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_RaceFace Turbine R Wheelset$1,120 | weight: 1,730 grams (27.5-inch set)

I was a bit skeptical when RaceFace entered the already crowded, high-end wheelset market. While the word “standard” these days has become a bit of an illusion — with many components seeing “updates” before they even reach consumers — many free hub designs have stood the test of time. Many brands offer reliable, fast-engaging hubs, so what sets RaceFace’s new Turbine R

wheels apart from the competition? For the last six months, I’ve been determined to find out.

THE TECHWhile many a tech article has explained the Turbine R’s inner workings, including a very detailed video on RaceFace’s own website, a bit of nitty gritty is needed before a proper

review. Let’s start with the rims. Race Face laced the new Turbine R hubs to a 30 mm internal width, tubeless ready rim. Both front and rear roll on 28 straight-pull spokes laced 3-cross. RaceFace is kind enough to send along five spare spokes with the wheels, a nice touch should you crush a few spokes while on a road trip. The rims come equipped with tubeless ready rim strips and valves, both of which can be replaced easily with Stan’s tape and valves if need be. What sets the Turbine rim apart from the Arc Rims is the use of 6069 aluminum, a stronger alloy for reportedly higher impact resistance. The rims feature a 4.5 mm offset, creating a dishless front wheel and a near-dishless rear wheel, making for a more evenly tensioned, stronger wheel. The single-speeder nerd in me looking to build up that dishless wheel rejoices! The real beauty of the Turbine R wheels lies in the hubs. RaceFace did its homework when designing these hubs, from lightning-quick hub engagement to the bearings. Both the front and rear hub roll on 6902 bearings, two up front and four in the rear. Any decent shop will have these bearings on hand when it comes time to press in some fresh ones. How about the freehub, you ask? The Turbine R employs two sets of three offset pawls (six pawls in all), with two teeth per pawl. These pawls engage on a 60-tooth drive ring, with 120 points of engagement. All that makes for a 3-degree engagement, which equates to almost instant power transfer as the rider goes to engage the free hub. For comparison’s sake, a DT Swiss 240 or 350 hub equipped with a 36-tooth star ratchet has a 10-degree engagement, and Chris King has a 5-degree engagement. Three-degree engagement is fast. It’s Industry Nine fast. In my experience, you can feel a big difference between a hub that engages every 10 degrees and one that engages every 3. RaceFace offers the new Turbines in both 27.5 inch and 29 inch sizes, Boost or non-Boost options. Changing the wheels between different axle dimensions simply requires swapping out the end caps, a tool-free operation. With a claimed weight of 1,730 grams for the 27.5-inch wheelset and 1,815 grams for the 29-inch set, RaceFace makes no allusions about the rowdy conditions these wheels were designed to handle.

THE RIDEEnough about the specifics. Let’s talk about how the Turbines rode. These 27.5-inch wheels lived on my Transition Scout, a bike whose limitations are few. Coming from a

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6-inch trail sled, my more pedal-friendly 5-inch Scout feels every bit as capable as a bike with more travel. And that meant these wheels saw a fair bit of technical mayhem, as a buddy of mine often refers to nasty trail. Two things stood out for me immediately. For one, it’s been a while since I’ve been on such a fast-engaging hub. Damn, is it sweet for technical, slow climbing, or jumping on the gas out of a corner. Sure, fast-engaging hubs are often expensive and far from a must-have for every rider, but they afford almost no loss of power when you go to engage the pedals. Not into obnoxiously loud freehubs? The Turbines strike a nice balance, being audible without being so loud that you can’t hold a conversation with your buddy while the wheel is spinning. The other standout feature of these wheels is the ride quality. I previously had a set of carbon hoops on this same bike, and I was interested to see how these wheels compared when it came to stiffness and trail feel. The very first ride, I noticed how well my bike seemed to track, particularly through rougher stretches of trail. The Turbines felt predictable and stable at speed, with no signs of unwanted flex when it came time to push the bike through a corner. For all the bling and hype surrounding carbon rims these days, I must say I preferred the ride characteristics of these wheels over the last carbon set I rode. Just enough give to stay glued to the trail, but plenty stiff when it came time to rail a turn. The 30 mm internal width was also the widest rim I have ridden. While I rode a 2.35 Minion up front and 2.3 Aggressor DD in the rear, the wider 2.5-inch offerings from many tire manufacturers would feel right at home on these rims. This is the first wheelset I have had the pleasure of reviewing that has held up for the entire duration of testing. While I couldn’t help thinking “marketing BS” when I first read about the claimed strength benefits of the new 6069 aluminum alloy employed in the rims, they outperformed my expectations. Rims met rock on several occasions, with no flat spots or bent rim beads to show for it. For the entire six months of riding, these wheels haven’t even seen the truing stand, a testament to both the durability and build quality of the Turbines. The only flaw I have found in the wheels is the occasional popping from the driver body as I went to pedal after coasting or backpedaling. This would occur maybe once a ride, and when I asked RaceFace about the issue, they said it’s something they are working to eliminate, but is a characteristic

of many pawl-type hub systems. The noise is caused by one of the teeth on a pawl catching the top of a drive ring tooth before popping into place. Despite the occasional popping, there were no signs of wear on the ring drive after further inspection. The argument could be made that there are many other reliable, proven wheelsets to choose from if one is going to shell out $1,120, the asking price for a set of Turbines. RaceFace took a risk entering

an already crowded wheel market, with several options from different manufacturers I often recommend. That said, RaceFace’s new Turbine R wheels outperformed my expectations, with zero reliability issues over six months of hard riding. Coupled with a freehub that’s as fast as any other high-end hub on the market, I would recommend the new Turbines for anyone looking for a burly wheelset that performs flawlessly with little to no maintenance. –Tim Kugler

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