Giant SLR 0 Disc
In June 2015, I rode the just-released Giant slr 0 wheelset. The drive side of the rear wheel featured a unique spoke arrangement the company called dynamic balanced lacing (dbl). As the wheel spins, some of the spokes lead from their threads (that is, where they’re attached at the rim) and some lead from their heads (where they are attached at the hub flange). Giant calls the spokes that go threadfirst pushing spokes. The ones that go head-first are pulling spokes. With the dbl setup, the heads of the pulling spokes sit slightly farther away from the axle than the pushing spokes. This arrangement gives the pulling spokes better leverage for flinging the rim forward.
Another difference between the pushing and pulling spokes is the tension they are under when the wheel isn’t moving. It’s not balanced. When the wheel is spinning, however, the forces at play then put the spoken tension into equilibrium.
The set I tried i n 2015 were rim-brake wheels. For 2018, Giant has released an slr 0 set for disc brakes with expanded dbl. “On the front wheel, we want to make sure it has the most control under braking. So, with disc brakes, you want the pushing spokes to have the most load. Seventy per cent of the braking power happens at the front wheel,” says Hugo Lanthier, gear business supervisor at Giant Bicycles Canada. On the first rim-brake slr 0 set, the dbl pattern was only on the drive side of the rear wheel. With the new disc set, its on both sides of the rear wheel and on the disc-brake side of the front. (The non-disc side of the front wheel has a radial pattern.)
I put the slr 0 Disc wheels on an endurance bike. The rig instantly seemed more lively. The wheels also provided a nicer, less-harsh ride quality to the bike compared with the wheels that came spec’d on the machine. The slr 0 Disc rim dimensions are 17 mm hook to hook, 21 mm internally (where the tape sits in the rim) and 23 mm externally. While the wheels do have some compliance, they still have the lateral stiffness that keeps them tracking well in the corners. It’s all quite the balancing act. ($ 2,450; giant-bicycles.com)—mp
“I put the SLR 0 Disc wheels on an endurance bike. The rig instantly seemed more lively.”