As the little cousin to Reserve’s 30 SL carbon wheels, we’ve just received a set of their less expensive alloy hoops. Made from 6069 Aluminium with a 30mm internal rim width, they come in two versions, the HD, which have 32 holes, and the SL, which have 28 holes — these are the latter.
Reserve says the alloy SL hoops are suited to XC, Trail and All Mountain riding, and see 28 Sapium J-bend spokes with aluminium nipples. They are 30mm wide between the beads, and there’s an asymmetrical rim profile, offsetting the holes to provide a better spoke bracing angle and more uniform spoke tension.
Without valves, these 29in wheels tipped our scales at 1,870g — that’s 117g lighter than a similar alloy wheel like the DT Swiss XM 1700.
In the middle of these hoops, you’ll find a set of DT-Swiss 350 hubs equipped with a 36-tooth ratchet ring for a 10° engagement angle. Of course, being DT wheels, the ratchet can be swapped for 18t or 54t versions that make for 20° and 6.7° engagement angles. Reserve also includes a set of its fancy-schmancy Fillmore Valves in the box.
While we’ve already covered these valves, holy crap they are a revelation. As was pointed out time and time again when we shared our thoughts about them last time, they’re expensive, starting at $64.99 AUD. But they absolutely live up to the hype and make seating tyres with a 10-year-old Serfas floor pump — that admittedly costs less than the valves — a non-event.
Speaking of pricing, the Reserve 30 SL AL will set you back $1,199 AUD, and they come pre-taped and ready for tubeless. While the overall finish of the wheels and build seems top-notch, the tape job does leave a bit to be desired. The ends were both peeling up straight out of the box, there were bubbles over the spoke holes towards the end, and neither of the valve holes was punched all the way through. It’s barely a niggle and an easy fix; at the same factory, tape jobs are usually flawless.
Minor complaints aside, Reserve covers these wheels with a shockingly good Lifetime Warranty for the original owner.
Divided up into crash replacement or warranty replacement, the former is a wheel at 50% of retail cost, while the latter is replacement free of charge. According to Reserve, they’ll ship out a new wheel as the first option, or a rim and service credit if that doesn’t work for whatever reason.
According to the Rider Support page on the Reserve Website:
- Dented rim, no paint chipping, holding air: crash replacement
- Dented rim, paint chipping, holding or not holding air: warranty
- Dented rim, not holding air: warranty
- Seam separation: warranty
- Crack at spoke hole: warranty
This is one of the most generous warranty programs we’ve seen on alloy rims, and essentially if you ding the rim to the point it won’t hold air, Reserve says it will ship you a new one.
We’re yet to take them out for a spin, but they aired up with no problem. We’ve fit a Tubolight insert in the rear wheel and some fresh Schwalbe rubber and will report back once we have some trail time. Stay tuned, folks!
