These, er, headturning thermoplastic wheels seem nigh on indestructible, but they weigh an absolute ton. They have five hollow spokes, a fat hollow rim and an alloy hub slotted and bonded into the middle, so you will certainly stand out from the crowd when riding the FRX5s.
They’ve stood up to everything that we’ve thrown at them so far. The broad rim and thick lip mean we’ve haven’t had any pinch flats yet, even when we’ve run double wall tyres down to 15psi. You can still whip tyres on and off them OK though.
They come in full range of axle types and widths and the DT Star Ratchet freehub picks up really quickly too. The downside is that these things are tremendously heavy – 4.157kg/9.16lbs to be exact (1.952kg/4.3lb front and 2.205kg/4.86lb rear). That’s 1.25kg (2.75lbs) heavier than a conventional crush proof wheelset like Halo’s 48 spoke SAS set and means they totally dominate the bike.
They have very surefooted acceleration, delay braking and create a real tramline reluctance to turn from the extra gyroscopic effect, similar to slackening the head angle a couple of degrees. They’re really difficult to lift or flick around in the air too.
Like anything, you will get used to their weight in time, but at $1,200 (approximately £587 at the time of going to press) we’d still only consider trying them if you’ve broken absolutely everything else you’ve ever used.
