The Radavist

We covered Forge + Bond’s house-brand, U.S.-made, recyclable “Fusion-Fiber” carbon wheels when the brand launched back in April. Today marks the first update to their lineup; the new cross-country 25 XC, and the lightweight all-mountain 30 AM, which Travis Engel will be putting through its long-term paces on his personal and test bikes over the coming year. But there are also new builds, and new price points. The exact details of today’s news serve as a bit of a status report on this disruptive new tech, and how today’s volatile market is reacting to it.

By now, you know that the carbon fiber used in rims from Revel, Evil, Chris King, and most recently FORGE+BOND is recyclable. And maybe you know that the first product being made from that recycled material is tire levers. What you probably don’t know is that a pair of those tire levers cost $50. When you consider they’re made in a U.S. factory built to churn out $2,500 wheelsets, that’s almost reasonable. But Travis Engel wanted to see how they stacked up against his go-to levers from Pedro’s, a pair of which only cost $5.50.

Today, yet another brand is releasing thermoplastic carbon rims manufactured in Utah by CSS Composites. But unlike Revel or Chris King or Evil who launched house-branded CSS-made rims in 2020 and 2021, respectively, FORGE+BOND is actually a new division of CSS itself. This product launch represents the next step in the development of CSS’ fully recyclable FusionFiber™ material and manufacturing process. Travis Engel spent some time with the founders riding bikes and taking notes, and he has things to say.