Back in November last year, WTB announced that there were two new carbon rims being introduced to the brand's line-up. A couple of months off of a year later and the brand has released those rims as part of a complete wheel build. Joining the range are the CZR i23 and CZR i30 wheels.

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The CZR i23 is designed as the gravel focussed rim. It's been created with the aim to minimise weight while combining stiffness and compliance to increase power transfer and comfort, says WTB.

The carbon that makes up the CZR i23 rim has had its thickness fine-tuned to reduce weight and introduce vertical compliance with the hopes that it would increase overall comfort whilst aboard an unforgiving gravel bike. To bolster radial stiffness, the CZR i23 has gotten a 24mm section depth. The choice for that particular measurement has been made as it's claimed that it won't be heavily affected by crosswinds as a deeper profile would.

This rim gets winged Pillar racing spokes that have been cold-forged into an aerodynamic shape, further increasing efficiency. The CZR i23 wheels are available in 24 or 28-hole configurations with the front wheel coming in at a claimed weight of 620g and the rear, 775g, including TCS tubeless tape, WTB's Solid Strip, and valves.

Moving onto the CZR i30s, they break the mold a little. Unlike a range of carbon wheelsets out there, the CZR i30 wheelset isn't made to be the lightest out there. Instead, they're built to be strong, featuring a strategically fortified layup, reinforced spoke beds and double-butted spoked with brass nipples. You'll also find the brand's high-engagement Frequency hub sorted with top-tier bearings and oversized freehub seals.

The CZR i30 are both 28-hole wheels with the front weighing in at a claimed 878g and the rear, 1026g.

Both of the wheelsets use WTB's Solid Strip system which is a strip that sits over the spoke holes, offering a smoother surface for rim tape and it protects the air-tight system should you wreck a spoke.

Going back to the Frequency hub, it's not only the CZR i30 that benefits from it, the gravel going wheels do too. They've been designed in-house with the goal of making them just as durable as the wheels themselves. The Frequency hub gets a six-pawl design that alternates contact between two sets of three-pawl groupings. Each wheelset also gets its own strength of pawl spring with the CZR i23 getting a lighter spring for efficiency and the CZR i30 being sorted with a heavy-duty pawl spring to put up with the rigors of mountain biking.

Those pawls are compatible with either wheelset, so if you prefer a lighter sounding, more efficient freehub, a Light Pawl-Spring Kit is available from WTB's website.

All CZR front wheels will set you back £600 while the rears will cost £650.

​After the launch of the CZR rims last November, we managed to get a couple of samples in for review. While we have tested the rims as part of a full wheel build supplied by WTB, those builds aren't to the spec of these new CZR wheels. Click here for the CZR i30 review, and here for the CZR i23.

• www.wtb.com

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