Spinergy GXX – Light and Ready for Adventure

Spinergy has been hard at work in creating their GX line of wheels focused on getting drop bar bikes off-road. They currently are up to three wheels, including an aluminum version (GX32), a carbon version (GX), and the latest and widest (GXX). We had a chance to ride the GXX over a few months and found it to be a light and responsive wheel that is at home with a wide slick on the road or a more aggressive gravel tire in the dirt.

While they might look like a fairly normal set of gravel wheels, not too deep, nice and wide, there is definitely more to it than that. The GXX uses Spinergy’s PBO spokes. Instead of metal spokes, the PBO spokes are a composite made from over 30,000 strands of polyphenylene bensobisoxazole fiber and covered in a chemical resistant and UV/waterproof coating. Beyond being half the weight of stainless steel spokes, they are also three times as strong and absorb impact more efficiently, providing a smoother ride.

Before we get into the ride, let’s go over the specs. The rims are full carbon clinchers that are tubeless-ready. At 24mm internal width, 29mm external, and 26mm tall, they cover the bases for a wide gravel setup, fitting up a range from 40mm to 56mm wide tires. The GXX uses 24 PBO spokes on both the front and rear shweels, both two-cross on the drive side, radial on the non-drive side. The spokes are straight pull, and with a special nipple at the rim. The hubs are Spinergy’s and accept center lock rotors and QR/12mm/15mm axles on the front, QR and 12mm on the back. For free hubs you have the option of Shimano/SRAM 9/10/11, SRAM XD 11-SPDM, SRAM XDR AXS, and Campagnolo.

Spinergy gives you the option to get custom with your wheels too. The PBO spokes and graphics are available in black, blue, red, yellow, white, orange, green, pink, purple, grey, or Spinergy Edition, which has a single red spoke and red highlights in the graphics. There’s no additional charge for the custom colors.

Now, for the ride.

I mounted them up tubeless with two different tires, the Pirelli Cinturato Velo in 700×35 and WTB Byway in 700×40. Both mounted up quick and easily using the Topeak Joe Blow Booster and removing the valve core. The Pirelli’s gave us some time with a road plus set up, while the WTB’s were for gravel. Both setups were run on our Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie and Look 765 Gravel RS.

Running them as road plus, the GXX proved to be quick and responsive. Coming in at 1598g for the pair, they spun up very quickly and carved through corners with confidence. The low rim height keeps them steady in crosswinds, but they won’t be quite as aero as a taller rim that would weigh more. It all depends on what is more important to you, light weight or speed.

Getting them into gravel, they felt just as at home. The 24mm wide internal width supported the 40mm wide Byways’s well, even at lower pressures. On hillier rides, the light weight was definitely noticed on the climbs, along with the stiffness of the PBO spokes in helping get the power to the road.

Circling back to one of the features of the PBO spokes, vibration dampening. The GXX definitely felt smooth, regardless of the surface. While wider tires and lower pressures help, it was noticeable when I ran the Pirelli tires at higher pressures on rough surfaces. It’s hard to quantify the dampening effect, but I definitely think there is a correlation between PBO spokes and some of the smoothness felt. After about 500 miles on them, they still spun straight and round, even after some pretty rough gravel.

About the only negative that I could find was a hypothetical situation. In the strange event that a spoke would break, it’s not like you can pop over to the local shop for a replacement. That’s one of the bad things about proprietary parts. This is a very unlikely situation though unless there would be a catastrophic accident, in which case there would probably be much more damage to the wheel than just breaking a spoke.

Something that was a little hard for me to believe is the price tag on the GXX. Spinergy kept them at $999, even with the custom colors. It’s surprising as these wheels feel like they fit closer to the $1500 or higher range. They aren’t the lightest wheel out there, but very respectable at this price, or even in a higher price range. Fit and finish was also very polished, making these a great set of wheels for the price.

Spinergy is one of those brands that I lusted over in the past and has endured over the years. The Rev-X was what first hooked me and the PBO spokes continue that innovative spirit.  The GXX might have a budget price tag for a set of full carbon wheels, but they perform at a much higher level. If your riding takes you off the beaten path and up a lot of hills, the Spinergy GXX is very much worth looking into.

http://www.spinergy.com