Life is about learning from your mistakes. Crank Brothers is a company that knows this all too well. Fearless in design and sometimes lacking in execution, the company has made its name for itself by pushing innovation. For example, the Eggbeater clipless pedal design is elegant and gorgeous. Second only to Shimano’s SPD system, the eggbeater pedal is better than the SPD in some ways. However, the eggbeater is sometimes prone to reliability issues, needing more frequent rebuilds than it’s Shimano counterpart. I’ve owned the same M520 SPD pedals for nearly 4 years with absolutely no maintenance and it works as well as it did on day one.
There in lies some of the Crank Brothers mystique. You have a beautifully designed and engineered product that, on occasion, will leave you wanting. And I must say, these are beautiful wheels. Hung on the swooping aggressive lines of my trusty 2013 Specialized Camber, they together cast an astonishing silhouette.
The twin spoke and holeless rim design on Crank Brothers wheels are eye-catching and unique. In years past, two things happened. 1: The spokes would fail and if you didn’t have a spare, you had to walk home. Then you would have to find a bike shop that carried the propriety spokes, which was hard in the early days. Special ordering a spare meant you were out a bike for a few days. 2. The hub would undoubtedly fail. Simply said, the first generation of wheels were beautifully made crap.
Enter the third generation of Crank Brothers wheels – specifically, the XC/trail oriented Cobalt 2’s. Did Crank Brothers learn from their mistakes? According to them they have. The second generation wheels addressed the reliability issues. The hubs have been a tried and true, albeit slightly boring, 3 pawl design. They claim a near zero warranty claim on this hub. The rim profile on the second and now third generation has been changed to increase spoke triangulation taking more tension off the spokes. The third generation goes farther in machining to reduce weight and increase rim diameter.
The third generation Cobalt 2’s have an internal rim diameter of 21mm. That’s actually pretty pedestrian when you compare Ibis, Specialized, and American Classic wheelsets pushing 40mm. However, for the intended purpose of XC/trail use, this diameter is well suited. I’m running Specialized Ground Control 2.3’s front and back with 28 PSI front and 30 PSI back. The combination seem to play well together – good traction, side knob bite, and no burping. Moreover, since the rim has no holes, I didn’t need any rim tape to set it up tubeless. Just add sealant, air and go!
I’ve had DT Swiss hubs and they are like fine timepieces. They tick away with no worry. In much the same way, to my pleasant surprise, the Crank Brothers hubs have had no issue. I’ve had a half season covering some gnarly remote trails in Colorado’s Monarch Crest with it’s high alpine terrain with no problems.
In that same light, the wheels have absolutely remained true despite some repeated hard and unwise lines taken at Colorado’s Apex trail known for baby head sized rocks and hundreds of meters of rock garden after rock garden. The abuse taken there would have folded the first generation wheels especially in the 29 inch wheel size.
With no nipples and less spokes than the traditional wheel design, the Cobalt 2’s center of mass is near the hub, so the Cobalt’s spin up faster. My reservations about these wheels begin here. As they do spin up fast, the hub does not capture that quickness as it engages slowly. I run the e*thirteen TRS plus wheelset on my enduro bike and the rear hub engages at 60 points – that’s only 6 degrees of pedal movement until it engages. That’s awfully quick. Going back to a traditional 3 pawl design, allows for some noticeable dead spot before the hub engages. In my opinion, this wastes the ability of this wheel to spin up quickly.
The lateral stiffness from the revised spoke configuration is quite noticeable leaning in corners. I cannot attest to stiffness compared to previous generation Cobalt’s. However, compared to my O.E. wheelset and my all mountain wheelset they are, predictably, right in the middle. It’s worth mentioning that e*thirteen actually use the same shorter spoke/ improved triangulation method to stiffen and quicken their wheels.
The Cobalt’s are not that light either. Mine weighs in at 1778 grams. You can probably build up a somewhat more expensive American Classic, or Stan’s wheelset that will be lighter. But why would you? At usually less than $550, the Colbalt 2’s are beautifully designed, well engineered, unique, and now reliable wheelset. Crank Brothers have indeed learned from their mistakes and they have done so beautifully.
Marc E.
Editor
