wheels, steering wheel and stars for the Era and Turbine series ⋆ Vojo

Legendary Canadian brand Race Face has been owned by the Fox group for several years now, which has become the benchmark for mountain bike accessories alongside road and gravel specialist Easton. On the occasion of the presentation of the new Fox 2025 suspensions, we were also presented with the new Race Face products of the next crop.

Race Face Era and Turbine handlebars: controlled flex

Let’s start our review with hangers. We know that this is a very important point of contact between the driver and his car. A steering wheel that is too hard will cause too much vibration and force in the driver’s hands, which will eventually fatigue them.

Race Face has conducted numerous tests to determine the factors that truly impact a driver’s control of their machine and reduce fatigue. It turned out that it was the vertical flexibility/tolerance of the steering wheel (“vertical compliance”) that was the most important factor, unlike foams and other anti-vibration devices that had no effect. Handlebar shape and adjustability were also very important in the eyes of the riders.

That’s why Race Face has developed a new line of Era handlebars in carbon and Turbine aluminum respectively. First of all, working on the shape of the handlebar, limiting the 35mm diameter area around the stem as much as possible and reducing the diameter very quickly, as well as creating a controlled deformation zone that affects the shape, thickness and layers. fibers on the carbon version of the Era, as well as on the thickness of the aluminum and the shape of the Turbine model.

Race Face also introduced handlebars in three different widths: 760, 780 and 800mm. You can shorten them, but only by 0.5 cm on each side. For what ? Thus, each size of handlebar has the same absorption properties. The simplest solution, which many brands would prefer, would be to produce only the 800mm version and leave the option of cutting it down to 760mm, but Race Face tests have shown that the difference in vertical tolerance between identical models can be in excess of 20%. model 800 mm wide and trimmed to 760 mm.

In the same spirit, and to suit the tastes of all riders, the Race Face offers 10, 20 and 40mm lift options, each designed to provide the same amount of vertical forgiveness. Add to this the different color options and you have an extremely wide range… which gives the consumer a lot of choice, but also risks turning gray hair on the warehouse managers! The price will be 149 euros for the carbon model and 119 euros for the aluminum one. Please note that Race Face provides a lifetime warranty on the steering wheel, including breakage!

We had the opportunity to ride the Era during the Fox presentation. It’s difficult to assess the contribution of the handlebar without being able to directly compare it to the original “standard” model, which is typically used in our Specialized Levo SL test. However, we noted that the Era’s steering wheel is not “crowbar” and we actually did not feel any excessive fatigue in our hands after long descents. But this must be confirmed in a real test on our regular sites, with a real side-by-side comparison with other steering wheel models that we know well.

Race Face Era wheels: controlled camber (bis)

Designed for enduro and off-road use, the new Race Face Era carbon wheels follow the same design philosophy as the handlebars. Race Face wheels have always felt very stiff to us when we’ve ridden them, and we’re glad that the brand seems to be radically changing its approach. However, she didn’t want to put the cursor completely on the tolerable and comfortable side, like the Zipp 3Zero Moto. Race Face rather strives to be “second everywhere” (in weight, tolerances, reactivity, etc.) in order to ultimately become number 1 in the aggregate ranking of all the characteristics that make up a good wheel.

Specifically, the hubs do not change, but the discs evolve significantly. Unsurprisingly, their profile is very flat, but it particularly varies between the front and rear: we go from 22.6mm at the rear, which provides more strength and rigidity, to 18.6mm at the front with the rim. deform more in the transverse direction. By the way, let’s take this opportunity to note that Race Face worked mainly on lateral deformation and less on vertical rim deformation, because the latter turned out to be less significant in their tests (which corresponds to the Zipp / Crank brothers philosophy).

In terms of weight, the pair of wheels have a claimed weight of 1,750g with a diameter of 29 inches, making them one of the lightest in their category. Race Face really wanted to keep its wheels dynamic and peppy to make it not just a comfortable/tolerant model, but a lazy one. These wheels also come with a lifetime warranty, including in the event of an accident. The price is stated to be around €1600 per pair.

Note that the aluminum Turbine wheels are also slightly redesigned, with lower rims and a puncture-resistant rim. The Race Face didn’t have the same design freedom as the carbon model, and the aluminum didn’t offer as many options, but the philosophy remained the same. We also had the opportunity to ride them, but we want to continue testing on our usual terrain before telling you more, and we’d also like to test the carbon models.

Race Face Era deck: 3 materials, 3 times more expensive, 3 times stronger

Finally, Race Face’s latest release is something of a “chef’s surprise”: the brand put deep, uncompromising thought into designing the perfect deck. To take the guesswork out of compromise, the new Race Face Era deck uses three different materials, each placed where it makes the most sense.

Therefore we find steel for the teeth, which is heavier, but whose strength is incomparable for this part in contact with the chain. Race Face claims durability is at least three times greater than aluminum. To compensate for the disadvantage of greater weight, steel is used only for the teeth and the thin outer crown, which merges with the star, which is made from cast carbon. The stiff and lightweight carbon is truly perfect for this part of the board. Finally, the connection to the handle is made through an aluminum star.

Claimed weight: 83g in 32 teeth. They will also be available with 30 and 34 teeth and a Shimano or Sram chain profile. Unfortunately, this chainring is only compatible with Race Face Era cranks. The price is listed at 150 euros, which is about 3 times higher than the aluminum model, but the resistance to fatigue and wear is also at least 3 times higher. What might help is to view the purchase of this tray as an investment…