 But yeah, $3,000 is a lot of money. Would you pay for them? Ha ha ha ha! Well people asked that last time, would Aaron buy those wheels? Now that's a pretty good question Aaron has just posed and it's kind of changed the direction of this video which will include 16 different speed tests, a mechanics point of view on these two boutique wheels and an overview of the risks or the pros and cons of investing into an emerging or new carbon wheel player. And I'm hoping at the end of this video you can decide for yourself. Whether you would spend $3,000 AUD or $1,900 USD plus postage plus any import duties for a set of Ascent Polaris 69mm carbon rims or 1,900 AUD or that's 1,200 USD plus plus on these KPS custom wheels. Two wheel sets or brands that both came to market mid to late 2021. So they're only just getting started and at the end of this video, if you wanna invest or buy some of these wheels yourself, there's a 10% off code on both of those wheels. Please know full transparency, that is not an affiliate code. I'm not earning any commission off the sales of these wheels. I'm not getting paid for this video by either brand but both brands did provide the wheel sets free of charge. Now one of the biggest things, a new to market wheel needs to bring to the table in a very crowded market is something new and different. And at the end of the day, having your own custom mold, which apparently both of these brands have isn't gonna cut the mustard anymore. We need to go deeper than that for these to be appealing to the end consumer like me and like you. So let's cut to Aaron now to hear about the Polaris wheel. The width of this rim is obviously quite substantial. I was just measuring this. So the 28 is ballooning quite large actually, 30.4mm. This is pretty accurate in its height, just under 28mm, that's correct. But yeah, it is ballooning quite a bit there. And then as with the KPS, you've got a 25 on this underneath. This is kind of normal, basically just on 26.9. Right at the bead there is 23.4. And then you're outside. This is huge. 32mm. 26.7. They're substantially wider. Normally when you go to a bigger rim width like that, the bag or the tire size, larger amount of air volume. So if you had the equivalent tires at the equivalent pressures, you've got obviously more volume of air in that. So it is gonna ride differently. And therefore you can reduce your tire pressures, but have the same rolling resistance. Envy a lot of the companies it, so forth, always towards that size. So what makes this product unique is the fact that it is a beast in every way. They are 69mm depth and have a super wide rim. And quite frankly, I've never seen or felt anything like it. And at 1,635g, they're pretty light for what you get. So how does this immense girth impact rider experience and speed? I'll give you my anecdotal. Experiences shortly and share some speed test data with you. KPS wheels. What makes this wheel set unique in my opinion is the fact that it's pretty much made to order. You can customize this thing as much as you like. For example, you could have a staggered setup, choose rim width, have exposed nipples or hidden and finish off with some custom decals to match your bike, like I have here. For reference, I have a 60mm front and back with 26mm in width designed for 25mm tires, weighing in at 1,575g for the pair. Now, both of these wheel sets did enter the market with a slight problem, which we'll discuss shortly after Aaron shares with us spoke tensions and are both these wheels true? Same sense. So they've settled a little bit. Nothing to write home about. Yeah, right at this point, I would. Once you buy a wheel, a couple of 100Ks under it, I'd send you a bit of a, I suppose anything that's going wrong with settling or whatever else happens within that first couple of 100Ks. So it's worth doing that. Get a good few rides, good few sprints, settle the wheel in and then do a wheelchair. There's no point doing it straightaway out of the box unless if you've got a wheel and you ride it straightaway and it buckles and it's got a big kick in it straightaway, you've got to kind of question how the build was done in the first place. This is minimal. Equal spokes to either side. So we get, obviously equal tensions or towards more of an equal tension. So yeah, they're pretty equal throughout. But then it's a good quality spoke, good nipple, good hub. Yep, so you've got lots of nipple to be able to work with. Okay, so looking at that, you would assume it's easier to service? Yeah, and like we've discussed before, compared to those windspace wheels, these ones, obviously they've got a lot more nipple showing. Let's be honest, for most people when they're riding a wheel like that, they're not going to be going on and going, oh, he's quicker than me because his nipples are shorter. Ha! It's exact, it's almost identical. Is it? Okay, right. So what is the tension on the bottom? 15th drive side, 10th and on. Let's just check the dish. So what's the dish telling us? So when it's clamped within the frame, that it's not offset left or right too far. So we do offset. So if you notice, the rotor needs to go in here. The hub looks like it is offset that side, but it's getting this in the middle or the two ends of the hub. Or some bikes you have to dish differently. 99% of the bikes are all the same. I mean, it's equal. Yeah, I mean, it's perfect. The thing actually to think about, clearance in your frame, because these are in the BMC, right? You obviously plenty, but some frames you might find that you've got clearance issues. This one's got a fair little kick in it, but again, nothing, it looks worse than it really is. It's minimal. Again, it's nothing. They're pretty much the same, same. So both of these wheel sets initially came to market just recently with a carbon spoke that was delaminating in certain instances. I experienced it with the KPS wheels and so did hand beanie. This is despite the carbon spoke manufacturer passing all wheel load testing requirements. And while I never experienced that issue with the Polaris wheels, both the Polaris and the KPS wheels were recalled that had those carbon spokes and they have now both moved to the reliable Sapham CX-ray spoke. But I feel this is where the slight risk comes into play when investing into an emerging or new carbon wheel player. That is external to the fact they're gonna be a little bit harder to resale. It's very difficult until you've sent them out to end consumers that you can really test these wheels and therefore ensure all quality assurance measures are in place. Although there is irony at play when it comes to the Polaris wheels which we'll discuss at the end of the video. Now, the speed test. Please, I'll keep everything the same external to this instance, the rim profile. There is a nine millimeter difference and because of the rim width, I'm running the exact same tire as yes at 90 psi but I have 25 millimeters on the KPS and 28 millimeters on the Polaris. This is to best suit the aerodynamic profiles of the rim. I should also note that it is springtime here meaning it's hard to get a super low wind day but I got very close. Speed test number one is a one and a half kilometer climb average gradient of 3.6% at 350 watts times two runs on each wheel. Interestingly here, the Polaris had a beast of a run on run two although wind conditions while light did pick up a little bit here. Speed test number two, TT like you mean it a 1.8 kilometer false flat decline segment at 400 watts and here the Polaris win the battle. Speed test number three, TT like you mean it in reverse at 300 watts where once again the Polaris had a beast of a run on run one. And speed test number four is a 1.64 kilometer descent average of 5.4% gradient where I continue my 300 watts from the previous segment into a signpost here. We're pretty even external to run one on the KPS where I genuinely felt from after that first run having a slight tailwind push me down the hill kind of reversed up that decline segment to be more of a headwind. Reflecting on these speed tests while it was a low wind day I definitely felt the wind there. It was prevalent and I felt that favored the Polaris. This most definitely has to do with the 69 millimeter rim profile and I feel the width. At times I really did note a sailing effect which gives the Polaris rims that X factor with the KPS runs they were actually really solid if you go back and compare other runs I've done previously and that'll all be in a spreadsheet I'll link to below. So what about the quality of the bearings and the hubs? They've got a Japanese bearing did you say? Yeah. So they feel super smooth, XDR3 hub body. Yeah multiple engagement. Why do you like the DTS with hubs? Just for reliability like they are they're really reliable, they've been around forever. This is the newer generation so this is the new ratchet the EXP. Have their own it's called a star ratchet I'll pull it apart on it you can see it. You have two moving discs if you will that engage over each other. They have changed it now it goes I think it's gone back to a single spring. This system though is fantastic it's a really nice bit of kit. Obviously everyone gets off on the noise of these hubs and the engagements. The cool thing with DTS is that you can buy upgrade kits that's got a 36 tooth engagement. You can buy a 54 tooth engagement kit for them. It's not cheap, probably $200. But what it does it replaces those star pieces inside and basically it gives it more engagements. If you're on and off a lot it makes a big difference. DTSW no tooling required, cap comes off easily. I said it doesn't matter what manufacturer you're getting it from I would do is I would just produce a tiny film like that. Not crazy you don't want it to go all over the disc brakes. It's just gonna put a waterproof film. You rotate your posing way. Similar setup to a normal free hub body in regard to that's inside of the hub. These are the bits that you can upgrade. It's easy little star ratchet. So 200 bucks to upgrade that. Yeah they're 54, they're titanium. I think the other ones are made of titanium I think. Between that one there and that one there you have more engagements and therefore it clicks even better. I mean design wise this is fantastic. It's pretty simple, easy to service at home. This one here you need tools to remove it. These are two 17mm cone spanners but they are DTSW made bearings. So they make their own bearings. If you look at the DTSW bearing design it's actually pretty amazing what they'd like. Even to the point of when you compress the hub the bearings will sit in position. Like there's a lot of design in their bearings. So with this one we take the cap off the left side. So this is how the free hub body works. So how does that compare to the DTSW? These like we discussed before you break a spring you know you rely on all the other ones so this is a three pull engagement. If you do take the hub off and you put it in the wrong spot you don't want these to go wrong because if it folds the leaf that corner over and the spring loses tension it's not working as well. But each time it clicks then it goes around here. So this has heaps of engagements. That's why it sounds so good. This is conventional. Most hubs are done this way. And the bearings in there are Japanese. Yeah the EZ-O's still bearings. They're nice and smooth actually compared to all the other ones you've had. These probably feel the best. Probably feel better but just different. It's a different feeling. Let's quickly talk about the backstory for these brands because this is quite often where the intrigue comes in as consumers as to why we would want to invest into a boutique brand like the Ascent and the KPS. First of all you should note that both rims are manufactured in China but both wheels are built locally so the Ascent are built in Singapore and the KPS are built in Australia. So you could argue that the attention to detail the quality assurance is at a better level than say a mainstream mass produced wheel set that is fully assembled in China. Now both of these owners have a background in engineering and building bikes and I can tell you firsthand that they are both super passionate about cycling and wheels and don't seem to be in it for the money in fact. Josh from KPS is keeping his grandfather's legacy going from Kel Pell Sport. A family sporting goods retailer out of Bendigo Victoria Australia which originated 30 plus years ago. For me external to the fact that just a solid 60 millimeter carbon rim. I just love the look of the KPS wheel. The carbon weave and the custom decal is great. With the Polaris external to that sailing effect you get. I just love how solid and safe they feel particularly up to speed and that's where the irony comes into play considering they started their journey with a questionable spoke and even in a crosswind. Yes, they do get pushed around a bit but it's not that aggressive jolting style crosswind push. It's more of a subtle push which I think is a testament to the way they have designed these rims. So what did Aaron have to say about the Polaris rims keeping in mind that he has never ridden them and a scent have actually offered to send him a pair so he can test them which could potentially change his opinion. And I would not pay that money for this. I would do what most people would do which is I would probably buy a Zip or a DT Swiss. I would because we do so many of them and there's no real issues so to speak. And when you do have a warranty issue the Australian distributors obviously in Australia they do and hopefully sort you out and fix that problem. I still think it's a great product but I don't think it's, yeah. I wouldn't pay for that myself. Yeah, cool. Thanks mate. So I guess my bill's rocking out.