Easton’s new Haven Carbon all-mountain wheelset promises industry-leading durability plus cross country-like weightEaston Bell Sports
Easton says the carbon-HMPE fiber blend and special MRES-B rubberized resins used in the Haven Carbon rim give it unprecedented impact toughnessEaston Bell Sports
The Haven Carbon front wheel will be convertible between 9mm quick-release, 15mm thru-axle and 20mm thru-axle standardsEaston Bell Sports
The rear Haven Carbon hub can be swapped between 135mm quick-release and thru-axle fitments plus the new 142x12mm standardEaston Bell Sports
The hubs and spokes are borrowed from the standard aluminum HavenEaston Bell Sports
The precise molding process lends true UST compatibility to the new Haven Carbon with no need for additional rim strips or sealant when using proper UST tiresJames Huang
A vacuum pulls raw material down tightly against the surface of this table, where pieces are carefully cut using a computer-controlled bladeForrest Arakawa
Raw rims are impressively well finished straight out of the mold with minimal resin or fiber flash to remove Surface finish is impeccableJames Huang
Workers lay pre-cut pieces of raw composite material into a mold Contrary to popular belief, high-end carbon fiber production in incredibly labor-intensive – and expensive Easton says each Haven Carbon rim costs over ten times more to produce than an alloy oneForrest Arakawa
For the rim’s internal cavity, pieces of carbon-HMPE are wrapped by hand around a mandrel that is later removedForrest Arakawa
After the heating and curing process, molds are transferred to another station where the temperature is brought down graduallyForrest Arakawa
Workers open up one of the clamshell molds to remove a newly created Haven Carbon rimForrest Arakawa
Careful engineering yields only the slightest amount of waste when manufacturing the Haven Carbon rims Easton claims only a 1-2 percent scrap rateForrest Arakawa
Mold blanks are received in this condition and are machined in-house to suit the application at handForrest Arakawa
Rim molds are milled on this machineForrest Arakawa
Easton’s molds are produced in house and require no polishing after machiningJames Huang
Easton’s hockey stick molds, on the other hand, are machined with a conventional mill and require polishing and filing to remove the milling artifactsJames Huang
This station is used to drill the holes for each Haven Carbon rim Four unique spoke angles are used per rimForrest Arakawa
Each rim has to be painted in order to use Easton’s preferred water-transfer decalsForrest Arakawa
Water-transfer graphics are used for a higher-end lookForrest Arakawa
These are the aluminum rivnuts that are used on each Haven rimJames Huang
Threaded inserts are hand-installed into each Haven Carbon rimForrest Arakawa
The riveted-in and threaded inserts supposedly distribute stress more evenly than traditional eyeletsJames Huang
Easton says its new Haven Carbon rim far surpasses the impact strength of other carbon rims it’s testedJames Huang