WTB Laserdisc Trail wheelset review from Spoke issue 30
I must have rebuilt my old wheels over twenty times. Thats not bad going, considering I bought them from a pro downhiller around seven years ago when I still had V-brakes. So when I went for my first ride on my new WTB Laserdisc Trail wheels with Hope Pro II hubs well, lets just say I had forgotten what a round wheel actually felt like. Five months of winter riding have passed since that inaugural trip, and up until about a week ago they spun like brand new. Until my extra-wide bars dont start caught a tree and sent me on what I thought would be a wheel-tacoing slam.
Laserdiscs arent the lightest wheels around but theyre packed with features. Like the distinctive I-Beam, for example, added support designed to counter spoke loads and enhance torsional stiffness. Another feature, which suffers from a seriously dire choice of name, is the Unbendium Bulge. This is an extra strip of aluminium where the old V-brake surface would have been. Hell, I didnt even know it was there until I watched some Interbike coverage.
So the deal is this: I weigh over 100 kg, I dont look after my bikes very well and I ride two or three times a week off-road. To go hard for five months without having to straighten a wheel is amazing, but to be able to ride my bike home after finally buckling one is pretty mind-blowing. And these are just the all-mountain wheels. The freeride and downhill sets must be totally bombproof. Caleb Smith
