Few components on your bike are as vital to on-trail performance as the wheel. The speed and flying sensation that got us hooked on bikes is all because of these beautifully round circles. They carry our bikes and bodies at speeds we couldn’t achieve without them. And while cheap wheels can still be round, we all know that the harder you ride and push your bike, the more important a good set of wheels become. Aggressive riders know that to be true every time they lean into a corner. Total faith is placed on sticks of unspooled wire unifying precision-machined hubs and thermoplastic molded carbon fiber donuts. Despite their critical role, so long as our wheels are spinning in circles, we actually don’t think about them all that much. At least, maybe not as much as we should.

The crew at Bontrager don’t necessarily view that as a bad thing, because if you’re not thinking about your wheels, that means they’re working. These self-proclaimed cyclists with a design problem are not only tasked with outfitting Trek’s massive bike lineup with industry-leading wheelsets, but are motivated to build one of the best wheels riders of any bike can enjoy.

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