Does rim width matter?
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Industry Nine makes wheels with all kinds of different rim widths, and I’m lucky enough to have two different width wheelsets for my mullet bike. While meeting with the Industry Nine guys, they suggested a fun video idea might be to compare these differing widths- and the more I thought about it, I realized I’d never seen an actual rim width comparison!
The Enduro 305 wheelset is the narrower set, but still sports a healthy 30.5mm inner rim width.
https://bit.ly/IndustryNine305v3JKW (affiliate link)
FYI, all links below are affiliate links- thanks in advance!
The Backcountry 360 wheelset is the wider of the two with a full 36mm inner rim width.
https://bit.ly/IndustryNineBC360jkw
Both wheelsets are 29” front, 27.5” rear, and are set up identically: Industry Nine Hydra hubs, Industry Nine aluminum system spokes, Shimano XT 10-51 cassettes, and 180mm rotors. The tires are also identical, with a WTB Vigilante 2.5 TCS Tough High Grip up front, and a WTB TrailBoss 2.6 TCS Tough Fast Rolling in the back. Both rear wheels are using 27.5 CushCore.
And BTW, the CushCore is an ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER for the hardtail! https://bit.ly/CushCoreSingleJKW
Since the Ultimate Internet Bike video (https://youtu.be/Sp80B9DH6AM) I changed a couple things: I went to PNW Components 35mm diameter bars and stem, swapped in a longer 50mm stem, and added the CushCore/2.6 rear tire. I’ve been enjoying the bike a ton more with these changes. My hands no longer go numb, and the bike is a lot more compliant through the rough with the CushCore.
