Fresh for 2020, tyre and wheel brand WTB has launched two brand new rims. There's one carbon set made for gravel and mountain bikes, and there's an alloy set with e-bikes in mind. The aim behind the rims is to be totally bombproof and reliable.

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We'll start off with the CZR. It's WTB's new carbon rim that comes in sizes. There's 700 / 29" with a 23mm internal width especially for gravel bikes and a 29" set with a 30mm internal width intended for mountain bikes.

The CZR comes with reinforced spoke beds, using 4D angled spoke hole drilling and they're asymmetrical, all in the pursuit of a strong rim. 

The CZR i23 (gravel) set is available in 24-hole or 28-hole configurations weighing 331g and 345g respectively. The CZR i30 is available in a burlier 28 or 32-hole configuration and are set to weigh 472g and 484g.

The rims are compatible with the brands Solid Strip system which is a one-piece strip that sits at the bed of the rim. The idea of it is that it provides a smooth surface to apply rim tape to by eliminating the chance of it sagging into spoke holes. It also stops air for escaping should a spoke break.

WTB says that while testing the final iterations of the CZR, not a single rider broke a rim.

To back this claim up, the brand sent the rims to a third-party lab to conduct further destructive testing against a competing rim (WTB says it's the rim they would have if the CZR didn't exist). The results of the test claim that the CZR i23 were 38% more impact resistant while the CZR i30 were 10% more impact resistant compared to their competitor.

We have a set of the CZR i23's incoming so keep an eye on the site to see what our tester thinks.

If you were unfortunate enough to find that the CZR's aren't bombproof, WTB offers a decent warranty on them. It comes in the form of two policies, a While-Riding one, where if you were to break a rim while riding, it would be replaced free of charge.

The other is a Non-Riding Policy. This one covers the owner for 50% of the cost of a damaged rim if broken while in transport or during other non-riding activities.

Next up is the HTZ, it's an overbuilt rim intended for those who want an affordable but bombproof wheel and e-bikers. They get an increased wall thickness of 25-30% over the brand's KOM Tough enduro rims to make them as durable as possible and to withstand the demands of weightier e-bikes.

They get asymmetrically offset spoke holes to help equalize the spoke tension of a wheel build and a symmetrical rim profile with the aim of evenly distributing impact forces across the rim. 

The HTZ rims are available in i23, i25, or i27 widths.

The price for the WTB CZR carbon rims is £500 per rim and the HTZ's will set you back £80 per rim.

• www.wtb.com

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