Designing the MTN30 AL – Striking the Perfect Balance
When you’ve been designing high-performance bicycle components as long as we have, the idea of starting with a completely blank slate sounds nice—but it’s not entirely realistic. Experience brings knowledge, intuition, and lessons learned from nearly 50 years in business. And while that foundation is invaluable, we approached the design of the MTN30 AL with fresh eyes, determined to create something truly exceptional.
Refining Ride Feel Through Real-World Testing
We had a clear goal: to create a rim that balances stiffness, responsiveness, and trail feedback—without punishing the rider on long, demanding rides. Too stiff, and the ride becomes harsh and fatiguing. Too compliant, and the handling feels vague and disconnected. Our goal was to hit that sweet spot where the wheel tracks with precision, maintains traction, and inspires confidence over varied terrain.
To validate our ideas, we conducted a series of blind ride tests over the course of several days. We masked a selection of rims to remove any bias, ensuring that what we felt on the trail guided our decisions. Each rim was tested on the same bikes, with the same tires and air pressures, over identical test tracks. Through this process, we fine-tuned our understanding of how different design elements—profile, material, wall thickness and shape—impact ride feel.
Some rims felt overly stiff, transmitting too much feedback and causing rider fatigue. Others muted the trail too much, dulling responsiveness. But one stood out, offering a good balance of cornering precision, compliance, and trail feedback. It gave us a clear benchmark to improve upon with our own design.
Engineering a Better Alloy Rim
With that data in hand, we applied our expertise in materials, shaping, and construction to develop the MTN30 AL. Every decision—from the rim profile to the alloy selection—was made with a singular focus: creating a rim that delivers speed, control, and durability in equal measure. We combined those insights with guiding wisdom from Chris King himself to ensure the MTN30 AL met our exacting standards.
Validating Our Design Through Prototype Testing
With our design goals clearly defined, prototype rims were created that embodied the balance we were aiming for. We then needed to confirm that our improvements held up against the best options from our initial blind testing. So, we ran another round of blind tests, this time pitting our prototype against the two strongest contenders from the first round.
At this stage, small refinements can be the hardest to evaluate, as personal riding preferences start to play a bigger role. However, as the feedback came in, a consensus emerged—there was still a clear favorite. Unmasking the rims confirmed what we had hoped: our latest prototype was the best in the test. It retained the precise handling and compliance we wanted while improving overall ride comfort and stability. 
Tested to the Limits
But creating a great-feeling wheel is only half the equation. Durability is non-negotiable—especially for alloy mountain wheels. To ensure the MTN30 AL could withstand the harshest conditions, we subjected it to a 2000-mile drum test at 40 mph to simulate long-term wear and fatigue. We also built an impact test rig to push the rim to its limits, measuring how much abuse it could handle. The results? Exactly what we hoped for—exceptional resilience without sacrificing performance.
A Wheel Built for Real-World Performance
The thing is, if you make high-performance components, you’re never trying to do just one thing. If we only needed to make a durable wheel, no problem. You add material. You optimize shape, maybe. What we set out to do was design the best riding alloy mountain wheel possible, and so everything comes into play—material, shape, construction method.
We live in the details.
The result is a wheel that strikes the perfect balance between responsiveness, comfort, and long-term durability. It’s designed to keep you feeling connected to the trail, riding faster for longer, and confident that your wheels can take whatever the trail throws at them.
We didn’t just build another alloy rim. We built your alloy rim—the one that performs exactly how you want, ride after ride.
