RESERVE 30 GR ALUMINUM CLINCHER RIM

Design and construction

The aluminum 30 GR is a welded double-wall alloy rim with a 27mm inner width and a tubeless bead, shaped like the carbon version so that a 45 to 50mm tire sits square and stable at the low pressures loose gravel and bikepacking loads want. The section is deep enough to be stiff under a loaded bike and the walls are thick enough to take the rock strikes wide-tire gravel riding produces. External nipples, standard J-bend spokes.

Reserve designs the rim in Santa Cruz, California, and backs it with its standard warranty; the lifetime warranty applies to Reserve's carbon rims.

How it rides

A wheel on a 45 to 50mm tire is the adventure-bike setup that makes rough roads and singletrack feel easy. The wide bed lets you run pressure low without the tire folding in corners, the alloy rim shrugs off rocks, and the whole wheel is lighter than most alloy touring wheels. It is a little heavier than the carbon 30 GR and does not have quite the same damping, which matters much less than the price difference for most riders.

For 35 to 42mm tires and gravel racing, the 25|GR is faster; for wide tires, loads and rough terrain, it is the Reserve rim we recommend. Riders who have dented lighter gravel rims on rocky descents are the ones who ask for it by name.

Specifications

This version

This version is the 30 GR in 29in, drilled 24h, about 460g, 27mm inside, 30mm deep, disc. Where the same rim is sold in another size or brake type, that is a separate listing with its own page.

The disc version of the 30 GR 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 Reserve 30 GR Aluminum Clincher Rim comes in 29in and 24h drilling. It is a disc-brake rim. We build the 30 GR on DT Swiss 350 and 240, Industry Nine 1/1 and Hydra, White Industries CLD, Hope RS4 and Bitex BX 106 hubs, usually with Sapim Race, D-Light or CX-Sprint spokes or DT Competition, and brass nipples.

Tire range on the 30 GR is 42 to 57mm. Pick gravel or bikepacking as your bike type in the configurator and it recommends a spoke count and lacing pattern.

Build it with us

We build this rim to order. Open the Custom Wheel Program with the Reserve 30 Gr Aluminum Clincher Rim already selected and pick the parts around it; it is offered for mountain bike and MTB single-speed 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.

Building it at ProWheelBuilder

Reserve makes the 30 GR; ProWheelBuilder is an independent wheel builder in Georgia, not the manufacturer. Every 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.

The configurator filters to what fits, crosses out what is not made, and prices the build as you go.