TESTED: Race Face Era Carbon Wheels

Remember 5-10 years ago when carbon wheels were generally expensive, stiff, and still not that durable? Dark times. Luckily, we now have lifetime warranties to alleviate the (still) high price tags, and brands have managed to integrate the words compliance and bombproof into the layout of their wheels. Example A: Race Face's new Era wheels, designed to blend stiffness, compliance and durability into a perfectly concocted, lightweight trail or enduro wheelset. After five months of smashing, a few road trips, and one unfortunate rock strike, we're here to report our findings.

Highlights 

• Intended use: trail // all mountain
• Lifetime warranty, crashes included
• 27.5 and 29.5-inch (front/rear sold individually)
• 30mm internal width
• 28 straight pull spokes (5 extra included per wheel)
• Front spacing: 15x110 Boost
• Rear spacing: 12x148 Boost // 12x157 Super Boost
• XD or Microspline freehub (HG sold separately)
• 6 bolt RaceFace Vault hubs
• Verified weight: 1,723 (29-inch, Microspline)
• MSRP: $1,600 USD (Front - $775 / Rear - $825)

Product Overview

The Era wheels are built for ~130-160mm bikes and aim to blend the compliant feel of aluminum with the snappy, lightweight, and durable traits of carbon. Front and rear-specific asymmetrical rim profiles help check all of those boxes. 

The front rim is shallower and lighter so that it can flex more for better ground feel, while the rear rim is deeper to withstand blunt impacts and mitigate lateral flex. Both feature a 30mm internal width and an offset nipple bed. 

Based on Race Face's own testing, the Era front wheel is one of the most laterally compliant carbon wheels on the market. The complete wheelset also strikes the best balance of weight-to-durability-to-compliance. Compliance is to wheel manufacturers what modulation is to brake manufacturers. But words are just words. What matters is that your carbon wheels are comfortable on trail while simultaneously being capable of taking some impacts on the chin. 

At $1,600 for a complete wheelset, the Era wheels are priced similarly, or a touch below comparable, popular wheels. You can buy front or rear rims individually in 27.5 or 29-inch, ideal for mixed-wheeled setups. The wheels are covered by a lifetime warranty, which includes just-riding-along incidents, like cracking the rim. Such coverage is almost expected nowadays with carbon wheels, but it's still appreciated. 

Comparable Wheels

• Race Face Era: $1,600 // 1,723g
• Crankbrothers Synthesis Enduro i9 1/1: $1,998 // 2,014g
• Reserve 30|HD Carbon i9 1/1: $1,799 // 1,800g
• We Are One Triad: $1,630 // 1,900g
• DT Swiss XMC 1501: $1,979 // 1,675g
• Specialized Traverse HD 350: $1,500 // 1,801g
• Noble TR35: $1,300 // 1,680g
• Enve AM30: $1,400 // 1,852g

There are no proprietary spokes or nipples found on the Era's, which we appreciate. Complete wheels are only offered with Race Face's flagship Vault hubs. The rear hub uniquely places the pawls in the hub shell, while the drive ring is attached to the freehub body. Six pawls give the hub 3-degrees of engagement, which is on the faster, buzzier side for hubs. It also places overside bearings further outboard to improve torsional stiffness, along with some durable seals that work well to keep the elements out.  

On The Trail

We tested the wheels with a Maxxis High Roller up front and a DHR II in the rear, both with a downhill casing. Like most modern wheelsets, you can seat tires on the Eras with just a floor pump. However, mounting the tires was more difficult than other wheels we've tested. Once installed, the tires were snug, instilling confidence that it would be tough to blow them off the rim on the trail. 

We rode the Era's primarily in Southern California, plus a week in Whistler during Crankworx. Summer conditions in SoCal consisted of loose over hardpack mixed with tons of square edge hits. Whistler was in a similar state during July but also provided some softer soil and much deeper compressions. Toward the end of our testing period, we also spent a weekend in Park City, Utah. 

The Era's are designed for trail to enduro riding, and while that's a broad use case, they offered a lightweight, responsive feel that was stiff without being harsh. They were direct, and any rider input produced a quick direction change. At the same time, they tracked the ground nicely and never jostled our bike around. With that said, they were not the most compliant carbon trail wheel we've ridden, but they're definitely on the podium. In SoCal where the trails are always chattery, the Era's responsiveness did translate to some feedback, but it wasn't to the point that it minimizes overall ride quality. Still, if you're seeking the most forgiving wheels, these might leave you seeking additional comfort. We enjoyed the Era's support through corners, g-outs, and big hits and didn't mind the extra ground feedback from time to time. It's what made the Era's stout enough to handle bike park terrain but enjoyable on regular trail rides. The wheels are noticeably light and have a quick-moving personality that's efficient on climbs. The rear hub has also remained smooth-rolling and issue-free. The pawls are still clean, and all bearings are spinning smoothly.

Long Term Durability

After a week in the Whistler Bike Park and a couple of months bashing around SoCal, it's fair to say we were impressed by the Era's ability to handle some abuse. They occasionally made some awful twang noises, but we never had to tighten spokes or had any other issues. That was until a trip to Park City, Utah, put an end to our durability gloating. 

The incident happened on fast straight away littered with river rocks. One moment, we were skating over rocks; the next, we heard a loud pop, then immediately lost all air in our front tire. Thankfully, the tire stayed on the wheel, or the situation would have been a lot worse. This rim failure occurred with a Maxxis DH casing tire, and 23 psi. After nearly five months of worry-free testing, the failure was definitely a surprise. Especially considering the wheels survived way worse direct impacts up until the incident. 

Luckily, the Era wheels have a lifetime warranty, including on-trail incidents. The warranty process is streamlined—original owners submit a claim on Race Face's website with photos of the product failure, and once approved, Race Face will send a replacement asap. If you bought a complete wheel, they will likely send a complete new wheel but ask that you destroy the broken one. If you built custom wheels, expect only a replacement rim. There is no limit to the number of rims you can break and warranty, but Race Face will likely have a conversation with riders who experience repeat issues to understand why they keep happening. 

It was unfortunate to crack a wheel towards the end of testing and in a section that wasn't super gnarly. On one hand, it happens, and that's why we value lifetime warranties so much. On the other hand, it does change our impressions of the Era's durability. Knowing how much they went through earlier in summer makes us confident that they can handle some disturbing hits, but we'd be lying if we weren't more cautious riding the wheels moving forward. But time heals all, right?

What's The Bottom Line?

The Era's are for trail or enduro riders looking for a light, responsive carbon wheelset. They're one of the more compliant and well-tracking wheels we've ridden, but not to a degree that makes them unsupportive or unpredictable. Even though we did break a wheel, the months of abuse they endured up to that point still place them in the upper percentile when it comes to durability. 

For more information, please visit (www.raceface.com) for more details. 

Mikey Egan - Age: 20 // Years Riding MTB: 5 // Height: 5'9' (1.75m) // Weight: 170-pounds (72.6kg)

Obsessed with anything with wheels, Mikey has been born and raised in SoCal. You can usually find him at the beach or on top of a mountain. As a young kid, he rode BMX bikes as much as he could. Now a bigger kid, he has now grown fond of suffering on his road bike and getting sketchy with friends on his trail bike. He loves to ask questions and tinker with bike setup until it's perfect.