Sneak Peek: New Lighter DT Swiss XRC 1200 Carbon XC Wheels at Cape Epic under Canyon
[ad_1]
This is a curious one, in that this new iteration of DT Swiss’ top-spec XRC 1200 carbon cross-country mountain bike wheels officially do NOT exist yet. But you can already buy a bike fitted with them via Canyon’s Cape Epic Untamed edition Lux WC.
And that means we know a number of interesting details about the new wheels. Including the fact that they are more than 11% lighter, yet just as wide as before!
11% lighter 2025 DT Swiss XRC 1200 carbon XC MTB wheels
It has been 3.5 years since we saw DT Swiss introduce anything new to their ultralight XRC cross-country race carbon wheel family, and those were at the more affordable 1501 level. Their symmetric 25 or 30mm carbon XRC rim shape itself hadn’t changed in even longer.
Sure, DT were ahead of their time, with Nino Schurter dominating the XCO World Cup & World Championships on 30mm internal carbon XMC wheels as far back as 2017, 2018 & 2019. But it looks like it’s time for an overhaul.
The new carbon DT Swiss XRC 1200 wheels seem to be getting some intense testing under the two Canyon-Sidi team duos at the Absa Cape Epic right now. (Canyon provided all of these photos, hyping their limited edition Lux XC.) But while we’re familiar with seeing unbranded prototypes being tested in early season races by the pros, these look to get real production graphics.
The new wheels feature a new X logo (don’t tell Elon) with a new font for an all-new simplified aesthetic.
What do we know?
As for the unreleased wheels’ new tech details, there’s quite a bit on Canyon’s website for the Untamed edition bike. And of course, we can infer a lot more from these photos.
First off, the name stays the same. The top-tier carbon cross-country race wheelset is still called the DT Swiss XRC 1200 Spline.
New asymmetric carbon rim
Canyon’s website says new wheels feature a 20mm deep x 30mm internal hookless tubeless carbon rim. That compares to the current 25mm deep XRC that is offered with 25mm or 30mm internal widths, for both 27.5 or 29″ wheels.
These new XRC 1200 wheels also have saved some weight. Canyon claims they weigh just 1311g for the pair (597g front, 714g rear). That’s down 11.4% or a savings of 169g compared to the same 30mm width of the current 1480g 29er XRCs.
We haven’t received any technical details from DT Swiss, but we can see a new asymmetric rim profile. The spokes on this rear wheel appear to hit the center of the nose of the rim profile, slightly offset to the disc brake side, with a wider nose back towards the center at the valve. Presumably, the same thing happens on the front in the opposite direction in order to balance spoke tension on both wheels.
New straight-pull Spline hubs, too
The Canyon-Sidi sneak peek also gives us an up-close look at a new front hub shell too. The driveside looks like the existing straight-pull Spline hub from the current DT wheels. But the disc side now expands back to a higher flange, presumably to increase stiffness next to the input of braking forces? The hub also now slightly tapers into the center, vs. the cylindrical hubshell of the existing XRC 1200 front hub.
There’s no direct mention of it, but typically the 1200-level in DT naming means a 180 hubshell. That would mean a 36T Ratchet EXP freehub and SINC ceramic bearings.
New DT Swiss XRC 1200 – Availability & pricing
Yes, these appear to be unreleased 29″ DT Swiss XRC 1200 wheels that you can, in fact, buy now. They cost 8000€ for the pair, with the side benefit of getting a free Canyon Lux WC, a full DT 232 One suspension complement, and an XTR groupset thrown in for at no additional cost.
Canyon is only selling 100 of the complete limited edition Canyon Lux World Cup CFR Untamed replica bikes with these wheels, though. So act fast if you can’t resist that new-new.
[ad_2]
