Forge+Bond Shift Series Wheels
Internal Width:
- 25 XC: 25 mm
- 30 AM: 30 mm
- 30 EM: 30 mm
Sizes Available: 29’’
Material: Carbon Fiber (FusionFiber Thermoplastic)
Stated weight:
- 25 XC Rim: 380 g
- 30 AM Rims: 480 g front / 530 g rear
- 30 EM Rims: 530 g
- Shift 25 XC Wheelset: 1,600 g
- Shift 30 AM Wheelset: 1,832 g
- Shift 30 EM Wheelset: 1,920 g
- Shift EM Mixed Wheelset: 2,027 g
Blister’s Measured Weight (Shift EM Mixed wheelset, w/ pre-installed rim tape and valves):
- Front: 899 g
- Rear: 1,159 g
- Total: 2,058 g
MSRP:
- Wheelsets $1,250
Reviewer: 6’, 160 lb / 183 cm, 72.6 kg
Test Duration: 2.5 months
Test Locations: Western Washington and British Columbia, Canada
Bolted To: Kavenz VHP 16
Intro
Forge+Bond launched last year as the in-house wheel brand for CSS Composites, who have been making novel thermoplastic carbon fiber wheels for a few different brands for a few years now. We’ve been impressed with the ride quality of their offerings, having reviewed the 30 EMs last year and spent a bunch of time on the 30 AMs (full review coming soon), and now Forge+Bond is offering a more affordable version of both, as well as ther 25 XC wheels, in the new Shift series.
Design
Despire the new branding, the Shift series rims actually carry over from the original Forge+Bond lineup. The cost savings comes from the hubs, which are a Forge+Bond branded, and were developed with Bitex. They’re available with Boost spacing and six-bolt rotor mounts, and use six pawls engaging on a 27-tooth ratchet ring one at a time for 162 points of total engagement.
The rest of the wheel specs match those of Forge+Bond’s higher-end wheels — including using Sapim CX Ray spokes on the 25 XC and 30 AM wheels, and Sapim D-Lites for the 30 EMs. Check out our full review of the 30 EM wheels and our First Look on the 25 XCs and 30 AMs (again, full review of 30 AMs coming soon) for a whole lot more on those. All are available in 29’’ diameters only, at least for now, and as with all of Forge+Bond’s rims, the Shift ones are built in their own facility in Gunnison, UT.
The Shift hubs bring the stated weight for the Shift 25 XC wheelset to 1,600 grams; the Shift 30 AM comes in at a stated 1,832 g, and the Shift 30 EM at 1,920 g. That’s only about 10 to 30 grams heavier for the wheelset than the Industry Nine Hydra 6-bolt versions of the same wheels — a very modest difference, all told.
FULL REVIEW
CSS, the parent company of Forge+Bond, has been making rims for companies like Chris King, Revel, and others for years now right here in the US using their FusionFiber thermoplastic technology. We got into a lot more detail of FusionFiber, its recyclability claims, and thermoplastic vs. thermoset varieties of carbon construction in our earlier First Look and Full Review of Forge+Bond’s 30 EM wheels, and our time on both the 30 EM and 30 AM left us impressed with their damped ride quality and fuss-free performance.
In an effort to make their FusionFiber wheelsets just a bit more affordable, Forge+Bond recently announced their Shift series wheels, which use the same rims of their other pricier offerings but lace them to a rebadged Bitex hub to bring the price down to $1,250 USD, making them the most affordable North-America-made carbon wheelset we’re aware of.
(For those looking to save some dough, we’ll add that one of the many benefits of our BLISTER+ membership is access to tons of exclusive deals on gear, including 15% off carbon wheels.)
In addition to launching the Shift-series wheels, Forge+Bond now offers a mixed-wheel variant of the 30 EMs and we’ve been testing the Shift 30 EM Mixed Mullet wheels for a few months now — so how do the more affordable Shift hubs hold up, and is the ride quality of the smaller 27.5’’ rear wheel version similar to its 29’’ counterpart?
On the Trail
Setup and Initial Challenges
Our time with the Shift 30 EM (I’ll forego the “Mixed Mullet” bit for brevity) got off to a rocky start due to some hub issues. Our review wheels showed up with an XD driver rather than the desired Microspline one, but Forge+Bond was quick to get a replacement sent out and we were on our way.
But part way through my first ride, I noticed a significant amount of lateral play developing between the hub shell and the driver body. Back at home, I pulled the rear hub apart and found that a spacer appeared to be missing, with about 2-3 mm of play present between the hub shell and driver body. This play did not exist with the XD driver installed, only the Microspline one, which is a bit shorter than the XD driver.
To Forge+Bond’s credit, they quickly hopped on a FaceTime call with me to help with diagnosis. They were not totally sure why the issue was occurring either, and we ended up settling on using both the single spacer from the XD driver in addition to the spacer that came with the Microspline driver, which appeared to solve the issue, but the lack of documentation or clarity around the solution was a little bit disconcerting.
The rear hub also has nowhere near the 162 points of engagement (POE) claimed on Forge+Bond’s site. That stated figure comes from Biltex, but the problem there is that Bitex uses the number of teeth on the ratchet ring multiplied by the number of pawls (27 times 6). The problem is, all six of those pawls engage simultaneously with the Shift hub. Points of engagement are typically counted as the number of times that the hub engages during a full 360° rotation — literally just counting the clicks — regardless what’s going on internally to get there. By the definition used by all other hub manufacturers that we’re aware of, the Shift hubs have one sixth the number of engagement points promised at just 27. The simultaneous engagement of six pawls should make the hubs a durable option for the higher torque of an eMTB, but otherwise the engagement leaves something to be desired in a sea of higher engagement options.
Ride Quality and Performance
With some wheels (often aluminum ones) there can be a noted tradeoff between steering precision and compliance, with particularly comfortable wheels sometimes feeling a bit vague or indirect. On the flipside, rims that are too stiff (often carbon ones) can not only feel harsh, but can also make it hard to hold a line by deflecting off of obstacles. Our prior experiences with the other FusionFiber wheels in Forge+Bond’s lineup have shown a uniquely quiet and compliant ride quality, and the Shift 30 EM Mixed Mullet wheels have continued that trend.
The Shift 30 EM Mixed Mullet wheels come with a 28 hole 29’’ front wheel and a 32 hole 27.5’’ rear, with the increased rear spoke count meant to improve strength and stiffness of the more heavily loaded rear wheel. (Some of the other 30 EM variants have the option for a 32 hole front wheel, but the 28 front / 32 rear setup is the only option for the Mixed Mullet wheels, at least for now.) Even with the smaller diameter of a 27.5’’ rear wheel bringing inherent stiffness, the rear wheel of my Shift 30 EM wheels never felt overly stiff compared to other carbon offerings I’ve tried.
The 30 EM rims feature a sort of wave pattern in them, akin to what NOBL has done with the Sinewave profile used on some of their rims. While I can’t say how much the shape versus the FusionFiber material are contributing to the sensation, the 30 EM rims have a well damped feeling to them. Back to back comparison with my several year old NOBL TR37 wheels (which use the same Sapim D-Light spokes) showed that while the NOBLs are certainly not crazy stiff, Forge+Bond’s 30 EM design feels more compliant and seem to result in less deflection when holding a line in particularly rough sections.
The Bitex hubs performed adequately, but for my tastes, the 27 POE is simply too few, particularly for climbing in technical terrain. Forge+Bond’s rims are undoubtedly good, but with We Are One currently charging just $25 more for their Union wheelset with US-made Industry Nine 1/1 hubs featuring 90 POE, the lower price of the Forge+Bond Shift 30 EM feels like it comes with a meaningful tradeoff in the hub department.
Durability
Despite some initial misgivings about the Bitex hubs used on the Shift 30 EM, the wheels have held up nicely. These Shift 30 EM wheels have seen bike park days, mud, baby powder dust, and plenty of hero dirt in between, all without missing a beat. I’ve been running the Shift 30 EM without inserts, and I’ve had my fair share of rim pings on our bone dry summer trails, none of which seem to have upset any spokes or required any attention on the truing stand. The thick 4 mm bead walls add strength but should also go a long way towards staving off tire damage due to pinching, and I didn’t suffer a single flat during testing.
I won’t wade too far into the sustainability claims that Forge+Bond makes about their FusionFiber thermoplastic construction and recycling process, but traditional thermoset processes leave a lot to be desired on both carbon footprint and recyclability. While it’s great that FusionFiber can be recycled, that recycling process (at least, for now) requires grinding the original, long fiber material into shorter fiber material with downgraded strength qualities and consequently fewer useful applications. Again, any recyclability is better than none, but if you’re going to buy carbon wheels, the most sustainable option is to buy something that will last for ages — and fortunately, it seems that the Forge+Bond Shift 30 EM wheels are quite durable.
I will say that the seals on the Bitex hubs are not quite as sophisticated as those used on some more robust designs like the Hope Pro 5 or Spank Hex, and I did notice the grease in the freehub discoloring a bit more quickly than with some other (pricier) hubs. Riders in particularly wet locales would be advised to check bearings and keep an eye on freehub maintenance during nastier parts of the year, but I’ve had no issues during my Spring/Summer testing period.
Who’s It For?
The Forge+Bond Shift 30 EM wheelset is a whole lot cheaper than their offerings with higher-end hubs, but use the same US-made carbon rims and are one of the most affordable ways to get a carbon wheelset, particularly one with rims that aren’t made overseas.
Riders with champagne taste in hubs will find the rebadged Bitex hubs unexciting, possibly even disappointing if they’re expecting the higher engagement promised in the product description, and weight-conscious riders won’t be too impressed by the relatively hefty system weight. But if you’re willing to live with those tradeoffs to save some money, the 30 EMs ride great and haven’t given us any trouble beyond the initial shenanigans with the freehub spacer.
Bottom Line
Forge+Bond’s FusionFiber rims have continued to impress us with their compliant ride quality and strength, and the price point of the Shift 30 EM wheels is compelling. We won’t argue that $1,250 USD is cheap, and the Bitex hubs leave a bit to be desired, but the 30 EM rims have proven to be a solid option with great performance, and the lower cost of entry into a high-performing, US-made wheelset make the Shift 30 EM worth a look.