Industry Nine Hydra Backcountry 360 27.5in Super Boost 157 Wheelset

Wider, stiffer, stronger, and faster, the Industry Nine Hydra Backcountry 360 27. 5in Super Boost 157 Wheelset is ready to take on the trail with an extra-plush feel, and total control when things get a little wild. They combine I9's newest, quickest engaging hub, the Hydra, with an extra-wide platform that makes for stiffer bracing angles to get the most out of every pedal stroke, capitalizing on your power for tracking that's hard to beat, combined with near instant engagement of the hub that feels almost telepathic. Hydra hubs feature technology from the coveted Torch freehub, but taken to the next level with 0. 52-degree engagement that sends your power to the trail the second you start mashing away on your pedals. The Hydra hubs build on Industry Nine's previous drive system, which is pretty easy to spot if you take a peek at the internals. You'll spot a similar pawl layout that we've seen before in the Torch, and the same pristine CNC machining coming straight from Asheville, North Carolina. Like the old Torch hub, the Hydra features a 6 pawl design, but the drive ring amps things up to a 115-tooth drive ring, as opposed to the 60-tooth used in the Torch, crating a whopping 690 points of engagement, blowing the 120 points of engagement of the Torch out of the water. These 690 points of contact translate directly to the snappiest hubs we've ever seen, with only 0. 52-degrees of engagement, propelling you forward just about the instant you put any power down. Furthermore, the engineers opted to keep things simple for those of us who tinker on our bikes at home, making the hub fully serviceable without any proprietary tools. On this particular model, the Hydra hub is combined with a 157-millimeter platform that we used to see in DH bikes, now called Super Boost, with a wider axle that moves flanges outwards to maximize stiffness by widening the bracing angle of spokes. This makes for a wheel that doesn't deflect, and instead charges over terrain with a certai...