Shared within the official announcement of Carbon-Ti turning into element provider of UAE Crew Emirates for UCI World Tour highway racing, are some new prototype ultralight carbon-carrier centerlock disc brake rotors. With what appears like a lot of the identical core floating carbon+metal tech as their 2nd-gen 6-bolt rotors, these gen3 centerlock rotors will lastly be capable of loosen up your lightest trendy highway, gravel, cross, and even XC wheels with center-lock hubs…
Carbon-Ti X-Rotor Metal Carbon 3 centerlock rotors
Lengthy attracting the eye of mountain biking weight-weenies, Carbon-Ti has been making 6-bolt carbon rotors for a few years. We’ve been overtly hoping for a centerlock model for years, ever since we noticed them replace their light-weight X-Hub SP with a centerlock interface to avoid wasting weight.
Now, due to a “new partnership for the 2023 biking season” as “an official provider of the UAE Crew Emirates”, Carbon-Ti has teased a more in-depth have a look at their subsequent rotors and given us a glimpse at a few of the different tech the workforce are racing.
Are they actually Centerlock although?
Carbon-Ti formally is referring to them as “new middle lock X-Rotor SteelCarbon 3 disc brake rotors, which will probably be launched in the marketplace quickly”. However they clearly are nonetheless connected with a 6-pin provider, a protecting spacer, and an alloy lockring. Simply now there’s a reshaped carbon provider that’s steady across the widespread 6-bolt interface, probably for safer compatibility with each 6-bolt & centerlock mounting.
What do we all know?
The brand new rotors carry the identical X-Rotor SteelCarbon title as their predecessor – confirming the identical primary tech – simply with a #3 added for this third technology making the change to centerlock, or Heart Lock as Carbon-Ti calls it. In actuality, it appears that evidently what makes these formally centerlock is the truth that Carbon-Ti will now make them accessible with an permitted 6-bolt to centerlock adapter.
The brand new carbon carriers have a bit extra materials to them, suggesting they may weigh a few grams greater than gen2. Additionally they look to be kind of produced from the same 90° alternating carbon weave. However… all the UAE Crew Emirates rotors appear to have curiously been sanded after the carbon was completed, buffing the raised spots within the weave.
In any other case, the outer “semi-floating” chrome steel braking floor of those prototype 160mm discs seems to share the identical form and cutouts as the present gen 2 rotors. Additionally they use the identical titanium rivets with Carbon-Ti’s title laser-etched on them to isolate the braking floor and its warmth buildup from the carbon provider.
Different Carbon-Ti upgrades for UAE Emirates
In addition to the brand new rotors, the Colnago V4Rs race bikes of UAE Crew Emirates had been fitted with Carbon-Ti X-Carboring EVO chainrings that mate hard-anodized aluminum toothed rings onto a carbon fiber provider to shed weight & improve stiffness over the inventory Shimano Dura-Ace rings.
Their ENVE SES 4.5 aero wheels are additionally bolted on with machined alloy X-Lock EVO 12mm thru-axles.
Carbon-Ti says their light-weight elements have already been raced by Tadej Pogačar throughout Amstel Gold Race and Tour of Flanders victories this season. We already knew he was a weight-weenie, recognizing the Darimo seatpost on his prototype Colnago final summer season. We’ll be curious to see what different gram-shaving tech Carbon-Ti could have for him subsequent.
