Corima is the French high-end wheel brand we don’t hear as much about in the States, despite being on top pro’s stage-winning bikes over the years. Like another French wheel brand, they’ve done some amazing things with full carbon wheel construction and have their own unique take on rim and wheel design. And also they’ve been a little slow to adopt more modern widths and options, but after 30 years of making wheels, that’s changing.
For 2019, the new Corima WS Black rim and disc brake wheels take the all-black hub and spoke combination from their narrower S-series wheels and combine them with the wider WS-series rims for a stealthier aesthetic and compatibility with up to 32mm wide tires.
The “Wide” rims come in at 26mm external/16 mm internal, which they say works with tire widths from 23mm – 32mm, covering the range of what most people are riding today. The new WS Black rim-brake wheels use black J-bend Sapim CX-Ray spokes in the front (18) and CX spokes in the rear (20). Those are laced to an updated CORIMA Black Alu hub. On the rims is a new sanded braking surface, a new treatment that’ll be used going forward on all of their rim brake options.
Rim brake wheels include ti skewers and options will include:
- 32 mm TUBULAR (1270g) & CLINCHER (1500g)
- 47 mm TUBULAR (1390g) & CLINCHER (1580g)
- 58 mm TUBULAR & CLINCHER (Launch Spring 2019)
The disc brake wheels use the same type of spokes, but bump it up to 20 for front and rear wheels. The layout is a bit different, but they say their quasi-paired spoke layout and switch to a 2x non-drive lacing handles the torque just fine. Hubs switch from standard QR to 12mm thru axle (100mm front, 142mm rear). Options include:
- 32 mm TUBULAR (1420g) & CLINCHER (1650g)
- 47 mm TUBULAR (1530g) & CLINCHER (1720g)
- 58 mm TUBULAR & CLINCHER (Launch Spring 2019)
Pricing and ship dates for all are TBA, will update here when we get that info.
Hubs are made in France using EU-sourced materials and are their own design. They outfitted with a 30-tooth ratchet ring, 17mm diameter titanium/aluminum axle and custom NSK cartridge bearings.
The rims, too, are a completely proprietary design and a big part of what makes Corima unique. They use an aerospace foam core and a carbon “torsion bar” connecting each side of the rim. These two features, they say, make the rims much stiffer laterally than their competition, so much so that the rim will retain it’s profile and trueness even if you break a spoke.
For 2019, Corima and Look (that’s the new Look 795 Blade RS in the top photo, and Look recently bought a majority stake in the brand) will both be sold through a wholly-owned U.S. office based in Florida, which means quicker service and better pricing to and through their dealers than their prior distributor network model.
