Nox Composites Citico Rim
The Nox Composites Citico is the gravel and cyclocross rim from Knoxville, Tennessee: 23mm inside, with a bead hook rather than a hookless wall, about 380 grams in 700c and rated to 80 psi. The maker calls it the adventure rim for gravel grinders and cyclocross racers, and the hooked bead is the reason we suggest it to riders who want to run a wider range of tires and pressures than a hookless rim allows. It carries the lifetime warranty.
This page covers the Nox Composites Citico Rim in 29in. The Citico is not sold bare. You choose the hub and the rest of the build in the configurator, and it ships from our shop in Georgia laced, tensioned and trued by hand.
Design and construction
The Citico is a shallow carbon clincher with a 23mm inner width that suits 32 to 45mm tires, a hooked bead that holds a tire at up to 80 psi and works with tubes, tubeless-ready tires and ordinary clinchers alike, and a layup tuned for the strength-to-weight a gravel rim needs: reinforced at the bead and spoke bed, shallow enough to give a little on washboard. External nipples, standard J-bend spokes, disc only.
The Citico is designed in Knoxville and backs it with a lifetime warranty on the rim.
The company behind these rims started as a wheel builder that could not find carbon rims it trusted, and designed its own. That history shows in the details a builder cares about: consistent ERDs from rim to rim, spoke holes drilled to suit the wheel's dish, external nipples so a wheel can be trued anywhere, and a warranty that covers riding damage for life. It is why so many independent builders reach for them.
How it rides
A Citico wheel is light, fast and forgiving on rough gravel. The shallow section takes the sting out of washboard, the 23mm bed keeps a 40mm tire stable at low pressure, and the hooked bead means you can run a 32mm road tire at 70 psi on the same wheel for a fast day on tarmac. It accelerates like a road wheel and it is a favorite for gravel racing and cyclocross for that reason.
For tubular cyclocross racing there is the Zolder; for road the Falkor. For gravel, adventure and cyclocross clinchers, the Citico is the rim we recommend.
Specifications
| Wheel size | 29in |
|---|---|
| ERD | 592 (29in) |
| Inner width | 23 mm |
| Depth | 25 mm |
| Drillings | 24h, 28h, 32h |
| Weight | 380g (700c/29in) |
| Material | Carbon Fiber |
| Tire type | clincher tubeless compatible |
| Brake | Disc |
| Spoke bed | Offset 2.6 mm |
| Nipples | External |
| Finishes | black |
This listing
This is the 29in listing of the Citico, 24h, 28h, 32h, about 380g, 23mm inside, 25mm deep, disc. Pick the size that matches your frame; the profile and construction are the same across the range.
The disc version of the Citico has no brake track, so the sidewall is a plain extrusion that saves a little weight and never wears; it is the one to choose for any disc-brake frame. The rim-brake version, listed separately, has a machined sidewall.
Sizes, fit and compatibility
The Nox Composites Citico Rim comes in 29in and 24h, 28h, 32h drilling. It is a disc-brake rim. We build the Citico on Industry Nine SOLiX and 1/1, DT Swiss 350, 240 and 180, White Industries CLD, Hope RS4, Chris King R45 and Bitex BX 106 hubs, usually with Sapim CX-Ray, Laser or D-Light spokes or DT Aerolite and Competition, and brass nipples.
Tire range on the Citico is 32 to 45mm. Give the configurator your bike type and weight; it picks a sensible spoke count and lacing pattern, which you can override.
Build it with us
We build this rim to order. Open the Custom Wheel Program with the Nox Composites Citico Rim already selected and pick the parts around it; it is offered for gravel and road disc, track and road single-speed, mountain bike, MTB single-speed and fat bike builds, and the configurator will not let you assemble a combination we would not build.
Spoke head is decided by the hub, not the rim: this rim builds equally well with J-bend or straight-pull spokes, and the configurator only offers the spokes that match the hub you pick.
What Nox Composites says about testing
Nox Composites is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nox states that its products are designed and tested there, that the rims are produced by a partner manufacturer in Asia using Nox's molds and layup schedule, and that the carbon is Toray fiber from Japan; wheels are handbuilt in Tennessee. Nox states that "manufacturing and quality control is held to extremely high standards including regular destructive and nondestructive testing." The one published figure is spoke pull-through strength, which Nox states is "somewhere north of 880 Lbf." Nox publishes no impact-joule or fatigue-cycle figures and cites no ISO or UCI protocol.
Construction combines 3K woven fabric at the spoke holes with unidirectional plies and a thickened RockGuard bead. The hookless RockGuard HL bead is rated to a maximum of 45 psi; Nox's rim table lists 45 psi for the AM, Farlow, Teocalli and Skyline rims and 60 psi for the hooked XCR-29. The AM-275 sheet lists a 180 kgf maximum spoke tension with 120 kgf recommended. Nox states the XCR rims have a recommended rider weight limit of 240 lb and the AM rims have no recommended limit.
From Nox Composites
Certifications
- Lifetime warranty (original owner) — Defects in materials or workmanship for as long as the original owner owns them; 2-year rock/road strike replacement; lifetime crash replacement (source)
- Designed and tested in USA — Nox states products are designed and tested in Knoxville, TN; rims produced in Asia with Toray carbon; wheels handbuilt in Tennessee (source)
Sources on Nox Composites's site:
- Lifetime Warranty | Nox Composites
- Technology Behind Nox Composites Rims
- FAQ | Nox Composites
- Instructions for Wheels and Rims (PDF)
- AM-275 Rim Instruction Sheet (PDF)
Everything in this section is published by Nox Composites. ProWheelBuilder is the wheel builder, not the tester, and the rim reaches us as the maker ships it.
Building it at ProWheelBuilder
The maker designs the Citico in Knoxville; ProWheelBuilder is an independent wheel builder in Georgia, not the manufacturer, and the lifetime warranty rides with the rim. Every Citico wheel we build gets spokes cut from the rim's measured ERD, is tensioned in stages with a gauge, stress-relieved and trued before it ships. Tubeless tape and a valve are fitted on request.
In the configurator you will only see parts that fit this drilling; combinations that are not made are struck through, and the price updates as you pick.
Warranty
Manufacturer's warranty. Nox Composites warrants this product against defects in materials and workmanship. The duration, conditions and claim process are set by Nox Composites and can change without notice, so ask us and we will confirm the current terms before you buy.
ProWheelBuilder. Our one-year wheel warranty applies to any wheel we build around this part, alongside whatever the manufacturer offers. Inside that year, broken spokes are replaced no matter how they broke, and the wheel labor is ours - truing, re-tensioning or a full rebuild. A rim or hub failure that the maker covers, we claim for you and see through; one the maker declines, we answer with an eligible replacement at 25% off current retail. Shipping both ways is yours, and components you supply yourself fall outside this cover.
Full terms are on our Policies & Warranty page.
Citico Rim questions
What tire width suits this rim?
23mm inside is the all-road and gravel width. Think 32 to 45mm tires: wide enough to support a gravel casing properly so it holds its shape at low pressure, narrow enough that a 30mm road tire still sits right if you swap wheels between bikes.
Is the Citico hookless?
No. It has a bead hook, which is why it is rated to 80 psi and works with any clincher tire, tubed or tubeless.
What tires fit the Citico?
32 to 45mm. A 38 to 42mm gravel tire or a 33mm cross tire is the usual pairing.
Is the Citico tubeless?
Yes. It is tubeless-ready with a hooked bead; we tape and fit a valve on request.
Who is Nox Composites?
A small rim company in Knoxville, Tennessee that designs carbon rims for custom wheel builders, with a lifetime warranty on its rims.
Is it tubeless-ready?
Yes. Nox Composites lists the Citico Rim as clincher tubeless compatible; we tape and fit a valve when you choose the tubeless option.
Which spoke count should I choose?
It depends on your weight, terrain and the hub, not the rim alone. The configurator recommends a count from your bike type and rider weight, within the drillings this rim is made in.
Not sure? Text or leave a voicemail on 470-253-0929 or email info@prowheelbuilder.com — you will be talking to the people who build the wheels.
