my bike. They are competitive with the lightest wheels on the market and fly up hills, while also being incredibly stiff. I have been most impressed with this stiffness and the precision it provides while descending. My downhill confidence had been increased just from the addition of these wheels and the trust that is instilled by their predictability. On top of everything I know they were built to Jerry's high standards and will hold up to almost any abuse I can put them through. Thanks, Jerry!
Absolutely Amazing Wheelset
Communication, attention to detail, and incredible quality / value were all included in the GRIT wheelset I bought and have ridden for a few weeks now. Snappy, dead on true, and make the rest of me feel slow and lacking. Just an incredible wheelset at an eye popping feather weight. I'm already saving up for another set ;)
Grit wheel set with P321 hubs
Went from Roval Traverse carbon wheels set up with Maxxis Minion/Aggressor to Grit with P321 hubs and Vittoria Barzo/Mezcal on my Yeti SB130 and lost 3 lbs of rotational weight in the process. Granted the Rovals had 30mm internal width to 28mm on the Grit, but I don’t feel that 2mm of difference. It feels like a completely different bike; just quicker in every aspect. This is my second wheel set from Jerry and probably won’t be my last. Can’t recommend highly enough.