Race Face Next R line of carbon components
The crew from Fox Racing Shox took us out for a test ride near the Race Face R&D office in Scotts Valley, CA.
Race Face History
In March, 2011, Race Face shut down its operations. Reports were sales orders were strong but bad accounting practices put the 18-year old company in a perilous situation. Then in May of 2011, long-time employee, Chris Tutton took over Race Face. And in a surprising turn on April, 2014, Race Face owner Tutton bought Easton Cycling from the sports conglomerate BRG Sports. And finally in December of 2014, Fox Factory bought Race Face and Easton for $30.2 million. Such is the whirlwind past of the Race Face brand.
Fast forward to April, 2017 where Race Face invited the media to their coming out party in their Scotts Valley office. Here they launched 5 new product lines, the Next R cranks, wheels, bars, dropper and power meter. It was an emphatic announcement that Race Face is here to stay and succeed. It was cool to see the folks from Vancouver, BC and Santa Cruz interact and use their different skill sets and resources to create great mountain bike components.
Project Trek Slash weight is 29.06 with DMR V12 pedals.
The Next R Line
Most of the products introduced belonged to a new family called the Next R line. This is a line that hits the All Mountain and aggressive Trail market head on. Race Face made waves with their Next SL line that broke new ground with its incredibly low weight, attractive carbon shapes and good strength. They also established the SixC line which offered carbon components to the DH market. The Next R line sits in the middle of these two, aimed squarely at the Trail/AM market looking for a balance between light weight and strength.
Next R cranks are the beefy answer to folks who want to enduro race their ultralight Next SL cranks.
Next R Cranks
The Next SL crank made waves because it was functional, beautiful and oh so light. But folks started putting it on their All Mountain bikes and really using it beyond its sweet spot. The Next R is Race Face’s response to that with a crank that’s stiff with a 30mm bb spindle and light weight of 495 grams. It’s made with new molds but it’s still sexy and sports good clearance with very tight chainstays these days.
Features
- Manufactured from UD Carbon with matte clearcoat
- Hand made in Canada
- Downhill rated SixC G2 Pedal Insert for increased Rally Factor
- Burlier 7050 alloy spindle
- Cinch technology for broad compatibility
- Size: 170, 175mm
- BB options: BB92, 68/73 BSA, 100mm BSA, PF30
- Spindle diameter: 30mm
- Weight: 495g (32T ring, no bb)
- Ring configuration color: Spiderless Direct Mount, 64/104mm Black
- Price: $549.99 USD
Nobby Nics sit well with the Next R 31mm wheels.
Next R Wheels
Race Face incorporates a generous 31mm internal width, an offset spoke hole layout, the Vault hub’s super fast engagement, long bearing life and low spoke angles designed for maximizing lateral stability. It is incredibly strong, passing all of Easton/Race Face’s rigorous testing procedures. It is light at 1680 grams for a 27.5 and the price is reasonable for carbon at $1499.
Features
- Large oversized angle for improved bracing angle and larger bearings
- Hub and bearing system designed for longevity, smoothness, low drag and zero play
- Wide bearing stance
- 6 double tooth pawls (3 engage at a time)
- 120 points of engagement (3 degrees)
- Individually sprung pawls
- One length spoke used throughout wheelset
- Tool-free interchangeable end caps (sold separately)
- Low drag labyrinth cassette body seal
- Wheel size: 27.5, 29”
- Weight: Set 27.5 1680g, 29” 1765g
- Type: Tubeless ready clincher
- Rim material: Unidirectional carbon fiber
- Rim depth: 24mm
- Internal rim width: 31mm
- Spoke: 28H 2.0/1.5 STRAIGHT PULL FRONT/REAR, 3X PATTERN (5 SPARES INCLUDED)
- Price: $1499.99 USD
Massive Vault hubs are the core of the Next R wheel set.
The Vault hub is the first Race Face branded Hub built from the ground up. The over-sized hub shell provides opportunity for performance gains: increased rear drive torsional stiffness by up to 20%, and increased lateral stiffness. Perfecting engagement was a priority at the outset of the Vault hub design. The hub features a 60 tooth drive ring with six pawls which have two teeth per pawl. There are two sets of three pawls offset from each other resulting in 3 degree engagement for almost instant power transfer. All pawls feature low-drag springs to ensure quick and positive) engagement while retaining low coast drag.
6902 bearings were selected due to their large ball diameter and durability. Wide bearing placement was designed to decrease load on the bearings improving lifespan. Protecting internals from the elements is key to hub longevity. To ensure product durability and less service over time, we designed low-drag labyrinth seals speci cally for the Vault hubs.
Rear mountain bike hubs have two sets of bearings. One set is the load bearings that supports the rider and allows the wheel to rotate; the second set the freehub bearings allows the cassette to freewheel. The wider the load bearings can be spaced, the more durable they will be. The Vault hub features a 70.4mm wide spacing for its load bearings, this helps to decrease the load on the bearings improving their life span.
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