OneUp Components Aluminum Wheelset

The budget alloy wheel segment is a pretty competitive space at the moment. With plenty of wheels to choose from, like Tenent’s Coven or Reserve’s 30/HD, you’d better have your ducks in a row introducing a new wheelset. OneUp Components has a good track record of offering smart solutions to problems. Today they enter the wheel segment, and we spent the past few months finding out how good they are at organizing ducks. 

Highlights

• Intended use: Aggressive trail and enduro riding | eMTB tested and certified
• 6069-T6 aluminum rim with angled bead walls and bead retention tracks
• Front/rear specific rim wall thickness and profile
• 28h front, 32h rear 
• Asymmetric rim with a 3mm offset spoke holes
• 30mm inner width | 27mm depth
• Welded seams
• 29" front wheel | 27.5 or 29" rear wheel
• OneUp Components fully machined 7075 aluminum hubs (44 points, 8.2 degree engagement)
• 15x110 Boost front | 12x148 Boost rear hub spacing | 6-Bolt rotors
• Sapim, double-butted spokes w/ aluminum nipples
• Reserve Fillmore valves
• XD driver included with every wheelset (MS and HG drivers available separately)
• 2-year warranty
• Weight: Wheelset - 1,996g | Front - 937g | Rear (w/ XD driver): 1059g (29”), 1014g (27.5”)
• MSRP: $599 USD (complete wheelset available only)

OneUp came to the party full guns ablazing. They say their new wheelset offering is a no-nonsense approach: quality wheels at a fair price. Industry standard 30mm internal width, 29-inch and MX wheelset options, double-butted J-Bend spokes, front- and rear-specific rim construction, Fillmore valves and 3M rim tape. That’s basically all the boxes checked. Oh, and they’re also one of the most affordable options out there. What’s the catch?

Here is how the new wheels stack up against the competition:

• OneUp Components Aluminum Wheels - $599 w/OneUp hubs | 1,951g claimed MX/ 2030g weighed dual 29 (2 - year warranty)
• DT Swiss EX 1900 - $657 w/ DT Swiss 370 hubs | 2,100g (no lifetime warranty)
• Tenet Coven - $698 w/ i9 1/1 hubs | 2,132g
  Reserve 30|HD Aluminum - $699 w/ DT Swiss 350 DEG hubs | 1,960g
  HUNT Enduro V3 - $749 w/ H_Ratchet XL hubs | 2,096g (no lifetime warranty)
• Crankbrothers Synthesis Enduro 2.0 - $959.98 w/ i9 1/1 hubs | 2,033g
  Roval Traverse Alloy - $949.98 w/ DT Swiss 350 hubs | 1,904g
• DT Swiss E 1700 - $1,100 w/ 350 ratchet hubs | 1,878g (no lifetime warranty)

Initial Impressions

I received a set of 29-inch wheels to use on my Transition Sentinel, a 160/150mm travel, do-it-all bike; the perfect testing vessel for the wheels. Pulling them out of the box, my initial impressions were that of a workhorse wheelset. A matte finish on the rim with a subtle gloss-finish logo at the valve, gloss black machined OneUp hubs, and Fillmore valves. No decals to get scratched up, and all-black. They looked like they wanted to get some work done. 

The asymmetric, slightly more angular shape and height of the rim made them look visually narrower than they are. A quick spin of the rear wheel while holding the freehub announced a distinct and precise pawl engagement. Personally, I am a fan of a bit of noise from the freehub spinning. It gives me a sense of reassurance that everything is working as it should. Also, a good reminder that you’re not pedaling enough (ha!). If this is something you’re not a fan of, a little bit of additional Dumonde™ Tech Pro-X Grease in the pawl area can quiet them down.

This was my first experience with Fillmore valves, and I was blown away by how easy it was to seat tires. What have I been doing, riding the clogged valve-stem struggle bus for 15 years? Honestly, as someone that has spent probably days worth of time at races during the early days of tubeless frantically trying to get a tire seated with a pump, these seem like a modern marvel.

I’ve tested the wheels with a few sets of DH casing Schwalbe tires, and multiple casing-variation Michelin tires (ranging in weight from 1000g to 1450g). In all instances, there was no need for a compressor. The high-quality 3M rim tape provided a welcome sense of reassurance during multiple tire swaps. There’s nothing worse than the compounding failure of rim tape that loses its adhesion before you’re mentally prepared to re-tape a rim.

On The Trail

Testing took place from mid-April to mid-June, during which time I logged about 65 hours of trail time in a number of areas around the Puget Sound region of the PNW. A lot of varied terrain, soil types, and conditions ranging from wet to very dry, with lighter and heavier casing tires used. The wheels have been ridden and raced. It was pretty ideal for experiencing a range of conditions and trails while traveling to different events.

I swapped the freehub body multiple times to accommodate both Shimano and SRAM drivetrains. The tool-free freehub body swap is a breeze: simply pop off the hub end cap, pull the FHB off by hand, and replace it.

After a few months of testing, the most notable thing about the wheels has been that I haven’t had to think about them. Other than removing them to swap freehubs or tires, they simply worked in the background. I believe there’s tremendous beauty in this. And not only do they get the job done, but they do so without penalizing you on weight. 

I can’t say that I noticed them being overly stiff, nor too flexy. I have a pair of Race Face NextR carbon wheels that are a couple hundred grams lighter but quite stiff and ‘woody’ feeling. I also have a set of current-gen Shimano XTR carbon enduro wheels, which are noticeably compliant. I would say the OneUp alloy wheels fall somewhere in the middle from a stiffness perspective. They’re similar in weight to the XTR wheelset at 1950g and a bit heavier than the NextR’s. But they’re about $1,000 cheaper than both. *I realize the NextR’s aren’t a great value comparison as they’re not readily available anymore. But they are a wheelset I’ve ridden for 8 years and am familiar with.

I never felt like the OneUp wheels gave in to mega side-loading, even when intentionally squaring up turns. They always felt nice and supportive without a lot of feedback or harshness. They didn’t have quite as much ‘springiness’ as the XTR wheels, which contributed to the sense of support under heavy loading. However, they don’t feel overly rigid. I feel like they’re right in that Goldilocks zone where they tend to disappear from thought.

Again, this brings up how the wheels were just invisible on trail. I didn’t really think about them when riding, even when riding like a jackass. A number of times when impacting rocks and hard objects resulting in the ‘twang’ of confirmation, I thought for sure there’d be a flat spot in the rim. Upon inspection, the rim held its shape and showed no signs of damage or loss of spoke tension. While riding one of the rockiest and bedded-in trails in town— ‘Double Down’ in Chuckanut—I mistimed a jump and landed on a large rock with lighter casing tires, and flatted the rear. The tire was repaired with three trailside plugs, two on the sidewall right at the rim/tire bead, and one on the tread. Reinflated, seated and easily held air with a packable pump. The rim suffered minor damage. It remained tensioned, true, and carried on with a small dent in the bead lip.

I have read on the forums that some riders felt like the OneUp hubs had more free-wheel drag than others. When I mentioned this to OneUp, they were confident that their hubs offer weather-sealing properties as good as or better than their competitors and, as such, have a longer-than-typical break-in period. I can’t say I noticed excessive drag on the hubs/wheels, but perhaps that’s more noticeable when running lighter tires on a more weight-conscious bike.

Let’s Talk Warranty

If there’s one chink in the armor here, it might be the 2-year warranty. Here’s the skinny from OneUp:

Our 2-year wheel warranty covers the following:

• Hubs
• Visibly cracked rims
• Damaged spoke holes
• Rims that do not hold air
• Flat spots that make it impossible to tension the wheel appropriately
• In other words, if it’s too messed up to ride with confidence, we’ll replace it

The OneUp alloy wheels might not have quite as robust or as long a warranty as its competitors, but they’ve got you covered for a couple of years for reasonable issues. But heck, at $599 a set, they’ve got everyone else beat for the cost of entry, which is worth a legitimate consideration. I also appreciate the ending bullet point, as it indicates they’ve got your back and won’t try to nickel-and-dime ya out of a replacement. Additionally, there’s something to be said about OneUp being the supplier of both the hubs and wheels—a one-stop shop for service and support.

What’s The Bottom Line?

It wasn’t until I started comparing specs that I realized how the OneUp wheels stacked up against other budget-friendly alloy wheels. I have to admit I am impressed with the value. They definitely speak for themselves. What I can offer after logging a lot of hours on them and never tiptoeing around riding them hard is that they didn’t let me down from a liveability standpoint. Here’s the point where you’re supposed to bring up that one thing, you know that makes the appealing price so justifiable? The thing is, there really isn’t one. They’re pretty dang good across the board. Riding and testing the wheels has been a great experience. And in formulating and documenting my thoughts for this review, a good portion of it has written itself. 

Cheap, lightish, strong, and 10/10 bang for your buck.

• Ride Quality: 4
• Durability: 4
• Hub Performance: 4.5
• Weight: 4
• Value: 5
• Overall Score: 4.25

About the Tester

Lars Sternberg aka ‘LarsNBars’ - Age: 48 / Bikes became life in 1988 / Height: 5’ 8” (172.7 cm) / Weight: 165 lb (74.8 kg)

A lifetime of experiences packaged as a mountain biker. Lars learned the fundamentals of hardware thread pitch and differences of metric and imperial tools in the family bike shed at 8 years old. He learned geometry, radius and physics by building and shaping jumps and berms. Growing up at a time when it wasn’t socially acceptable to be both a skateboarder and a biker, he gravitated towards two wheels. Racing was an early and eventual lifetime passion. Bikes provided him a career in the industry. Having lived most of his life full throttle, he now enjoys riding in the middle of the pack, sharing experiences however possible, and finding balance in life.