NOBL TR35 Berd spoke wheelset review

NOBL pitches the TR35 rim as suitable for aggressive cross-country and trail riders; or downcountry, if you’re partial to the term. It’s designed to be lightweight, durable and offer excellent compliance.

It's teamed with Onyx’s Hook Flange Vesper hub and Berd’s PolyLight fabric spokes. Yes, you read that right, spokes made of string.

The result is an addictively lightweight, compliant mountain bike wheelset with a silent freehub.

While lively and visceral to ride, the lateral flex, soft freehub engagement and required maintenance to keep them running smoothly makes these wheels just as intensive to own.

NOBL TR35 Berd spoke wheelset details and specifications

While the rims and hubs that form two thirds of this wheelset have their own unique appeal, it is Berd’s PolyLight spokes that form the main talking point of this wheelset.

Rather than being constructed from stainless steel, aluminium or even carbon like other spokes on the market, the PolyLights are made with Dyneema, or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE).

Dyneema is claimed to have 15 times the strength-to-weight ratio of steel and floats on water.

Berd says this enables it to produce spokes that have an improved fatigue life over steel, are impervious to the elements and provide 20 per cent better vibration damping than steel ones.

At the rim end of the spoke is a 14-gauge threaded-steel insert that connects to standard nipples in the same way metal spokes do.

At the other end is a loop, which is pulled through the spoke hole and held in place with a rod in regular hubs.

The hub has to be prepped with a special tool, because Berd says if this is not done, the edges of the spoke hole could cause the Dyneema fabric to fray. You can still re-use regular spokes with the hubs after this process though.

The spokes also stretch as they are tensioned and require multiple tension and settling periods before they can be ridden.

This means they're more time-consuming to build than regular wheels, though. Berd says this is a multi-day process, compared to just the full day or so it would take you to build a set of wheels with regular spokes.

Onyx’s Hook Flange hubs, as tested, don’t feature traditional spoke holes.

Instead, they feature hooks in the flange that the spoke loop, as the name suggests, hooks around.

While this hastens the lacing process, you’ll still need to re-tension the wheels over multiple days before riding if you're building them yourself.

My test wheels came ready-built, so I didn’t have to go through this process, but it's worth bearing in mind.

Speaking of the Onyx hubs, it's not only the spoke flanges that are different from the norm.

Instead of using pawls or ratchets and springs, they employ a sprag clutch. This is similar to a one-way roller bearing.

The sprags have an unusual shape that slips over the freehub body axle when no load is applied through them, enabling the hub to freewheel.

When torque is applied in the opposite direction, under power, the sprags tilt and produce a wedging action. This engages the freehub to provide drive.

Onyx claims this enables the hubs to roll incredibly efficiently with minimal drag, have instantaneous engagement and be almost noiseless when freewheeling.

Last but no means least are NOBL’s TR35 rims.

The TR35 carbon rims use the brand’s SineWave profile. This adds material around the spoke holes, while reducing the height of the rim between them.

This should give them a good blend of strength and compliance; the big buzzwords when it comes to wheels.

They also have specific layups and profiles front and rear. Both have an outer width of 35.5mm and a 21mm depth.

Up front, the internal width stretches out to 30.5mm, the bead 'lips' thin out to 2mm and the weight drops to a claimed 395g.

However, the rear features a narrower 29.5mm internal width, 3mm hookless bead 'lips' and weighs a claimed 435g.

Both are only available in a 29in size with 28-hole drilling.

All in, the wheelset as tested weighed 1,522g and cost a not inconsiderable $2,192.48.

How we tested the NOBL TR35 Berd spoke wheelset

I rode these wheels for four months on my Transition Smuggler long-term test bike, Norco’s Fluid FS C2 and my own Transition Spur.

During that time, they've been on a wide variety of trails, ranging from smooth flow trails and rock-hard trail-centre surfaces through to technical cross-country singletrack, and natural rough and rocky descents.

For almost the entire test period, I had the wheels set up with Maxxis Minion DHR II and Forekaster rubber in 3C MaxxTerra compound and EXO and EXO casing respectively.

These were set to 22psi and 24psi for my 80kg weight.

I ran the entire test without any tyre inserts.

I also tested the wheels back to back with an almost identical set laced with Sapim Race spokes, rather than Berd’s PolyLight.

This was to isolate the difference between the two spoke types in the fairest way possible by removing as many variables as I could.

Lastly, I did some runs with my current benchmark XC/trail wheels, Hunt’s Proven Carbon Race XC to see how they compared.

NOBL TR35 Berd spoke wheelset wheelset performance

The first thing that struck me about these wheels is how fast they felt when getting up to speed. The low weight and instant engagement means they feel absolutely rapid on the trail.

Compared to the stock wheelsets on the Smuggler and Fluid, both of which were over the 2kg mark when bare, the difference was stark to say the least.

Climbs felt much less of a chore, even with relatively chunky tyres wrapped around them. Mash the pedals out of corners or on steeper climbs and the wheels respond with gusto.

Their lively feel and speed only cemented my belief that upgrading your wheels is one of the best things you can do to your bike.

The wheels also exhibited an extremely smooth, compliant ride. Riding them back to back with the standard steel Sapim-spoke version was eye-opening.

Within 100m of trail, it was clear the Berd spokes made the wheel more forgiving and comfortable over rough terrain.

The difference was similar to running your tyres a few psi lower, but with none of the tyre-squirming downsides.

The silent freehub also marked a stark contrast to other high-end wheelsets; all you can hear is your tyres rumbling along the trail.

Any noise from elsewhere on your bike, such as chain slap or cable rattle, is amplified though. If you didn’t think your bike was noisy before, you may well do after trying Onyx hubs.

The NOBL TR35 rims also stood up incredibly well. Even running with fairly low pressures for my weight and no tyre inserts, they have given absolutely no cause for concern.

If the worst were to happen though, they are covered by NOBL’s lifetime warranty.

So far, so brilliant. But it’s not all sunshine and polyethylene roses.

Back-to-back, it’s clear the Berd-spoke wheels were noticeably flexier laterally than their steel-spoked equivalents

When loaded into corners or traversing cambers, they don’t hold a line as well and I often found myself wandering from my desired line.

This seemed to get worse as time went on, and on inspection, I found the spoke tension was lower than when new.

I re-tensioned the wheels with the required tools, but even so, they remained a little less precise and accurate than a metal-spoked wheelset.

Worse still, with more miles under their belt, the tension issue reared its ugly head again.

Despite the loss of tension, the wheels stayed remarkably true, a testament to the strength and stiffness of the rims, but having to break the tools out again was a chore.

They’re no more difficult to work on than a regular spoke and nipple, but I’ve needed to give these more TLC than other wheels I’ve used.

Speaking of TLC, the Onyx hubs were also crying out for some love through the test period.

By the end of testing, the bearings in the front hub sounded incredibly ropey (no pun intended) and exhibited enough play for several people to ask whether the axle or headset were loose.

While the rear hub fared better, it’s still sounding as though it needs a dose of grease in the bearings.

Changing the cartridge bearings is easy enough if you have the right bearing-press tools, but I certainly expected better, even if they have been subjected to a particularly soggy UK autumn and winter of abuse.

The Onyx rear hub also has a very distinctive feel. Engagement is indeed instant, with no lag, but it feels – for want of a better word – soft.

While other hubs exhibit a lag from pedal input to the freehub engaging, the Onyx hubs engage and then show a degree of flex.

This is best shown when standing on the pedals with the back brake on; you can physically see the cranks rotate while the sprags bite into the freehub.

It’s not a con as such, but it is something to be aware of; you may like it, you may not.

Lastly, no, the spokes didn’t stay white for the duration of the test. Despite plenty of elbow grease, they are now varying shades of brown, particularly on the rear.

My advice? Go for black, or use Berd’s dying kit to get them to a colour of your choosing before riding.

How does the NOBL TR35 Berd spoke wheelset compare?

I tested the Berd spoke wheels back to back with an otherwise identical steel-spoke set.

The Berd spokes made the wheels feel notably lighter and faster to get up to speed, weighing 164g less than the 1,686g of the steel-spoke version.

They were also more compliant and offered a smoother, more comfortable ride overall.

However, the difference in lateral flex was just as notable, and while I had to re-tension the Berd spokes numerous times, the steel-spoke version was perfect throughout the back-to-back testing.

The steel-spoked set is also considerably cheaper at $1,650 vs $2,188.

Comparing them to Hunt’s Proven Carbon Race XC was just as tough a test.

The Provens are almost identical in weight, at 1,506g (measured) vs 1,522g. They accelerated and felt as lively as the Berd-spoke NOBL wheels, but were more precise and accurate in corners, and on rough cambers.

They are not as compliant as the Berd-spoke wheels though, feeling extremely similar to the steel-spoke NOBL wheels in overall ride feel.

They’re significantly cheaper again at £999 / $1,257, yet come with a lifetime warranty and have been equally tough, taking everything I’ve thrown at them, with much better bearing life to boot.

I’d take Hunt’s hubs over the Onyx’s even if it means giving up the instant freehub engagement; at only 5 degrees, the Hunts are plenty fast enough.

I have had intermittent creaking from the straight-pull spokes, but Hunt has been quick to remedy this, free of charge.

Still, I’d prefer standard J-bend spokes if given the choice, so they’re not perfect.

NOBL TR35 Berd spoke wheelset bottom line

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m incredibly torn on these wheels.

On one hand, they offer the most comfortable, lively and engaging ride feel of any wheels I’ve ridden.

They are flexy when loaded up though, and harder riders would find the flex even more of an issue.

For my cross-country and trail-riding preferences, it was just about tolerable and a worthwhile trade-off for the increased compliance, comfort and reduced weight.

But, and it’s a big but, the added maintenance is a real downside. While distinctly different and certainly interesting, Onyx’s hubs are a tough sell; the bearing life isn’t as good as I’d expect for the premium price and the soft, flexy feel of the freehub engagement is a matter of love or hate.

NOBL offers a choice of other hubs, and DT Swiss’s 350 or Hope’s Pro 5 would make a better, more reliable centrepiece to these wheels in my opinion, while being cheaper to boot.

Choose one of those hub options, be prepared to live with some routine spoke tensioning and a slightly wayward feel in the corners and you can have a seriously visceral, compliant XC-light and trail-bike tough wheelset.

As tested though, as much as I enjoyed riding them, it’s hard to recommend these wheels over the competition, in-house or otherwise.