Industry Nine Enduro 305 V3 29” 2022
Reviews / Wheels
27,501
At a glance
The Enduro 305 V3 wheel set is a custom built, high end wheel set aimed at the demanding enduro rider. They have an alloy rim which is of 30.5mm wide, alloy straight pull spokes and their patented free hub design.
Buy Wheels on
About the brand
Industry Nine was founded by Clint Spiegel back in 2005, and he chose the name as this was his 9th company that he started. He has always been a tinkerer and mechanically minded. Once out on a ride, he started thinking about how to improve the wheel set he was using, and the idea of more engagement points in the rear hub came to mind.
There are about 80 people that make up Industry Nine, and besides making bicycle wheels they also do machining work for non bike related, contract based work.
On the sustainability front, they only mention that they are committed to using recycled materials for packaging. Sadly there is no mention of any specific goals or methods.
They do mention they support trail access and cycling advocacy groups, but again no concrete links are given.
The product
The Enduro 305 V3 is Industry Nine’s most popular product. As you would be accustomed to see from Industry Nine, the level of details and quality of finish is second to none.
There is quite some technology going on here, so let's start at the center with the hub.
Of course the rear hub features their HYDRA freehub body. This uses 6 Pawls on a 115 tooth ring to create the tiny angle of engagement.
They've changed to leaf springs under these pawls, and each of them engages separately from each other. This means that they don't all 'click' at the same time, but with the inherent flex in the system, they will all support the load and engage together to support the force going through the system.
This is achievable by having so many teeth on the drive ring, so a small amount of flex will allow the next pawl to engage. With a total of 690 points of engagement there is only a tiny 0.52 degree of movement required to engage. Added bonus is that it also gives the wheel set a very distinct buzzing sound!
The alloy rims are 30.5mm wide (hence the 305 model name), and allow the tire to sit nice and wide, offering a lot of grip with minimal tire roll when you push the envelope. The alloy spokes have no separate nipples. Instead there is tread integrated in the spoke itself.
Total wheelset weight in a 29’’ version is a mere 1850 grams. Very impressive without the use of any carbon. You can order them with a HG, Microspline or XD body, and of course there are the options of boost, non boost, 15mm/20mm TA and even old school 9mm QR.
Another cool thing about the Industry Nine products is that you can totally customize the colorways with 11 anodized colors to choose from, down to the single spoke!
Out on the trail
Mounting the tires is always the first test for my rims. Tolerances here can vary depending on the rim quality, and especially with a tubeless setup this can get messy. It comes to no surprise that the 305 V3’s set the standard here. Our Schwalbe tires were easy to pop onto the rim, and sealed in the first try.
As they are labelled ‘Enduro’ we tried our best to give them a hard time. Rock gardens were not avoided and we even took them racing. Obviously we did have to tighten the odd spoke every now and then, but to this day they are straight and dent free, even after repeated abuse. You do have to be careful when tightening the spokes. A crappy tool can easily ruin the alloy spoke/nipple.
Although 7 months of riding doesn’t give us the time to properly test the bearing's lifespan, we can say that even after repeated washing they are running like new.
The freehub body is definitely where the most technology is at, and you can really clearly notice the difference. The hub engages lightning quick, which really helps with technical climbing and powering out of corners.
Verdict
Industry Nine’s Enduro 305 V3 is an amazing piece of technology and a great upgrade that will last you a long time. It will save a considerable amount of weight too without moving to carbon. The ultra quick engagement while pedalling is not something that will take 10% of your Strava or race time, but it definitely is noticeable on the trail. The customisation option make this the perfect wheelset for a full custom dream build bike.
This review was in Issue 68 of IMB.
For more information visit Industry NineRelated
By Jarno Hoogland
Jarno's life has revolved around two wheels ever since he swung a leg over his first BMX at age 4. After a BMX and DH racing career, he moved on to work for bike shops, distributors and brands before ending up in the editors seat at IMB. Based in the ultimate testing ground in the Swiss mountains, he runs his guiding operation and makes sure every IMB issue is filled with top notch content.
