FIRST IMPRESSIONS
We Are One - Convergence Series Rims
We Are One rims have evolved to become some of the most sought after hoops for rough play. As a machinist who has worked his entire life in Canadian manufacturing, I’ve followed the progress of We Are One with great interest - a true tale of David vs. the Goliath of overseas manufacturing - except this David is armed with CNC machines and FEA software.
Not ones to rest on their laurels, We Are One continue to push their rim technology into new shapes and directions. Drawing on their experience from the tried and tested “Revolution” family of rims, We Are One are now set to release their next generation of heavy duty carbon hoops: The Convergence.
Not just eye candy. These alternating waves allow the nipples to contact the spoke bed at a perpendicular angle, resulting in a more durable wheel.
In what may prove to be a sign of the times (27.5 ain't dead!), We Are One are focusing on 29ers for the initial launch of the Convergence family, while 650b options are still in development. The new rim line is further broken down into three sub-variants whose main differences are their internal bead widths. The 495g “Sector” features a 28mm bead width that is ideally suited to trail bike tire widths of 2.2” to 2.4”. The 505g “Triad” sports a familiar 30mm bead that works best for the 2.4” to 2.6” tire widths you’ll find on most enduro, freeride and DH bikes. The 523g “Fuse” is the big kid in the family, with a 33mm bead that plays nicely with 2.5” to 2.8” tire widths. All three variants are available in 28 or 32 spoke options, and We Are One recommend going with 28 spoke front wheel builds and 32 spoke rears. For those of you who measure ride duration in watt-hours, the Triad and Fuse are both e-bike certified.
At first glance, the most obvious departure from the Revolution family is the wavy spoke bed found on all Convergence rims. More than just eye candy, this functional shape allows each spoke nipple to contact the rim bed at a perpendicular angle, eliminating point loading in the spoke bed, leading to improved spoke and nipple fatigue, while increasing durability of the rim itself. Look more closely, and you might notice the slimmer depth of the Convergence rim. At 19mm deep, these rims offer improved ride comfort and damping in the vertical plane, while increasing lateral stiffness through laminate orientation and material selection.
Not so obvious to the naked eye is the fact that Convergence rims have a measured 32% impact strength improvement over the Revolution line, achieved through the aforementioned new layup techniques and materials. As with the Revolution line, Convergence will be available as rims only or in pre-built wheel options. All rims manufactured by We Are One carry their no-nonsense lifetime warranty to the original owner - if you manage to break a rim while riding on it, We Are One will replace it.
Can you hear this picture?
In spite of the unfriendly weather we have in store for the next 4 months, I’ll be rallying hard on a pair of Triad wheels. Built on Industry Nine Hydra hubs, these wheels look ready to withstand some serious abuse - which is good, because they’ll certainly see their fair share while bolted to my bicycle. I already have a handful of rides on them, and so far my experience has been excellent. The one performance characteristic I can report back at this point is that these new rims feel noticeably more compliant along the vertical axis compared to We Are One’s Union rims, while lateral stiffness and steering precision feel about the same. No doubt I’ll have a lot more to say about these beautiful hoops in the coming months, so stay tuned for my long term review.
A slimmer radial cross section results in a more comfortable ride, while new materials and layup have significantly increased impact resistance - a good thing, as this particular rim is going to see some heavy action over the next few months.
We Are One Convergence Pricing
Convergence Wheelset / Industry Nine Hydra hubs: 1,999 CAD / 1,799 USD
Convergence - Rim Only: 605 CAD / 475 USD
More info here about the We Are One Convergence
Age : 40
Height : 1803mm
Weight : 86kg
Ape Index : 1.03
Inseam : 787mm
Bar Width : 780mm
Preferred Reach : Pretty comfy at 487mm these days.
Comments
Tim Coleman
1 year, 1 month ago
Kudos to We Are One, these rims looks fantastic. Matching the spoke angle in the layup must have taken some clever design work, and makes a ton of sense.
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Ride.DMC
1 year, 1 month ago
I'm interested to hear the long term review as this is an upgrade I would love to make.
One of the writers on this site once suggested we use WR1 in place of WAO and I would support that change.
And this is a tangent unrelated to this article, but I'm also looking forward to the time when everyone just agrees we forgo using the words "acoustic" or "analogue" when referring to a non-electric bike or bicycle. Bike or bicycle will do - just as they have done for the past 80 or so years that we've had to distinguish between bikes and motorbikes.
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
I’m totally with you on the analog / acoustic bike silliness. Can we just call them bikes??
Stay tuned for my long term review…
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Jerry Willows
1 year, 1 month ago
Broped?
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IslandLife
1 year, 1 month ago
I've been seeing and hearing the term "muscle bikes" being thrown around lately... sigh....
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taprider
1 year, 1 month ago
when I am bikepacking, my bike often get comments, "is that an e-bike?"
my frequent reply is, "No!" "Hey, that's an insult"
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Jerry Willows
1 year, 1 month ago
I would get an ebike over a gravel bike...
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Jerry Willows
1 year, 1 month ago
loving the new rims from WAO.... but I don't think you can distinguish radial compliance from one wheel to another. How much does the rim actually move? Tire pressure/casings would be a way more indicative of compliance imo but would like to know as I can't any documentation on it. #nipplefatigue - giggity
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
From my experience riding on Unions and the new Triads, I have to admit that the Triad feels more comfortable - less jarring. While I'm not a rim designer, I would suspect that most of the "compliance" comes from the fact that the Triad is much slimmer in cross section than the Union, which allows it to flex more about the spoke nipple. If you imagine the spoke bed is fixed, the bead walls can still flex up and down a bit, relative to the spoke bed - similar to what the Zipp 3Zero Moto rims are doing.
It's subtle, but noticeable.
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Jerry Willows
1 year, 1 month ago
ok... that's for uneven ground. I know some people who had to sell their Zipp wheels because of too much compliance but I'm sure WAO doesn't suffer from too much.
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Tim Coleman
1 year, 1 month ago
I tried the Zipp wheels at the launch in Whistler ages ago, and there was way too much compliance in the rim for me. In off camber sections the rim would roll, unloading the side knob you want biting into the dirt. Upside; this resulted in some humungous skids.
I'd also like to know how much these rims deflect in normal use in the radial and lateral directions. Maybe it's because I'm a bit simple, but I've never really noticed comfort differences in rims, and always been surprised when folks talk about perceptible rim compliance through 30 mm of tire deflection and 170 mm of suspension deflection.
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
Yeah, the Zipp is the extreme end of things. The WAO Triad feels awesome though.
And when I say "jarring", that's maybe too strong a word. The Unions aren't necessarily uncomfortable, but the Triad feels more forgiving to me.
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T-mack
1 year, 1 month ago
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Vik Banerjee
1 year, 1 month ago
I've ridden different carbon rim profiles from the same manufacturer with the same tires/pressure and the difference in compliance is huge. The profile and layup used factor into my choice for a carbon rim as I hate the feeling of overly stiff rims.
I haven't tried the WAO product so not commenting on them in particular.
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Cr4w
1 year, 1 month ago
It's remarkably noticeable. I had a pair of Derby DH with a very deep profile from about 10 years ago. A few years back I switched to WR1 Converts and it's very noticeable. The WR1 are way more compliant in all the right ways.
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Andy Eunson
1 year, 1 month ago
That’s been my experience with ENVE M60 which were said to be super harsh. Reserves feel the same to me as do my WAO Union wheels. But I only weigh 140 and a bit. I can run EXO 2.5 tires at 15-17 psi. I would think for heavier riders that might be different.
These new rims look good. The design makes sense. But I am skeptical of strength claims. Got zero issues with my rims so I don’t need nothing stronger. Stronger than strong enough. Stiffer than it doesn’t flex now. I’m sure some riders need more strength than I do. I’m not that hard on stuff.
I can’t tell the difference between so called compliant or stiff handlebars either. All the same to me. Again, I’m light, I have soft tires, lots of fork travel and 740 width bars. I like big soft grips so compliant bars seem silly to me. People claiming more compliant rims give them better traction I think have convinced themselves of this. Not many people that spend big bucks on something will claim it wasn’t worth it.
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Tyler Maine
1 year, 1 month ago
Hey Andy, good points on how you run your set and aren't looking for stronger. Riders of all sizes will benefit from the Convergence's resistance to impact strength. We'll look to have more content around it in the future but the main damage to all wheels (alloy too) is that one impact that whales through the tires and gets right into the rim - think square edged hits. They happen to everyone and this ZTR fiber along with our layup process will reduce these types of failures, thus less downtime and more ride time :)
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Carlos Matutes
1 year, 1 month ago
I was hoping to hold out for the release of the Convergence line, but my old I9 Enduros were no longer up to the task of being pounded through the pointy rocks here in New Mexico.
I have no regrets with my Unions, and I look forward to building up a set of Convergence rims sometime down the road. Greater impact resistance and the angles spoke beds should make fr a great wheel set!
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Mammal
1 year, 1 month ago
Looks like the Convergence Triad (30mm) is currently available in 27.5 rim-only.
Damn, those are some SEXY rims.
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
The Triad is the only Convergence rim available in both 29" and 27.5".
The other two are only available in 29".
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4Runner1
1 year, 1 month ago
If / when I need to replace my Union / I9 wheels, I’ll be shopping these.
Blows my mind that rims are still getting stronger and with improved feel. That said, I have never found the Union rims to be overly stiff. At 210 lbs kitted, they’re goldilocks.
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Tim Coleman
1 year, 1 month ago
I'm in the same boat, would like a set of the new rims, but *knocks on wood* I've yet to have a We Are One rim fail on me, and love my Union wheelsets.
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We_Are_One_Composites
1 year, 1 month ago
The Unions are excellent, and the Convergence takes all of the good things and makes them that much better. The Convergence has a very audible difference when riding the Revolution rims. It has been described as damping, less stiff, more forgiving but not in a bad way, etc.
The ride feel is superb, the lateral stiffness is increased, and the impact increase is done in-house in a controlled environment with tangible data. 69, and I am not making this up, rims, 26 iterations to the layup schedule, and nine months of a dedicated team working on this project to get it to where it is.
Better was the only option with the Convergence lineup.
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PKMzeta
1 year, 1 month ago
Do you find better spoke service life with the new rims as well? Snapping spokes has been an issue with my Union/Strife wheels and they were built up by WAO with the alloy polyax nipple. They've all broken at the spoke thread where it goes into the nipple so I suspected they are under stress there.
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Jonathan Wray
1 year, 1 month ago
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
This description mirrors my experience so far. I’ve even used the word “damped” in describing the ride. And steering and line control is top notch.
Well done, WAO.
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Spacelizard
1 year, 1 month ago
I pulled some spokes through on a union, amd no hassles was imeadatly offered my replacement. I even got to get a strife over a union replacement.
Great job all around at WA1
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Blofeld
1 year, 1 month ago
I was convinced there was a typo when I read that the 28mm Sector was virtually the same weight as the 30mm Triad. After confirming the numbers on the WR1 site I ended up a little confused. The Sector is up 70g from the claimed weight of the old 27mm Faction, and to me, looks almost indistinguishable from the Triad.
Would somebody sort out this similarity in SKUs? Was there just no point buying a Strife with a lifetime warranty on a Union? Were Factions being flogged in the bike park? Did nobody else convert to Converts? I thought the Revolution line was well spaced but perhaps I know nothing.
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
The goal with Convergence wasn’t a lighter rim, but a more durable wheel build and improved ride characteristics.
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Blofeld
1 year, 1 month ago
I’m not discounting WR1‘s internal testing report. I just see the Convergence line as 3 (almost identical) replacements for the Revolution Union. I’m curious if they’ll use this new construction for something lighter or wider at some point. Will they continue to make the Faction and Convert in the interim?
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Tyler Maine
1 year, 1 month ago
Blofeld - Think of the Convergence line as helping you get optimal tire to rim width ride feels. A rider running 2.3 rear tires, but 2.5 fronts is often on a dual 30mm internal rim. If they went to the 28m internal rim, then they'd get a better contact patch and correct tire shape thanks to the rim. All while being as strong as the 30mm option. The Faction (on my personal trail bike) is great but maybe a step away from the 30mm rider's comfort zone. The Convert is great for the 2.6 and up crowd but a 33mm internal rim is more in line for the 2.5 (way more common) riders out there. I hope this helps.
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Mike Wallace
1 year, 1 month ago
I really don’t understand this logic and industry trend. It seems like 80% marketing and 20% actual benefits for the rider. The specialized gravity team often runs dt Swiss 471. In fact Finn won St anne on 471’s. 471’s are 25mm internal. Or am I totally missing something here.
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Jerry Willows
1 year, 1 month ago
with a narrower rim, you'll get a rounder tire, easier to corner. I've been going from Specialized 2.6 to 2.3 (4mm height and width difference) and the cornering is WAY better. I read somewhere that Loic likes a narrow rim for the precision.
People adjust to what they have and in the end probably doesn't make a big difference.
WAO good people.... give back to the trail builder so that's where I spend my $'s.
MTB_THETOWN
1 year, 1 month ago
I think it depends on the rider. If you push hard on your tires and rims and jam the side knobs hard into the trail for grip, wide rims and fat tires feel really squirmy and weird. If you are someone who rides lighter and relies on tire tread etc. for traction, the wider rims and softer tires give extra grip. I think that's why we see EWS and DH riders in narrower rims and XC on wider ones.
Narrower rims are also going to be lighter and stronger, all things like layup being equal
Onawalk
1 year ago
Not sure what it is that you don’t understand,
What pros ride mean nothing to you, or I, or anyone else. A select top 40 riders that ride, fully supported, with at times an endless supply of spares ride, has no bearing on what you or I should be riding.
If I remember correctly, Finn, in MSA went through a rear wheel pre run in practice. So whatever rim material, size, width, tire pressure, etc, has no bearing on what we choose to run, when we are trying to get multiple seasons out of a wheel.
I’m gonna say it loud enough for those in the back,
WHAT PROS USE, HAS NO BEARING ON WHAT YOU CAN/SHOULD BE USING. THEY ARE AN ELITE BUNCH OF SUPPORTED RIDERS, AND THEIR REQUIREMENTS HAVE NO SIMILARITIES TO YOURS.
Justin White
1 year, 1 month ago
"are both e-bike certified"
By whom? And what does that even mean? Especially in light of a no-nonense lifetime guarantee...
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
By WAO themselves. And you raise a valid point - I’m sure your e-bike won’t burst into flames (at least not due to the rims, haha!) if you run the Sectors, but it’s probably just a recommendation from WAO, steering you in the right direction for the right tools for the right job.
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ZigaK
1 year, 1 month ago
Do these rims handle the additional stresses introduced by schwalbe procore?
Does the warranry cover damage caused by such use?
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Ryan Walters
1 year, 1 month ago
With all the "friendlier" options on the market now, I didn't think anyone was still using Procore! I'm sure you'd be ok - after all, the warranty has no disclaimers about inserts. The only stipulation is that you need to be the original owner, and you need to be riding the bike at the time of failure for a warranty consideration.
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Tyler Maine
1 year, 1 month ago
The video above shows a rider riding without inserts. My question is why add something that changes the tension on the spokes like ProCore does? Like Ryan states, many options don't introduce that added stress, and even a few more PSI goes a long ways.
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ZigaK
1 year, 1 month ago
I use procore because it's the only insert (that I know of) that prevents burping (well).
Since converting to tubeless, I never had problems with snake bites, but did have problems with burping. Particularly on steep off-camber footpaths climbing up with as low tire pressure as possible.
The mechanism of the procore is it puts pressure on the bed/edge of the tire and on to the rim, effectively holding the tire "prestressed" or squeezed between the rim and the inner tire. All other systems just put a "passive obstruction" to the bed of the tire lifting off the rim (for a lack of a better expression).
Not trying to convince anyone about anything. Procore works for me, it has its drawbacks, one of them being it can damage rims, that is why I asked.
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Jerry Willows
1 year, 1 month ago
Cushcore helps as well for burping: https://cushcore.com/how-it-works/
I run Tannus (can't stand the install/removal of Cushcore) with trail casing tires and don't have problems with burping:
https://www.pinkbike.com/u/Tannus/blog/tannus-introduces-lighter-faster-easier-tubeless-tire-insert.html
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MTB_THETOWN
1 year, 1 month ago
I didn't hear many complaints about people breaking the old versions, so I'd like to see a rim with a focus on cutting some weight as opposed to adding more strength. They are supposedly making the BERD rims which save like 100 grams each, which shows that it should be possible. I've been looking at these rims for a while, but the weight is about the same as an equivalent Stan's rim so for $600 each it didn't seem worth it at the time.
I am impressed they got the price down to $450 though. That's cheaper than most well made overseas options. These will probably be my next rims.
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T-mack
1 year, 1 month ago
Berd cuts weight because of the spokes for the most part. 32 x 282mm Sapim spokes (29er) weighs 196g on my scale which equates to just under 400g per wheelset. Berd uses the 'cloth' spokes which weigh much less. What ever happened to Ti spokes?!
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Perry Schebel
1 year, 1 month ago
the berd's are around 2.5g per spoke; good bit of savings there. ti is around 4g (2.0mm straight); not a huge savings over a fancy steel spoke like a cx ray, but the ti dye colors has lured me on more that one occasion. can still buy them, but they're a bit finicky (and expensive).
but yeah, given these rims are pretty similar in weight to a stans mk4 (which relatively light me can't kill), it'd be interesting to see how light one could build a "reasonably" durable (ie, no lifetime warranty) trailbike rim with current composite tech.
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MTB_THETOWN
1 year, 1 month ago
The spokes cut weight too, but in the recent Pink bike article on Berd's new Enduro wheelset, they said the rims alone are about 393 grams which is over 100 grams lighter than these. I have heard that WR1 use lighter construction for the rims they build for other companies and this is an example of that.
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Perry Schebel
1 year, 1 month ago
ok, those berds look pretty sweet; 1400g for the set, on a 30mm rim.
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Endur-Bro
1 year, 1 month ago
I'm still on my Agent 29s. If those ever die maybe I'll go with these as a replacement.
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Jonthehuman
10 months ago
Looking forward to seeing the long term updates, I’m considering a Convergence Triad set for my next full-suss build. I love the different rim profiles here to. Would love to lace set of Fuse rims to Onyx hubs w/ Berd spokes. I bet that would be amazing on a high end hardtail.
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