We Are One Composites Convergence Wheelset

Strong yet compliant, preferably with a lifetime warranty program of some sort – these are all attributes that you would expect to find in today’s premium carbon wheelsets. We Are One Composites spent two years designing their latest rim, the Convergence, and they took this mission to heart. They came up with a rim that not only looks unique but offers distinct advantages thanks to its angled spoke beds. We’ve had a pair of these new wheels out on the trails for about five months now, and we’re here today to tell you all about how we’ve been getting along. Keep reading to find out!

We Are One Composites Convergence Hydra Wheelset Highlights

• “Triad” rim – 30mm internal width carbon rim
• 7.5-degree alternating rim bed faces
• Hand laid in Kamloops, BC, Canada
• 28 holes front/32 holes rear
• Rim weights: 490 grams (27.5) / 505 grams (29)
• Black Sapim Race spokes
• Industry Nine Hydra hubs with 690 points (0.52 degrees) of engagement in the rear
• Lifetime warranty to original owner (+ crash replacement program as needed)
• MSRP: $1579.99 USD as tested

Initial Impressions

We had a previous good experience with We Are One’s Union wheelset, so we knew what to expect when pulling the new Convergence wheels from the box. We Are One uses a unique manufacturing technique where the final product is basically what comes out of the mold, there is no filler, sanding, or paint involved. The result is understated yet quite pretty, as carbon rims go.

What really jumps out when you first lay eyes on the new rims is of course the “wavey” pattern found on the rim bed. Far from just an aesthetic trick, the point of the design is to align the spoke bed with the spoke holes, to ensure that the nipples contact the rim bed with completely even pressure at all times. The tricks don’t stop there either, as We Are One has optimized the rim profile to create a good mix of compliance and performance. As a result, the Convergence rims are a little lower than the aforementioned Union rims. We are One has also joined a growing list of manufacturers looking at the design of the bead as a way to help prevent pinch flats. The bead of the Convergence is a little wider and rounder than a classic shape, which in our experience is a great way of preventing those nasty snake bite punctures. There are three different versions of the rim that offer different internal widths, from 28 to 33 mm. Our test set was built on the 30 mm “Triad” rim, in a 27.5/29 mullet configuration.

The Convergence wheelset is sold exclusively with the Industry Nine Hydra hub, offering up a whopping 690 points of engagement. You can put in a full custom build request if you want to run something else, but off the shelf the Hydras are what you get. They are laced up to the rims with Sapim Race spokes, 28 up front and 32 out back. The rim weight is fairly competitive in this category of wheels, 505 grams for the 29er, which meant that our test set tipped the scales at under 1900 grams. They were delivered tubeless ready with valves already installed.

On The Trail

We mounted up our mullet set with a pair of Maxxis tires, the trusty old Assegai/DHR2 combo. Getting the new wheels up and running was easy, as they show up fully tubeless ready out of the box. Add sealant, air, and go!

On the trail, the first word that came to mind was “solid”. Everything about this wheelset is indeed solid. Ultraquick engagement always provides a certain “quality” feel to a wheel, and the hubs roll fairly well too (maybe not the most drag-free hubs out there, but they are far from slow). Getting on the pedals or ripping a turn always provided for an instant reaction which adds an element of precision to your ride if you upgrade from a wheelset of lesser performance.

As we started pushing the wheels, that solid feeling persisted. They never got out of shape in high-input situations, yet they didn’t bounce us around in rocky terrain either. They have a muted feel to them which is very confidence-inspiring, and they do seem to offer up a degree of compliance that makes for a more comfortable ride. Make no mistake, these are not exactly wet noodles, so don’t go expecting any real softness here – but our hands were left fairly unaffected by longer and rougher trails, so there is something going on here. To offer a direct comparison, this tester feels like the Crankbrothers Synthesis front rim is maybe a tad more compliant than the Convergence Triad rim, but to be fair, they were tested on different bikes which may affect how they felt.

Bigger elements are no concern for the Convergence wheels. We Are One doesn’t specify what kind of riding they were made for, so you can go ahead and mount them up on anything from your hard-hitting trail bike to your DH rig. Best of all, there’s a lifetime warranty for the original owner that covers any riding incident. No questions asked, We Are One will send you a new rim for free if you manage to break yours while riding, you just have to cover the shipping cost (and the rebuild of course). This helps provide a little extra peace of mind when plonking down $1579.99 USD for a set of hoops that will at some point or another end up in harm’s way…

Things That Could Be Improved

We don’t’ have a lot of criticism to offer up here, as we’ve been well impressed with this wheelset. We do think the stickers look a little bit cheap-ish, but on the flip side, the natural finish of the rim is pretty special so you may want to go fully sticker-less anyway.

Long Term Durability

After 5 months of pretty hard riding, we’ve yet to fault the Convergence wheels. Spoke tension has held true, testament to the overall build quality but perhaps also a result of those angled spoke beds. We’ve not had any pinch-flats, which is still something a bit out of the ordinary for us – we definitely think more manufacturers should be pursuing these wider, rounder beads as they clearly do reduce the number of pinch-flat incidents by a significant factor. The Convergence rims also resist scuffing fairly well, so they won’t have to end up looking too ragged even after some abuse. Industry Nine Hydra hubs are a pretty solid spec, they are perhaps not at the very top of the low-drag freehub podium but they are mostly reliable – we’ve not had any issues with them at this point. As mentioned in the previous section, the lifetime no-questions-asked warranty on the rims as very reassuring when it comes to the longevity of your investment.

What’s The Bottom Line?

Carbon wheels have become a common sight on mountain bikes these days, but there is still often debate around whether they are good value compared to their aluminum counterparts. Yes, the carbon price tag is more of a threat to your wallet, but a well-built carbon wheelset is basically maintenance-free, something which you can rarely say about its alloy brethren. In the five months we’ve been testing these Convergence wheels, we have had to straighten out at least 7-8 flat spots on two different alloy wheelsets on other bikes in the same quiver, neither of which are now spinning straight or wobble-free. The Convergence wheels? Set and forget. No pinch flats, no spoke wrench operations needed. Of course, there is always the threat of catastrophic failure with a carbon rim, but as time goes on and product quality improves, we find this to be less of an issue. In  the case of We Are One, the original owner also gets a product lifetime, no-questions-asked warranty that protects against any riding-induced damage. Weigh up the warranty and the trouble-free user experience, and that investment is starting to make a lot of sense. Then factor in the ride quality, and you’re definitely looking at an upgrade.

More information at: www.weareonecomposites.com.

About The Reviewers

Johan Hjord - Age: 50 // Years Riding MTB: 18 // Weight: 190-pounds (87-kg) // Height: 6'0" (1.84m)

Johan loves bikes, which strangely doesn’t make him any better at riding them. After many years spent practicing falling off cliffs with his snowboard, he took up mountain biking in 2005. Ever since, he’s mostly been riding bikes with too much suspension travel to cover up his many flaws as a rider. His 200-pound body weight coupled with unique skill for poor line choice and clumsy landings make him an expert on durability - if parts survive Johan, they’re pretty much okay for anybody. Johan rides flat pedals with a riding style that he describes as "none" (when in actuality he rips!). Having found most trail features to be not to his liking, Johan uses much of his spare time building his own. Johan’s other accomplishments include surviving this far and helping keep the Vital Media Machine’s stoke dial firmly on 11.

Photos by Johan Hjord and Nils Hjord