Williams Gets Dirty

Williams began as a road wheel company, but over the years we've grown and expanded to the point where we make high end products for almost every discipline of cycling, including road, track, TT/Tri, and cyclocross. However, there's been one big chunk of the bike world that we've totally missed out on: mountain.

Well not anymore! We're excited to announce that we are in the prototyping and testing phase of some, how should we put it, BAD ASS new wheels and components specifically for ripping up singletrack. We've got our product testers putting the new gear through the paces, including the test of truth in the Leadville 100. We're experiencing lots of thumbs up so far, and lots of excited hoots, and here's why:

Wheels: we plan to launch our mountain line with alloy wheels for traditional 26 and 29ers. Our goal is to create wheels that are stiff and strong, have bombproof durability, and still come in at an impressively low weight. And of course, we're going to do it all using our direct-to-consumer business model to offer a competitive price point and incredible value. If we can make a wheelset that helps riders upgrade their performance, shave weight, and do it all without breaking the bank then we'll have succeeded in our quest. As stated previously, we're still in the prototyping phase, but we can say for sure that our wheels will feature a version of our Six-Sixty hubs for lightning-fast three degree engagement, and interchangeable end caps for all popular axle designs.

Handlebars: carbon is the way of the future. It's lighter, it's stiffer, and it makes a normal bike look like a NASA rocket. We're experimenting with a few different designs to determine the best shape, rise, and bend for carbon mountain bike bars. While stiffness, strength and low weight are paramount, we're also mindful that different types of riding demand different styles of bar. The guy racing a full suspension 26 might need slightly different bars than the guy racing the single speed 29er. Our goal is to develop a few bars that live up to our high standards of performance and can meet the needs of different styles of riding.

Bonus: one of the best parts of diving headlong into mountain biking is that it's given us the opportunity to test our other components on the dirt. The feedback we've received has been incredible. Our carbon rail SLC saddles, stems, Ionic seatpost, and carbon cages have all logged many hundreds of miles on demanding singletrack and have lived up to lofty expectations. We're proud to certify that these products are ready to shred the gnar.

This marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Williams. We are fired up to get these new products into production and we can't wait to share them with you!

(As soon as we have more info, pictures, reviews, and a launch date we'll post it on the Mountain section of our website, facebook, and twitter.)