Who makes carbon rims in North America?

[GonaSovereign]

I prefer to spend my money with small domestic bike and bike component manufacturers when possible. Let’s assume for this instance domestic means Canada and the US. (I love bike stuff and the people who make them from all around the world, but in this case want something made closer to home.)

Who makes carbon rims - as in lays up the carbon, not “designed and laced” – in North America? I want to get some new wheels ahead of a big event next year.
I see:
Astral, in Florida https://astralcycling.com/pages/about-us
Bontrager/Trek (only XXX) in Wisconsin. https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/cycling-components/bike-wheels/road-bike-wheels/bontrager-aeolus-xxx-4-tlr-clincher-road-wheel/p/21817/
Enve, from Utah https://www.enve.com/en/
Faucon, from Quebec. http://www.falconcomposites.com/
Hed, in Minnesota, https://www.hedcycling.com/
We Are One, from BC https://www.weareonecomposites.com/
Zipp, from Indiana https://www.zipp.com/

[Gartenmeister]

Trek/Bontrager XXX

[cgates66]

According to their website, Minnesota. The Vanquish and Vanquish GP look pretty attractive to me, including 28-hole drilling options.

[2LeftCleats]

Boyd?

[mcteague]

Boyd?

Nope, made in the Far East, just assembled here.

https://boydcycling.com/pages/about-us

In late 2011 we made the trip over to Taiwan, met with dozens of manufacturers, and moved forward on our own line of rims and hubs

Tim

[sales guy]

I ordered rims for a build from Enve and they told me "it would be 9 weeks before they arrive." I asked them if they were coming from overseas on a boat, he said yes. They claim they make all the rims in the US. But what he told me made it sound like they do make some overseas.

[GonaSovereign]

I ordered rims for a build from Enve and they told me "it would be 9 weeks before they arrive." I asked them if they were coming from overseas on a boat, he said yes. They claim they make all the rims in the US. But what he told me made it sound like they do make some overseas.

Hmm. They must have moved some back overseas. They were quiet about that...

[Lanternrouge]

I ordered rims for a build from Enve and they told me "it would be 9 weeks before they arrive." I asked them if they were coming from overseas on a boat, he said yes. They claim they make all the rims in the US. But what he told me made it sound like they do make some overseas.

Maybe they build aftermarket here and OEM overseas. I think it's more likely that all over built overseas, but that's just my cynicism.

[RobJ]

Enve moved all their wheel/rim production to the new Utah facility.


We’re proud to manufacture our rims and wheelsets by hand in Ogden, Utah, USA but not simply out of patriotism. At ENVE, everything related to our rim and wheel production is under the roof of our new state-of-the-art facility: manufacturing, assembly, design, R&D, our test lab, customer support and the business team. These capabilities under one roof give us unmatched levels of visibility, control and connectivity that would be impossible under any different circumstances.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bfd]

Alto Cycling carbon wheels are made in the USA!

https://altocycling.com/pages/technology

Never mind....

Alto hubs and rim molds are manufactured in the United States, and the rim composite layup is manufactured in Taiwan

Good Luck!

[trener1]

Have a look at i9, they are mostly known for their fantastic MTB wheels, but they recently got into the road game, their hubs are for sure made in North Carolina but I believe they make their own rims as well, have a look here
https://industrynine.com/wheels/road

[SlowPokePete]

I think I-9's carbon wheels are made by Reynolds.

SPP

[GonaSovereign]

I think I-9's carbon wheels are made by Reynolds.

SPP

Reynolds Cycling is based in Utah, but the rims are made in Guangzhou, China and laced into wheels in Taiwan before shipping to the US.

(Reynolds wheels used to be built in Utah, back when Reynolds was the consumer brand of Maclean Quality Composites. Serotta bought Maclean and we all know where that went.)

[Gummee]

Reynolds Cycling is based in Utah, but the rims are made in Guangzhou, China and laced into wheels in Taiwan before shipping to the US.

(Reynolds wheels used to be built in Utah, back when Reynolds was the consumer brand of Maclean Quality Composites. Serotta bought Maclean and we all know where that went.)

In the distant past, I had a buddy that worked for Reynolds. Visited their facility in Sandy Eggo and watched them building handlebars there.

What happened after? Dunno

M

[peanutgallery]

Venture capitalism


In the distant past, I had a buddy that worked for Reynolds. Visited their facility in Sandy Eggo and watched them building handlebars there.

What happened after? Dunno

M

[sales guy]

Reynolds Cycling is based in Utah, but the rims are made in Guangzhou, China and laced into wheels in Taiwan before shipping to the US.

(Reynolds wheels used to be built in Utah, back when Reynolds was the consumer brand of Maclean Quality Composites. Serotta bought Maclean and we all know where that went.)

The RZR wheels are still made in their Utah factory. But they don't really make many of those anymore. They do lace up a ton of wheels in Utah. I've been in the factory and seen the stands and guys working. They do a bunch of testing there too.

[bikinchris]

While some carbon rims are made overseas, Rolf Prima's high end carbon rims are made in Washington through a joint collaboration with an unspecified aircraft company.Jan 31, 2018

[berserk87]

This has been a challenging question, so I'll take it one step further:

Who makes their own carbon rims in SOUTH America?

[GonaSovereign]

This has been a challenging question, so I'll take it one step further:

Who makes their own carbon rims in SOUTH America?

Well, I know Easton makes its rims in another North American market, Mexico. No idea who makes rims in South America, but would love to know.

[Tickdoc]

Nox?

[Heisenberg]

(Reynolds wheels used to be built in Utah, back when Reynolds was the consumer brand of Maclean Quality Composites. Serotta bought Maclean and we all know where that went.)

Serotta just bought the San Diego plant. The Reynolds wheel facility in Salt Lake remained under the Maclean umbrella until they sold to private equity a few years ago.

[Heisenberg]

Well, I know Easton makes its rims in another North American market, Mexico. No idea who makes rims in South America, but would love to know.

Not many composites experts in SA. but intrigued if so.

[weiwentg]

Nox?

Judging from their FAQ (https://www.noxcomposites.com/faq), Nox makes the rims elsewhere:

2. Where are your rims made?

Nox Composites is based in Knoxville, TN and all of our products are designed and tested here. We work closely with a manufacturer in Asia to produce rims using our molds, layup schedule and proprietary production techniques. The carbon for our rims is sourced from Toray in Japan. Manufacturing and quality control is held to extremely high standards including regular destructive and nondestructive testing to ensure quality and safety. We're excited to be able to offer rims of this quality at lower price points than was previously possible.

[htwoopup]

These guys are awesome.

Their rims are awesome.

The method that they use is fantastic (it was done experimentally in the past but they figured out how to scale it and production-alize it).

The quality is second to none.

I have the disc version and they kick the Enve's I have sworn by until now to the garbage heap.

They have kicked the Bora's (rim version Bora's and I am logically saying that these guys rim is stiff/ quality/ spin up/ etc that the disc version do) that I used to love to the curb (better internal width, better construction). Don't flame me for religious reasons please. Talk science if you wish.

Built from scratch in Montreal which is North America.

http://www.falconcomposites.com

[berserk87]

Well, I know Easton makes its rims in another North American market, Mexico. No idea who makes rims in South America, but would love to know.

Yeah, I figured that this would be a tough question. I have no clue myself.

[Heisenberg]

These guys are awesome.

Their rims are awesome.

The method that they use is fantastic (it was done experimentally in the past but they figured out how to scale it and production-alize it).

The quality is second to none.

I have the disc version and they kick the Enve's I have sworn by until now to the garbage heap.

They have kicked the Bora's (rim version Bora's and I am logically saying that these guys rim is stiff/ quality/ spin up/ etc that the disc version do) that I used to love to the curb (better internal width, better construction). Don't flame me for religious reasons please. Talk science if you wish.

Built from scratch in Montreal which is North America.

http://www.falconcomposites.com

are you talking about their filament-wound wheels or the new braided one they have on their site?

[htwoopup]

are you talking about their filament-wound wheels or the new braided one they have on their site?

I have the braided ones. They had been sourcing (like NOx, Boyd, etc etc) from Asia when they just built wheels as they were ramping up. But the quality was very inconsistent in the rims they sourced from overseas and were working with.

The braided ones they build themselves with their technology and their tooling in Montreal.

I went to their business and checked it out in person. Very nicely done.

I am putting them on the new Crumpton that I had Nick build me (which is in FedEx at moment). I used them on my Parlee before I sent them down to Texas.

These young guys have figured it out to my thinking.

Their commitment to quality and consistency is quite admirable. And something I have not seen in startups in any industry until these guys.

Maybe I am smitten. But they do ride great as far as the miles I had on them on my Parlee.

I found them when I asked the question in the OP.

I thought there are a zillion people from Boyd (I own a set) to my local LBS selling the same wheels where the wheel came out of the same place in Asia and the prices are all over the map. And the quality control is probably non-existent or at least varies widely.

So, who makes wheels in North America? Who does it in a modern way? Who sweats the details? Who is willing to put THEIR name on the rim/ the work (and not just to make money but because of pride)?

The only guys I could come up with in months and months of research (and there were a lot more boxes that needed to be checked than the above) were these guys.

At first I thought I had "settled" because the wheels checked the boxes. But after I rode them a whole bunch, I can say they are what they are supposed to be...effin great wheels...and I am very happy with the purchase.

Of course, because this is such a subjective area YMMV. But I am thinking of swapping out the Enve's on my Spectrum and replacing them with another set from these dudes.

[GonaSovereign]

Well, I know Easton makes its rims in another North American market, Mexico. No idea who makes rims in South America, but would love to know.

Edit: it seems that Easton moved their carbon wheel manufacturing from Mexico to China, according to Easton themselves quoted in Bicycle Retailer.

[GonaSovereign]

So, who makes wheels in North America? Who does it in a modern way? Who sweats the details? Who is willing to put THEIR name on the rim/ the work (and not just to make money but because of pride)?


I’ll add We Are One to that list. The finish quality of the rims is better than anything else I’ve seen, and I’ve handled most of the top manufacturers’ wheels from North America, Europe and Asia.

I bought a set and have been beating the heck out of them for months. They’re still perfect. The only possible downside is that they’re an MTB-focused company, but I hope they expand into the road space at some point.

https://www.weareonecomposites.com/

[apple]

You should also get a NA made gruppo to be consistent, that would be awesome.