Tom Pidcock competed for the Men's Olympic Cross Country MTB title yesterday, winning after a stunning performance from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in the women's race the previous day.
Outside of international competition, both Pidcock and Ferrand Prévot raced for the Ineos Grenadiers professional team and both rode Pinarello mountain bikes, although their equipment choices were slightly different: Prévot opted for a hardtail machine with only a front suspension fork, while Pidcock went for a full suspension model.
However, both riders were using the exact same set of wheels, with the unusual and eye-catching white spokes that caught our eye.
The wheels are custom built and feature PolyLight spokes from Minnesota brand Berd, P1 Race Tech carbon fiber rims and NonPlus hubs.
With a not-so-bad track record for consecutive Olympic mountain bike victories, we thought we'd take a closer look at the technology, specs and costs behind these white spokes and wheels.
The lightest spokes in the world
The spokes on the wheelset are made by Berd and are manufactured from Dyneema, a type of polyethylene that is said to have a much higher strength-to-weight ratio than steel, while being much lighter than traditional spokes. Berd PolyLight spokes have been on the market for a while, but are not used in WorldTour road races. With a weight of less than 3 grams per spoke, you'll often see them on ultra-lightweight hill climbing bike wheelsets.
Dyneema Berd “string” spokes have a threaded connection on one end that connects with a spoke nipple of the same gauge as a regular metal spoke so the spoke can be tensioned and assembled into the wheel. Until then, the spoke is not stiff and looks more like a shoe lace or string. The other end of the spoke uses an eyelet that threads into a J-bend or straight pull hub flange.
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The sporks themselves are sold on Berd's website for an RRP of £7/$8 each – more expensive than your average good quality spork, which usually retails for £1-3.
We counted Pidcock and Ferrand Prevot's wheels, which had a total of 28 spokes front and rear, meaning that each rider's wheelset came to a total of £392 / $448 in spokes alone.
We suspect that both riders tested different wheels and spoke tensions prior to the competition, choosing this setup for weight savings and ride comfort.
Cost per pair of wheels: £392 / $448
Non-plus hub
The wheel hubs are made by German wheel and hub manufacturer NonPlus Components, and both riders were using the NonPlus MTB Boost hub set, which retails for 700 euros per pair.
According to the brand's website, the aluminium hubset uses a “conical gear” freehub body design that is said to provide “400% increased surface contact.” In simple terms, this means an angled freehub body driving system that offers better driving force under load, definitely suited to the demands of MTB racing.
The hub bearings also contain a special lubricant that's thinner than regular grease, which is said to “significantly reduce friction.” The rear hub is said to weigh 177 grams; the front weight isn't listed, but it will be even lighter.
Cost per wheelset: €700 / £589 / $758
P1 Rim
Completing the assembly are wheel rims from P1 Race Tech, which I understand to be an offshoot or subsidiary of Princeton Carbon Works. Both riders' trade team, Ineos Grenadiers, use Princeton wheels these days, primarily for time trials, but have also used the brand's road wheels in the past, albeit while sponsored by Shimano. There's a clear connection to the road world here, with P1's website listing them as an official partner of the Ineos Grenadiers road team.
The rims used by both riders are Singularis M30 carbon fiber wheel rims, which weigh in at 419 grams, have a 30mm inner diameter, hookless rim and feature the same “wave” rim profile as other Princeton wheels. The wheels have a list price of $1,800 to $2,200.
If you add the same spec wheels to your shopping basket on the website, the total price will be $2,800, and that appears to be for the rear wheel only. The brand says that an M26 model is also available for riders, but this is not currently listed on the website.
We got in touch with P1 to get some additional information on the wheels, which confirmed our speculation that the wheels, or at least the rims, were designed specifically for Ferrand Prevot and Pidcock's use, and also that they are the first wheelset that a rider can “not break.”
“Our goal with the P1 Singularis M30 and M26 was to create the fastest, toughest race-ready wheelset to win the Olympic Games. We went through a highly iterative design process starting from 2022, working directly with Ineos, Pinarello, Pauline and Tom, as well as their coaches and mechanics.”
Naturally before an event like the Olympic MTB race, a programme of testing and development was carried out to allow the riders to find the optimum set-up for the race.
“We conducted multiple on-site testing in 2023 and 2024 with Tom and Pauline testing different spoke types, spoke tensions, tire widths, rim widths and tire pressures to determine the best configuration for each rider and every condition. Team mechanic Rune Christensen was key to this development. Over the past 20 months we have been in constant communication to accelerate the iteration process.”
Cost per wheelset: $2,800 (NonPlus / Berd rear wheels)
*Currently, rim/front wheel prices are not listed online.
