Crankbrother has today launched an alloy version of their 'tuned' Synthesis carbon wheels that come at a fraction of the price, are still front and rear specific and still use the coveted Industry 9 hubs.

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Available in both 275" and 29er guises, the Synthesis alloy wheels aim to replicate the ride quality in terms of specific front and rear wheel compliance but in aluminium form rather than carbon. Like the carbon wheels, Crankbrothers designed these wheels with a compliant front wheel with a stiff rear wheel. The front is more compliant to improve handling and control, whilst the rear wheel is stiffer to enhance stability and tracking at speed. 

To achieve this the brand has varied spoke tension, spoke weight, spoke count, rim width, and rim weight for each wheelset. The wheels are available as enduro, cross-country and e-MTB wheels, the specifications of which are below. 

Synthesis Enduro

• 27.5" or 29er
• Spokes - 32 Sapim Race rear, 28 Sapim D-Light front
• Internal rim width - 29.5mm rear, 31.5mm front
• Industry 9 1/1 hub - 4° engagement
• Synthesis Standard hub - 17° engagement
• Weight with I9 101 hub - 1,855g (27.5) and  1,913 (29)
• Weight with standard hub - 1,939g (27.5) and 1,997g (29)
• Price with i9 1/1 hub - £264.99 front and £434.99 rear

• Price with synthesis hub - £199.99 front and £299.99 rear

Synthesis XCT

• 29er only
• Spokes - 32 Sapim D-Light, 28 Sapim D-Light front
• Internal rim width - 24.5mm rear, 26.5mm front
• Industry 9 1/1 hub - 4° engagement
• Synthesis Standard hub - 17° engagement
• Weight with I9 101 hub - 1,809g
• Weight with standard hub - 1,839g
• Price with i9 1/1 hub - £264.99 front and £434.99 rear

• Price with synthesis hub - £199.99 front and £299.99 rear

Synthesis E-bike

• 27.5", 29er or 27.5+
• Spokes - 32 Sapim Strong rear, 28 Sapim E-Light front
• Internal rim width 27.5 and 29 - 31.5mm rear, 31.5mm front
• Internal rim width 27.5+ - 35.5mm rear, 35.5mm front
• Synthesis Standard hub only - 17° engagement
• Weight  - 2,089g (27.5), 2,219 (29) and 2,109g (27.5+)

• Price - £214.99 front and £324.99 rear

As well as being offered in all wheel sizes, you can see the wheels will be offered with a choice of hubs and at two price points. The brand is offering XD and HG freehubs and Shimano's new Microspline too on both hub options for those of you running a new Shimano 12 speed drivetrain.

For a set of the Enduro wheels, the own brand hub option will cost £499.98 and for a set of with the Industry 9 1/1 hub, it'll be £699.98. It's this latter option that we have in for test, after testing the carbon Synthese E11 wheels late last year we are keen to experience the difference between the two material with wheel builds that should be super similar. For info's sake the carbon wheels we have do have the more expensive i9 Hydra hubs but rim width and spoke count are the same, just with Sapim CX-Ray and CX-Sprint spokes used. We will be back soon with a full review. 

Crankbrothers says the Synthesis Alloy Range is available now in bike shops worldwide and at www.crankbrothers.com or here at Extra www.extrauk.co.uk. 

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