Review: Newmen Evolution A.30 Wheels
German company Newmen are only a couple of years old, but Michael Grätz, the man behind the company, knows a thing or two about designing bike components. Michi previously started Liteville and Syntace, who have built an enviable reputation for precisely engineered bikes and reliable componentry. We took a 'First Look' at the Newmen wheels last year, and I have been battering a couple of pairs ever since.
These Newmen Evolution A.30 wheels have a reasonable 1760g weight. That's not uber light for a 29" 'trail' wheelset, but testing proved they were much more capable than the 'trail' category would suggest, they turned out to be more than strong enough for enduro and even downhill.
These Newmen Evolution A.30 wheels have a reasonable 1760g weight. That's not uber light for a 29" 'trail' wheelset, but testing proved they were much more capable than the 'trail' category would suggest, they turned out to be more than strong enough for enduro and even downhill.
Evolution A.30 Wheel Details
• 27.5" or 29" (tested)
• Aluminum rims, 30mm internal width
• Flared, hookless rim profile
• Concave spoke washers
• Equal spoke length throughout
• 28 Sapim D-Light straight pull spokes
• Newmen hubs, 36t star ratchet
• Weight: 1760g (29", SRAM XD freehub, rim tape and valves, actual)
• MSRP: €698
• newmen-components.de
• 27.5" or 29" (tested)
• Aluminum rims, 30mm internal width
• Flared, hookless rim profile
• Concave spoke washers
• Equal spoke length throughout
• 28 Sapim D-Light straight pull spokes
• Newmen hubs, 36t star ratchet
• Weight: 1760g (29", SRAM XD freehub, rim tape and valves, actual)
• MSRP: €698
• newmen-components.de
The A.30 wheelset retails for €698 for the pair, are available in 27.5" or 29" sizes, with Boost or non-Boost hub spacing. Individual wheels and component parts can be bought separately.
Details
To avoid any confusion with the images, I had four sets of wheels in total on test. The original wheels started their testing life in May 2018. I used the A.30 and the E.G.30 wheelsets that are essentially the same. The former uses double butted spokes and a smaller ratchet freehub system. The latter is the eMTB version that uses thicker straight gauge spokes, a bigger ratchet system, and the rims are slightly heavier with around 50g more material. These original wheels used Newmen's 'Tolerance Adjustment' caps which was a hub preload system that was designed to prevent to much pressure being forced into the bearings by various axle systems – Newmen say the forces from different frames, axles, and humans can vary from 3000N to over 10000N of force on the hubs. I had no issue with this system, aside from a little additional setup time. But, Newmen found that the majority of their consumers didn't fully understand the system, and set the TA incorrectly which lead to premature wearing of the bearing, loose-feeling wheels, and subsequent warranty cases.
The Tolerance Adjustment caps were a great idea that I had no problems with. But that system has now been scrapped for something more traditional.
So, the TA was scrapped at the end of last year and Newmen have returned to a standard system. So another pair of each wheelset later and I continued the testing with the new version of the hubs. The rims are laced to a set of Newmen's own straight pull hubs with 28 Sapim D-Light spokes, all of which are the same length, so you don't need a vast array of different length spokes as spares. The hubs use a 36t star ratchet system, similar to DT Swiss, for 10° between engagement points. The difference between DT's patented system and the Newmen version is that the DT ratchets are sprung from both sides, while the Newmen hub has one fixed and one sprung side.
Newmen's own hubs roll fast and use their 36t star ratchet system. The larger ratchet system is specific to the eMTB for a stronger connection under torque.
Newmen use aluminum rims with a 30mm internal width, hookless profile. They also use patented concave nipple washers inside the rim to better distribute spoke tension and prevent the rim from cracking near the spoke holes, meaning some weight can be trimmed from this zone. The piéce de la resistance with the Newmen wheels is the flared rim sidewalls, which are barely noticeable to the untrained eye. Instead of vertical sidewalls they are slightly flared outwards, which is said to provide a substantial increase in impact resistance. Newmen found that dropping weights on to a rim vertically in the lab didn't correspond to wheels that were damaged testing on the trail. They deemed that most impacts that damage a rim come in at an angle, so flaring the rim out towards that angle improved the impact resistance where classic rims may just fold over.
The hookless sidewalls are flared out slightly, which is barely noticeable to the untrained eye.
Performance
The pickup of the hubs is solid every time, and although 10º between engagement points isn't radically quick, they were fine on the trail. Personally, on the trail the amount of degrees of engagement in the freehub is something that never crosses my mind – maybe if I was a trials riders or rode very slow technical trails all the time I would think differently. On the trail, the wheelset seemed to be compliant (maybe helped by the 28-spoke count) and never made any scary twanging noises that can come from carbon or bigger alloy rims.
I am also a fan of the straight pull spokes; even though I didn't have any issues it is nice to know that you could replace a spoke on the trail if needs be without removing the wheel, cassette, or disc rotor. This combined with the fact that all the spokes are the same length means that carrying a couple of spares in a bag could get you out of trouble without any 'hacks and bodges of the week' tactics. The downside of straight pull spokes is that they can rotate when trying to true the wheel, but if your wheels stay tensioned as well as these did, it is a non-issue.
I had zero issues with either of the hub designs, and no issues with spokes coming loose and barely even a buckle to mention. Despite months of abuse, an EWS race, and being lent to the 'World's Fastest Albanian,' Genc Marku, who acts as a useful test rider/demolition pilot with 100kg of mass and no interest in slowing down anywhere. The results were surprising as neither of us could ding the rims enough to cause any damage or lose the tubeless seal. I'm sure we have all seen rims with the sidewalls dinged, but the flared rim wall theory seemed to work perfectly – the best damage we could do caused a long flat spot in the rim, or slightly more outward flare that was not really noticeable, showing the design really dissipates energy across the rim rather than folding over in a concentrated area.
Considering the amount of time spent on theses wheels, and the time spent on many others that have failed over the last few years on the same trails, the Newmen rims seem to be some of the strongest and most reliable on the market.
Pinkbike's Take
 | The Newmen Evolution A.30 is a sensibly priced wheelset, with great attention to detail, no hype, and solid performance. The rims are incredible strong and reliable, and fared better than all of the other options that I've tested. |
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How many Enves are in one Scaramucci?
1 Newman = 0.25 Couric's
5 Couric's = 1 Bono
5 Bono's = 1 Enve
"better than all of the other options that I've tested"
Did you compare to location of the drilled spoke holes in the rim? Hehehe
Welding old fashioned? I was lacing a wheel for my daughter the other day and I was thinking. Why not have aluminium spokes, heat them, then tack weld them to rim and hub. As the spokes cool down, they try to contract hence introduce the preload.
I have to know, what is about carbon wheels/parts that people are willing to pay 2/3x more for? I can understand it for a factory racing team who are looking for every fraction of speed and efficiency. It just seems the 'gains' are so minimal it seems a little pointless for most.
I'm not having a dig, I'm just wondering why.
light bicycle are 150 euro per rim, hope pro4 hubs are another 220, sapim race spokes and alu nipples are another 60 euros.
factor in 10 euro per wheel build, it's pretty much the same price as a "brand wheelset" but you get no-bullshit hubs which been there forever and have all the parts available everywhere, standard spokes you can replace in every shithole of a globe.
When I moved up to 29er wheels I noticed alot of rear wheel flex when flowing and jumping and railing hard. For me it's just a way to build a stronger & stiffer rear wheel without a weight penalty, keeping in mind that 29 rims and tires are already heavier than their smaller counterparts. I wasn't willing to build up a heavy AF rear wheel to get the strength/stiffness I wanted. My current carbon set is not lightweight, it's average weight. And with factory direct rims from China the cost of a rim is "only" 2x that of a comparable aluminum rim.
If I were on 27.5 I'd probably stick to alu.
Also, these wheels look great!
Because not everyone is smashing through rock gardens at speed.
Because one can have a decent set for a similar price as these 'sensibly priced' alu wheels.
Because a lot of the other kids are doing it.
Because Waki scorns them.
Because they sound 'trick.'
Because they sell.
Because some people have the opposite problem of wanting to save money.
Because they're one of the latest things.
Because 'versus'--trumped up conflict is popular.
Because they have more room for decals.
Because composites are more cheaply tunable; a layup alteration is cheaper than a new extrusion.
Personally i prefer the (aftermarket) 32 spoke version of the same rims for increased stiffness. Laced to hubs of my choice. While the Newmen hubs are good, they are not as extraordinary as the rims. You can get similar performance at comparable prices from a number of other hub makers.
I wouldn't mind running these but my next bike may or may not have that weird 157 spacing which rules out the Newmen hubs (last I checked at least)
Then the satisfaction you get from getting them true, and having them stay true for a couple of years including multiple races and a 120km/h excursion off the bike rack and down the freeway.
Just a great feeling!
I didn't try the last part you described, though
The saddle and handlebar stem did not fare so well.
Vibrocore bar was still totally straight too incredibly. I still binned it, but I think it could have been fine!
They strike me as the type of company that isn't out to reinvent the wheel (yeah, I know, but I had to..)
The pedant in me is annoyed that Scots mud is hard to clean off them as they have a blasted finish.
I ride rocky terrain with some chunks of roots. I am the avatar rider with 74kg and a 180mm travel bike.
I was super happy with the weight, my 27,5" wheel's had 1580g and that is with tape.
Side note I did smack them with 2,5 bar (36 psi) on the rear an a bit boulder I could not see with high-speed.
Spoke tension is no issue if you have tools and I ask you what do you do if you just smashed a rim what you replaced and it cant hold your tire anymore when your done? Do you just say f*ckit and replace it again?
I did use the procore just to hold it. If I rip some Spokes out I will replace the rim/spokes and get rid of the procore, its just to heavy.
Denting was the wrong word because it was a dent but not a buckle normal wheelsets do if they get hit hard enough.
Guess what? It made me want them even more!
In which case, I would probably go for those. The Don said on GMBN if he was spending his own money on wheels, he would get ex1501s
hence why everyone is making ratchet hubs now it fair game. not that it wasnt spectacularly difficult to sidestep the patent anyway.
you know what patents are there for (uk anyway) to reduce how much tax you pay, look up patent box and you will realise why all the "pointless" patents in the bike industry exist.
Neil
Just to be clear - you can't use ANY DT ratchets in these? I need replacements now so just wondering how to get my hands on some quick.
Thanks.
They have changed the rachet to pawls for their next Hub.
DT star ratchet and NEWMEN need different springs to begin with. One has only one and the other needed two. Forget witch one used them but they are different. You could not get a star with more teeth like the DT also.
Though I am not a wheel destroyer, dinging a few spokes on other wheelsets is all I did over the last years.
Nevertheless I‘d like to see a better engagement/more ratchets on the hubs.
With sapim CX-ray spokes 1680g. Tubeless without any problem with normal floor pump (maxxiss and schwalbe)