I gotta say this at the very least; Industry Nine sure knows how to make an entrance.

Industry Nine is a company out of Asheville NC that likes to do things a bit differently. Currently they have a wheelset that, while similar to standard mountain bike wheels, has one hell of a plot twist to them. Instead of a standard set up of hooked steel spokes in a flanged hub, Industry Nine uses their own custom machined 7075-T651 spokes (that’s right, aluminum spokes) that have the nipple integrated in the end. The spoke is threaded at one end and screws directly into the beautiful Industry nine hubs, making for a very light and very secure complete system. Stock Industry Nine wheels use DT Swiss rims, but you can use any rim you want, long as the hole count matches up.

So what’s with those spokes then? The Industry Nine spokes are custom CNC machined out of 7075-T651 alloy in their Asheville factory, along with all the rest of the bits for the wheels (except the rims of course.). Side by side with a standard steel spoke, the Industry Nine spokes look just massive. I am not sure of the actual gauge of the spokes, but they are about 25% thicker then a standard 14 gauge spoke. This allows industry Nine to have a ridiculously light spoke (almost comically light really) that still retains the strength of a 14 gauge steel spoke. They also save weight by machining the nipple directly into the top of the spoke for a solid one piece design. Combine that with the rather generously sized threads (no wussy Swiss watch micro-thread stuff here) and you have a spoke that should stay nice and tight for a while, provide a wicked stiff ride, and come in as light as some of the super light spokes offered by other companies.

The hubs are just as trick as the spokes. Again they are machined in Industry Nine’s factory and, except for the bearings, are entirely an in house deal. The hub shell body is 7075-T651, which is a fancy way of saying its going to last you a hell of a long time. The freehub body and axle are also aluminum, which saves a ton of weight without a performance penalty. The freehub is a bit different, and made of 7068 alloy. Says Industry Nine "7068 is more than 20% stronger than 7075 (and VERY expensive) which is why we do not feel (there have been no failures to date – 3 years) the need to offer a Ti or Steel freehub body." Fair enough. The freehubs come in two different configurations, 3 or 6 degree. The 3 degree setting will give you near instant engagement, but at a bit of a weight penalty and it adds a bit of drag. The 6 degree is still quick, and is lighter (but just a tiny bit really) and doesn’t have the same drag as the 3 degree setup. Our wheels were set up with the 3 degree engagement and while the drag was noticeable by hand, riding it wasn’t nearly as bad. Also, the wheels of course broke in, and the drag has really ceased to be an issue. Something nice to note was how good the bearings are. One rider has put thousands of miles on his, and only now are the hubs beginning to show the slightest amount of play. The same cannot be said of most of the other high end hubs that we’ve seen so far.

Of course, you can’t talk about Industry Nines without talking about how they look. There is no denying part of the appeal of the wheels comes from their look, which is far and above most others out there. You can choose what color you want your hubs AND spokes, and they are anodized extremely well. The colors are bright and vibrant, and just look like candy. The fact that the spokes are done too just adds to the whole thing, and just can’t be matched by anyone else.

But good looks and fancy colors are useless if the wheels ride like potatoes. Luckily for the Industry Nines, they ride even better then they look.

The ride of the Industry Nine’s is excellent. Once the hubs are bedded in and the drag lessens, they are about as smooth as they come. The super fast engagement really spoils you for other hubs. Honestly its not really all that necessary, and most high end hubs engage fast enough anyways, but man is it nice to have. The bearings are crazy smooth, without even the slightest hint of being notchy. Again, this beats a lot of other high end hubs. As mentioned before, even after countless hours and miles on one set, they are only JUST beginning to get the slightest bit of play, and it’s definitely not noticeable when riding. With the QR’s done up its hard to notice.

The alloy spokes combined with the threaded hub makes for one hell of a stiff ride. It’s really noticeable in the corners and through the rough stuff, although some may actually prefer a wheel with a bit more give. Our wheels required tensioning after a bit of riding, and required periodical checks here and there, but for the most part have stayed true and tensioned. The hubs have been excellent, very impressive. Bearings are still silly smooth, engagement is as fast as ever, and of course, they still look awesome. The drag issue is pretty much a non-issue now. Although there is still drag in the freehub, its no worse then a King hub. Speaking of the freehub, credit where it’s due here. Despite some concerns over the freehub being alloy, and possibly gouging by the cassette (a common alloy freehub problem) there are only minimal marks, and the cassette came off easily. Guess the credit goes to the 7068 alloy the freehub is made out of there. Also notable was the fact that the grease inside the hub was still white when we opened it, after a year of riding.

I guess the biggest question that of course everybody is going to have is “are they worth it.” That’s a personal thing I think, but we can do comparisons to other hubs and wheels.

Compared to Deemax’s, the Industry Nines are much lighter with faster engagement, although you lose the stock tubeless setup and have to rely on an aftermarket option. The bearings on the Industry Nines are also replaceable, and feel excellent. We’ll just call the bearings a draw I guess. That said, the Mavics are much more expensive at MSRP then the Industry Nines.

I guess the real comparisons can only be done to Kings, Hadleys and DT Swiss hubs, built to similar rims.

Hadleys are slightly heavier and don’t engage as fast, but you can build a cheaper wheelset with them. The freehubs are more then decent, but require special tools to take them apart. Both the Hadley’s are the Industry Nines use off the shelf bearings too, which makes replacement easy.

The Kings are the only hubs that offer similar colors and engagement to the Industry Nines, but that comes at a price. They are more expensive (the hubs alone cost nearly as much as a complete Industry Nine wheelset), the alloy freehub (NOT THE STAINLESS ONE) has been known to be unhappy with abusive riding, they don’t have a 12mm option, the 20mm convertable front hub, the alloy freehub body seems softer, and everything in the hub is proprietary. You need special tools to service the hub, King specific bearings, and of course very specific parts. The drag on the King freehub is very similar to the Industry Nines. The Kings are lighter though, although that weight goes up with the DH axle, fun bolts and steel freehub.

DT Swiss seems to have the best alternative, which a solid hub and drive system that comes in crazy light. Like the Industry Nines, everything is serviceable with standard tools, bearings are standard sizes so you can get easy replacements, and they are bloody crazy light. They come in every size under the sun, they engage bloody fast and come in every color you can imagine, long as its black. While they are lighter then the Industry Nines, they aren’t at the wallet and are similar in cost.

As with all things, the Industry Nines do have some downfalls, the obvious one being proprietary spokes. Now, you do get a few extra spokes with the wheels (nice touch) but if you do destroy your wheel its not something that every store is going to have in stock. So far Industry Nine’s service has proven to be very good, and even being in Canada didn’t stop us from getting spare parts in 2 days. You may or may not like the DT Rims that come stock with the Industry Nine wheels. We’ve heard reports back and forth regarding durability, so really its your choice. Since the hubs can be laced to almost any rim out there your choices are pretty wide open though, so if you aren’t horny over the DT rims just choose something else. We laced them to Mavic rims, and couldn’t be happier. Our suggestion would be Mavic for DH/ Freeride, and the DT rims should be fine for everything else.

Industry Nine has a great product on their hand. At $1000 bucks a wheelset, its definitely an expensive option, and its debatable if its worth it over a regular wheelset. There are lighter wheels out there, and obviously there are cheaper wheels out there too. But simply put, the Industry Nines are a great wheelset with a bling factor that few can match. They are stiff, they are light ( on Mavic 721s with the Enduro hubs/ spokes ewe had 894g front, 1080g rear.), they are responsive, they have excellent engagement, excellent build quality and so far, excellent durability. They also have that bling factor that may just put you over the edge.

- a big thanks to Andrew Maemura for his info for the review, and ninja riding skillz.

_ Industry Nine wheels are available at Cycle Solutions.