Sea Otter tech: Inside Syncros lightweight Silverton SL wheelset
A closer look at the unique one piece carbon fibre wheels and Fraser IC bar-stem combo
A System for Speed is the big tagline from components manufacturer Syncros as it expands further into the mountain bike side of bike components with the new lightweight carbon fibre Silverton SL wheelset. Instead of trying to improve each individual part of a wheel, spokes, rims and hubs, engineers at Syncros spent two years working to improve the wheel by considering all of the parts together as a single system.
The result is the company’s feathery light, one piece carbon fibre Silverton SL. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it is definitely a departure from any other weheelset currently on the market. Through a carefully refined manufacturing process, the rim, spokes, and hub flanges are formed into a single piece of carbon, which the carbon fibre hub shell and aluminum hub insert fits into. The way the single wheel piece has been designed, the hub shell pushes the flanges apart to create spoke tension.
At a claimed weight of just 1250g, the 29″ Silverton SL is aimed squarely at the top end of cross country racing. Showing how confident they are in the one piece carbon wheels resiliency, Syncros has already hinted that a more trail and enduro targeted wheel could be in the works based on the same design principle. And, while the Silverton SL is definitely at the top end in terms of price as well as performance, head Syncros engineer for the project, Benoit Grelier made sure to be clear that the race ready wheel was a production model, not a one-off fantasy build.
A look inside the Silverton SL rim shows how the spoke material continues into the rim
A more direct look at how the spoke fibres run smoothly into the rim sidewal
A spoke-rim cutaway section, and the carbon hub shell piece used to space out the Silverton SL's hub flanges
A complete Silverton SL wheel shows how the hub shell pushes apart the one piece flange-spoke-rim piece to create spoke tension
Syncros is aware that the single piece rim-spoke-flange will raise alarm bells, and Grelier took time to go through the details of the Silverton SL construction process. Instead of running from rim to hub, each carbon spoke is a continuous fibre that runs through the hub flange and to the opposite side of the rim. This not only makes each spoke stronger, but also adds torsional stiffness to the complete wheel, making for faster acceleration. Each spoke also crosses the centre line of the wheel, attaching to the hub slightly off centre to make for a smother connection point between spoke and rim. The result, Syncros claims, is a carbon spoke that is more impact resistant than traditional steel spokes.
Through adopting a systems approach to wheel construction, Syncros claims it has been able to reduce weight at the same time as adding strength to the wheel. That is a hard combo to manage, especially in the highly competitive carbon wheel market, but the unique look to its Silverton SL wheel shows the company is coming at the design process with an openness to new and different ideas.
Syncros 29″ Silverton SL is projected to be available sometime in September, at a cost in the range of $3500.00 USD for the wheelset. So if you’re considering a 2019 World Cup campaign, start saving your pennies now. The Silverton SL could also make OEM appearances on top of the line Scott Scale and Spark builds for next year. The Silverton SL wheelset has a system weight limit (rider + bike) of 130kg.
For those not interested in making the jump to a one piece wheel, Syncros will also offer a Silverton 1.o, with a more traditional carbon rim and steel spoke XC race wheel. The company also offers the Reveltoke 1.0, a carbon fibre rim targeting the more agressive trail crowd. All rims are feature a hookless bead, and are tubeless ready. The Silverton SL is labelled tubeless ever-ready, as the one piece construction means there are no spoke holes to seal in order to make the rim tubeless compatible.
Syncros Fraser IC
Syncros also had the new Fraser IC integrated bar-stem combo on display at Sea Otter. The Fraser follows up on last year’s Hixon IC, but in a lightweight cross country package. At a claimed weight of just 220g, it is one of the lightest bar-stem options out there. As with the Silverton SL wheelset, Syncros is saying that its system approach to design allows the Fraser IC to shed weight without costing any strength. For the true Nino Schurter fan, Syncros will offer a limited edition version of the Fraser IC that replicates the Swiss superstars cockpit position.
Similar to how the Silverton SL spokes run continuously from one side of the rim to the other, and join on the side of the rim not the centre, the Fraser IC design focuses on fibre continuity in its carbon layup pattern. The slight Y shape to the bars is intended to save weight where material is not needed and, more importantly, to create a smooth, rounded transition from stem to bar with a continuous stretch of carbon. This creates a ‘virtual’ stem length, where the reach and sweep are calculated based on where the contact points would be on a traditional stem-bar combo, not the physical length of each Fraser IC stem. Since the target audience is the XC crowd, Syncros have added an integrated Garmin mount to the stem, so you can still get all the data you need to stay at the front of the race. 
The steerer tube clamp also gets an innovative carbon layup design, with a continuous piece of carbon wrapping around the left stem clamp bolts, around the steerer, and around the right stem clamp bolt. Again, the intention is to preserve fibre continuity to create strength while dropping weight.
The end results is a bar-stem combo that drops a claimed 95g off Syncros’ own FL1.0 T-Bar SL & XR1.5 stem combo. Small grams, but big savings in an area of the bike where there’s not much difference between competitors.
For the truly uncompromising and weight conscious rider, or for the Nino Schurter super fan, there will be a limited release of Nino Schurter edition Fraser IC cockpits recreating the speedy Swiss racers bike setup. The Schurter edition Fraser IC features a virtual 90mm stem, -25 degree drop and reversed flat T-bar with 9 degree back sweep for an ultra-agressive body position. Perfect for World Cup starts and, well, World Cup starts. There’s a very limited run of the Schurter edition Fraser IC’s, so if you want to ride, or at least look like Nino, move quick on this one.
