Industry Nine 1/1 Enduro S Wheelset [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

Upgrading wheels and hubs is hands down one of the most notable upgrades you can do on the bike. Either adding stiffness or more compliance can make your ride more enjoyable and add confidence. Our customer has been running the I9 1/1 Enduro S wheels. See what they think! 

Overview

I have been lusting after the Industry Nine 1/1 Enduro S Wheelset - 27.5", 15 x 110mm/12 x 148mm, HG 11, 6-Bolt for longer than I care to admit. These babies are proudly made right here in America (can you believe that!?) by cool folks who actually ride bikes and who look happy in the photos I've seen of the factory. I could have bought machine-made wheels or wheels made by people under slave-like conditions overseas, but I chose not to. I think I can blame Liam from worldwide for singing the praise of these wheels in a review of more budget wheelsets that come in around $750. Yeah, he's the one (I'm pretty sure I could pick him out of a police lineup if I had to). At any rate, my 2019 SC 5010 27.5+ came to me second-hand with stock tank wheels (35mm id) that were fine but were on the heavy side, so I've been thinking about upgrading for a while. I unpacked the wheels, cranked on my cassette, mounted my used tires, added sealant, and was stoked when my rear derailleur shifted perfectly without adjustment. That was nice, as I hate messing with that particular part on my bike and I was expecting to go pay the lbs $40 or so for their expertise and to maintain my sanity and to possibly save my frame and my brand new spokes should the b-limit screw not stop the chain from over shifting past the cassette in either direction. So, bang, time and money saved right off the bat, but I'd assume that I was mostly just lucky here (rare for me).

The wheels seem noticeably lighter in the hand, but I did not weigh my old set on a scale to confirm. I've taken a physics class so I understand how centripetal force works and I know that a slight weight increase becomes disproportionately heavier due to the rotation magic happening down there. I feel like the wheels make the bike a little more nimble, but I am not a connoisseur of wheel stiffness so I cannot confirm nor deny that quality.

I'm not a fan of noisy hubs and I already had Dumont tech grease on hand, but I could not get more grease onto the pawls despite the statement that "these wheels require no special tools to service." No, they actually do require a proprietary $14 tool to access the hub. I'm impatient, so I skipped the greasing and went straight to riding. Soon the hub buzz was second nature and I hardly noticed it. It's deer hunting season where I live, so a little extra noise to help me stand out is not a bad thing.

You may ask me what the insanely improved hub engagement is like, but sadly I have to admit that it doesn't make a difference to me. I'm sure that better engagement doesn't hurt, but even the slow techy climbing sections of my local trail don't seem to be any easier than they were on my old stock SRAM hubs. Call me crazy if you must, but this feature does not stand out to me - I'm fine with torch hubs and I'm really glad that I didn't spend $200 more on the hydra hubs.

Final Thoughts

In a nutshell here are my feelings:Pros: proudly made by happy North Carolinians, competitively priced, relatively light, and good fitment (on my bike at least).Cons: proprietary hub removal tool sold only by i9 (yeah it's really minor).