DT Swiss has made bicycle components since 1994, and to celebrate their 30 year anniversary, they’ve brought back some retro logo styling and shiny silver for some limited edition wheels and hubs. For wheels, DT built up two of their flagship carbon wheelsets with silver spokes and polished silver hubs – the ultralight & aerodynamic ARC1100 38mm aero road wheels and the bombproof & fast-engaging EXC1200 enduro wheels. And for a hubset alone, they picked their latest 90 POE fast-engaging 240 DEG hubs with classic high flanges so you can build up your own 4° engagement MTB wheels…
DT Swiss’ 30th Anniversary in the cycling industry
DT wireworks (that’s what the D&T stand for in their native German & French – Drahtwerke/Tréfileries, respectively) have been manufacturing Swiss wire since the 1600s, originally for fencing. But they turned that wire into bicycle spokes in their modern form, starting 30 years ago now in 1994.
We actually toured their Biel/Bienne HQ and spoke, rim & wheel factory in Switzerland back in 2017 to see how our wheels get made. And that’s still how they do it, although they have since added a couple new high-tech cold-forged spoke types like the latest fluted RevoLite since then.
But, back to the 30th-anniversary kit…
Limited edition 30th Anniversary DT Swiss hubs & wheels
The reason we are writing (and you are reading) is shiny silver hubs, shiny silver spokes, and retro red DT logos. There’s too many all-black bike and components these days, and so DT is bringing back some flash. Just like those original DT Hugi hubs… before matte black ano became a thing.
DT 240 Classic DEG 3 Dec hubs
Tech-wise, these limited edition DT 240 Classic DEG 3 Dec hubs are the same that I reviewed last week. Their big update is essentially 3x the engagement of a standard DT hub, or almost 2x the max possible engagement from any previous DT hub, but while retaining the same proven Ratchet mechanism and unrivaled freehub durability. The 240 DEG hub features a pair of oversized 90T ratchet rings delivering quick 4° engagement, perfect for the most technical mountain biking.
These shiny polished silver hubs with retro DT logos sell for $230 / 170€ front and $500 / 377€ rear. They are available now in limited numbers through DT distributors for Shimano MicroSpline or SRAM XD in 6-bolt with Boost MTB spacing only, drilled for 32 J-bend spokes.
DT EXC 1200 Classic DEG 3 Dec
On the complete mountain bike wheels side, you can get a limited edition EXC 1200 Classic DEG 3 Dec wheelset. This $3000 / 2500€ carbon enduro wheel features DT Swiss’ revamped carbon molding tech and internal protection layers that promised to build much tougher lightweight carbon mountain bike wheels – debuted just over a month ago. I’ve been riding the lighter all-mountain set since the start of summer trouble-free.
The 1756g EXC enduro MTB wheels feature a 30mm internal and are built on those 90POE fast-engaging 240 DEG hubs. You can pick full 29er or mullet setups, and they come with both MicroSpline & XD freehub bodies.
ARC 1100 Dicut DB 38 3 Dec
And lastly, roadies get a lightweight aero wheelset, too. The latest Aerodynamic Race Carbon road wheel series added this 38mm deep x 22mm internal hooked tubeless wheel to the line-up this year at a weight of just 1292g. The ARC 1100 Dicut DB 3 Dec also sells for $3000 / 2500€, and includes both Shimano HG & SRAM XDR freehubs, plus a custom padded wheelbag made by EVOC to keep your light aero wheelset safe in between wheel swaps.
In fact, we already spotted these ultralight aero wheels last month fitted to a spare bike on the roof of a Uno X team car at the Tour de France. Ready for some high-speed climbing!
Snap them up now, before they all are gone. Or just join me in trying to convince DT Swiss that every wheel looks faster with silver spokes and silver hubs!
