Blackcat wheels: Granfondo wheelset for watts saving riders

Granfondo, the second "product" wheelset from BlackCat after the "Climber" series.

My main profile is custom wheel building, however, thinking about the specific needs of the riders I came up with Granfondo set.

What's special with this setup? As always, read further to find out.

Granfondo is dedicated to the riders who are looking for every possible Watts savings opportunities. Usually, this is the case during ultra-marathons, where the distance is long, often more than 150km, on hilly terrain. In such races, wheels play a very important role and here, Granfondo provides tangible benefits.

The whole concept of this wheelset relies on hubs, which have the lowest freehub drag across all traditional pawl hubs.

Velotechnic DS-1 hubs have a traditional pawl system, however, every pawl has a magnet that attracts itself to the ratchet ring. That allows to use of weaker spring and as a result, removes most of the friction which is the main reason for freehub drag.

The result? Those hubs are rolling forever:

No friction means also the quiet hub. Silent hub allows you to swing during the evenings and nights through the hills and empty roads without tiering your head. That's quite important when you make a 24-hour race.

Velotechnic hubs have also a very right geometry that makes wheels super stiff. In addition, oversized axle, high-static bearings, and bearings preload adjustment makes them really solid and longlasting product.

Hubs themselves wouldn't create Granfondo wheels therefore for this series I used the best carbon rims I have in my offer. The braking surface is reinforced carbon with no painting. Long-lasting and well braking in rain.