The explosion in popularity of versatile, all-road, gravel-style bikes has brought with it a wealth of new kit that borrows from our knobbly-tyred brethren.
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ATR stands for All Terrain Road and these rims are big, beefy carbon affairs the like of which you would expect to see on a mountain bike. In fact, they appear on paper to be virtually identical to those of Reynolds’ older 29 Trail Carbon wheelset, aside from a reduction in spoke count from 28 on the front and rear, to 24.
Both on the road and off, the ATRs are stiff and lively, and as compliant as you would imagine from rims that are wider than they are tall
The rims measure a huge 29mm across externally and a slightly more modest 21mm internally — unusually wide bead hooks mean the latter measurement is smaller than you might assume, although it’s still immense by road standards.
Such impressive dimensions make these a natural match for big rubber, and we’d suggest going no smaller than 28s to take advantage of their width.
The ATRs are supplied fully tubeless-ready with tape and valves, and we set ours up with Hutchinson’s excellent Sector 28 tyres, with a minimum of fuss.
Rolling companion
Despite their size, our test set of ATRs weighed in at a very reasonable 689g/1.5lb front and 814g/1.7lb rear with QR end caps, plus 117g/0.2lb for the skewers.
Taken on their own merits, the ATRs are a fantastic set of wheels, and with good quality components and no braking surface to wear out
The wheels roll on Reynolds’ own quietly competent cartridge bearing hubs, with Centrelock disc mounts making for hassle-free setup. End caps can be swapped to accommodate all major axle standards.
Both on the road and off, the ATRs are stiff and lively, and as compliant as you would imagine from rims that are wider than they are tall — which is to say very. (They measure 28mm deep.)
They don’t have any aerodynamic pretensions, but the relatively blunt profile doesn’t catch the wind, while their wide footprint further inspires confidence as it helps to plump your tyres to their full potential.
Taken on their own merits, the ATRs are a fantastic set of wheels, and with good quality components and no braking surface to wear out, we would expect them to give you years of service.
Their one real drawback is price — they’re a good deal more expensive than alloy wheelsets offering similar specs, and carbon bragging rights aside it’s pretty hard to justify the extra expense.
