Making the decision on what carbon rims to buy can be downright confusing. There are countless models from quite a large number of companies, and the price gap between the cheapest to the best is a huge one. Many buyers are leery about cheap Chinese carbon rims and I understand their reservations. On the other side of the coin are top quality American or European made carbon rims that command very heavy price tags. Is there an affordable option without any compromises? This led me to search out a top quality carbon rim that had solid design features and build quality, but didn't require remortgaging your house to own a pair! My search has led me to a company in Knoxville Tennessee, aptly named NOX Composites.
Cognoscenti Cycles is very happy to announce we will be offering the full line of their carbon rims. I will be featuring some special cyclocross wheels with NOX Composite carbon rims in the "wheel recipes" section very soon.
All of NOX Composite carbon rims are designed and tested in house at their facility in Tennessee. The actual rims are made in Asia using the molds, carbon layup methods and proprietary production techniques as determined by NOX Composites.
When I first became aware of NOX Composites there were several design elements that impressed me.
Their use of an "asymmetrical" spoke bed helps to equalise spoke tension. By increasing the non drive side spoke tension by about 15% and improving the bracing angle, the wheel is strengthened. This is a significant improvement over symmetrical rims, and this feature is also useful for front disc wheels as well.
Their rims are built to easily withstand higher spoke tensions of 120 kgf which makes for a stronger/stiffer wheel. Their carbon fibre is sourced directly from Toray in Japan. I invite you to take a look at their website which details several other notable design features.
With a dozen different dedicated rims for road, MTB and cyclocross, you should have no problem finding the perfect rim for your next set of wheels.
Lastly I should mention the prices are very affordable for this level of rim. Please contact me if you are interested in having some very top end carbon wheels built.
NOX Composites S36R Road Carbon clincher