RaceFace Turbine R Wheels Review: Stiff and Light!

Race Face has killed it with their Turbine R wheelset. Few people may know, but Race Face and Easton are under the same ownership and Race Face wheels are developed from the same group of people that do Easton’s wheels. Some worry that Race Face is “new to the wheel game,” however this is completely wrong as Easton/Race Face have been designing and manufacturing wheels for a long time now. They decided to turn Easton into their road brand, and Race Face is now mountain.

That being said, the Turbine R wheels have been designed and tested by experts, it is not a new category to Race Face that isn’t tried and true. Weight is always important, and the Turbine’s come in at 1730g for 27.5’s. For comparison, Industry 9 Enduro 305 27.5’s weight about 1,695g and Stan’s Flow MK3 wheels about 1,807g (32h). The Turbine R (R stands for rally) wheels come in many different options as well:

27.5 and 29er:

15X100 Front (Convertible to: 9X100QR, 20X110, 15X100 TORQUE CAP).

15X110 Boost Front (Convertible to: 15X110 TORQUE CAP).

12X142 Rear (Convertible to: 10X135QR, 12X135),

12X148 Boost Rear 

The Turbine rims are 30mm internal with 4.5mm offset, and made from a new, stronger alloy than the previous Race Face or Easton rims that were known to be a bit soft. The decals are a gloss black that makes the all black wheel look clean and stealth which I really like. I am sure in the near future, Race Face will have color decal kits for the rims if you're someone who likes a little bling on your wheels.

I have ridden many different wheelsets in the past, including Industry 9’s, DT Swiss 350 hubs with XM481 rims, and Chris King hub / DT rims. The Race Face wheels are right up there with I9’s in performance and feel, and the durability has been great so far. No dents in the rims and the wheels have stayed very true after about 6 months of hard riding.

The Turbine wheels use the new Vault hubs which feature 120 points of engagement. I think the oversized look is awesome, and you can’t beat the engagement. After riding the I9’s I could never go back to something with less than 50 engagement points and had to put the DT Swiss 54t ratchet kit on my DT wheelset. A majority of my riding is all mountain / enduro type stuff, and I feel that the 30mm internal rim width is perfect. I have paired the rims with a Maxxis DHF 2.5 up front and a Maxxis Aggressor 2.3 in the rear. Looking down at the front wheel instills a ton of confidence as it looks burley and ready to run over everything, while not giving up too much rolling speed. The tires seem to be at a perfect balance of  being wide enough for traction but not too wide where it looks like a fatbike.

I would highly recommend the Race Face Turbine wheels as they perform incredibly well, feel super stiff, have incredible engagement, look clean and are relatively light. The only knock I have found with these wheels is that they are a bit difficult to true. With the straight pull spokes, the whole thing will turn unless you have a firm grip on the spoke which gets pretty tiring after a while. Other than that I don’t see any reason not to pick up a set for your all mountain / enduro bike!