XC Lite

Why XC Lite?

XC Lite is a specialist XC racing wheelset - a purpose‑built tool designed to help you get the most speed and efficiency out of you and your bike. It’s not a multi‑purpose trail wheelset and it’s not intended for general riding. XC Lite exists for one job: to go fast under race conditions.

Every aspect of the rim, spoke options, and overall construction is tuned for the demands of modern cross‑country racing. Sharp, responsive handling, rapid acceleration, and efficient power transfer. If you want the lightest, cleanest, most direct feeling from your bike during an XC race effort, this is the wheelset tuned for it.

XC Lite suits riders who know exactly what they want from their race wheels: maximum efficiency on climbs, crisp handling through tight sections, energy-saving comfort on descents and confident precision at speed.

XC Lite wheels can be as light as 988 grams per pair, including tubeless tape and wheel decals.

World Championship Proven

An early prototype of the XC Lite was ridden by Sammie Maxwell to win the U23 XC World Championship and kickstart her professional career.  While Sammie's perseverance and undeniable talent would have seen her win on basically any combination of bike and wheels, her choosing to use the XC Lites still proved their performance potential at the highest level of international competition.

Why Wheelworks?

We’ve been designing and building high‑end wheels for nearly two decades. Over that time we’ve learned what actually lasts under New Zealand conditions: wet winters, sharp rocks, rooty climbs, and riders who don’t baby their gear.

Every XC Lite wheelset reflects that experience. We select components based on testing, not marketing, and we build and tune every wheel in our Wellington workshop to eye-watering levels of precision. That lets us match component types, spoke lacing, and tension to your weight, bike, and riding style instead of forcing you into a one‑size‑fits‑all catalogue option.

Lifetime guarantee

We back our work. XC Lite wheels are covered by our lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, plus our lifetime guarantee against impact damage and broken spokes under normal riding conditions.

We build XC Lite wheels to be ridden. A well‑looked‑after wheelset shouldn’t regularly break spokes, lose tension, or fall badly out of true.

Our lifetime warranty is there to cover anything that slips through the cracks with components or wheelbuilding. If there’s an issue that comes back to us, we’ll fix it.

If something we can control goes wrong, we’ll put it right.  For full details of coverage and what counts as crash or impact damage, please refer to our main Wheelworks Lifetime Guarantee.

Rims: light, wide, XC‑focused

Modern XC race courses are technical, punchy, and rough. The XC Lite is designed for this abuse and optimised to enable your best performance in such challenging terrain.
30mm internal-width is wide enough for modern XC tyres so the casing is properly supported and doesn’t squirm in corners.

Differential front and rear rims . Front rims are lighter (257 grams) and use a carbon layup designed for increased vertical compliance. Rear rims (288 grams) have extra material and a different fibre orientation to deal with hard accelerations

• Low profile depth to keep sidewinds in check and compliance on rough ground.
• Reinforced at the bead and spoke bed to handle rock strikes and hard compressions.
• Your new XC Lite wheels will come fitted with light weight, high-flow tubeless valves and tubeless tape.

We’ll recommend the best rim option for your bike, weight, and terrain when you get in touch.

Hookless bead and tubeless‑ready

XC Lite rims use a hookless bead and are fully tubeless‑ready.

• 30mm internal width keeps the tyre locked in place and work with a broad range of tyre casings.
• Rims are shipped with tubeless tape installed and high flow valves so you can go tubeless straight away.
• If you prefer tubes, that’s fine too - the rims work perfectly with standard tube setups.

If you’re new to tubeless or unsure about sealant, tyre choice, or pressures, we’re happy to walk you through the options.

3‑axis spoke nipple drilling

A big contributor to broken spokes is forcing them to bend awkwardly between hub and rim. To avoid that, we drill spoke holes in the XC Lite rims at carefully calculated angles in three dimensions.

This lets the nipple sit in line with the spoke in both side‑to‑side and front‑to‑back directions. Combined with spoke lengths measured to tight tolerances, this reduces stress at the nipple and helps prevent fatigue‑related spoke failures over time.

Our choice of hubs complements this by using angled flanges that point towards the rim, further smoothing the spoke path and increasing long‑term reliability.

Tyre size matching

We’ve designed XC Lite around the tyre sizes that real riders actually use: Fast 2.2–2.4" tyres for racing.  Running these tyres on a properly matched rim keeps the casing round, which:

• Improves small‑bump comfort and grip.
• Makes the front wheel feel more predictable when you lean into corners.
• Reduces the need to over‑inflate tyres just to stop them feeling vague.

If you’re unsure on tyre choice or pressures, we’re happy to talk it through.

Customisation

Each XC Lite wheelset is built to order, ensuring it’s tailored to your specific needs and riding style. With an approximate turnaround time of just one week, we combine speed with precision. Custom-built wheels mean you get exactly what you need—from the right components to the perfect fit—delivering a superior ride experience.

Decals

Decals don’t change how your wheels ride, but they do change how your bike feels when you look at it in the garage.

We cut XC Lite decals from ultralight, high‑quality vinyl which is only 80 microns thick in a wide range of colours. Because each wheelset is built to order, we can match or contrast your frame, fork, or existing Wheelworks wheels.

Want loud and bright, or subtle and stealthy? We can do both.

Max rider weight

XC Lite is optimised for riders up to 85kg using XC race style full suspension or hardtail frames.

For riders over 85kg, or for riders with longer travel Trail oriented bikes where higher lateral and vertical loads can be generated, we recommend our TrailLite wheelset. The TrailLite uses a stiffer, stronger rim profile designed to handle these forces for better performance and durability.

e‑MTB and downcountry use

The XC Lite is aimed at short‑ to mid‑travel XC bikes and is not designed for ebike use.

We’ll help you decide whether XC Lite or one of our other wheelsets such at the TrailLite is the right choice for you.

Spoke and nipple options

We choose spokes and nipples to match you and your bike rather than locking XC Lite into a single fixed recipe.

We have three spoke options: Light, Lighter and Lightest

1. Alpina UltraLite Aero (4.67g each)
2. Alpina HyperLite (3.84g each)
3. Berd Polylite (2.50g each)

Often we’ll mix aluminium nipples (0.392g each) on the front wheel with brass (1.241g each) on the rear, or use brass on the drive‑side only. Those details are part of the custom spec we’ll discuss with you.

All XC Lite wheels are covered by our lifetime guarantee against broken spokes and nipples under normal use.

Hub Options

Erase Hubs

Erase hubs are made by a small and dedicated team in Fernelmont, Belgium. They're precision CNC machined from 6061 aluminium and feature an oversized, light weight ratchet system and titanium freehub body.

Erase hubs are available for both steel spokes and are licensed by Berd Spokes to use their hook flange technology.

• Weight per pair: 125g + 232g = 357g with XD freehub body
• Engagement points: 60
• Freehub body material: Titanium

DT Swiss 180 EXP

DT Swiss hubs set the benchmark for high quality, performance oriented hubs. The 180 EXP is the top of the line hub from DT Swiss and is manufactured in Taiwan.

180 EXP hubs are available only in straight-pull flange type

• Weight: 95g + 185g = 280g per pair with XD freehub body
• Engagement points: 36 (upgradable to 54)
• Freehub body material: Aluminium

In the Box

Your new XC Lite wheels arrive pre-taped and fitted with high-flow tubeless valves, ready to ride straight out of the box.

Tracked courier delivery is free of charge in New Zealand and Australia.

Your wheels will be securely packaged in a custom-made cardboard box, produced in-house on our CNC. The twin-cushion cardboard is made from 68% to 71% recycled material, with the remaining pulp sourced from sustainably managed forests in Kawerau and Tokoroa. The shipping box is designed for multiple uses and is fully recyclable.

We’ve eliminated single-use plastic, styrofoam, and unnecessary ink from our packaging to reduce waste while ensuring your wheels arrive safely.

Production and country of origin

We’re transparent about where XC Lite components come from and how they come together:

Rims: manufactured to our specifications by a specialist carbon partner in mainland China.

Spokes: Alpina spokes are manufactured in Lecco, Italy. Berd spokes are manufactured in Minnesota USA.

Nipples: high‑quality brass and aluminium are produced in Belgium

Hubs: Erase hubs are produced in Belgium, DT Swiss hubs are produced in Taiwan.

Assembly: every wheel is hand‑built, tensioned, and finished in our Wellington workshop.

End of life

At the moment there’s no practical large‑scale recycling stream for carbon rims, but our experience is that a well‑designed carbon rim will outlast multiple aluminium rims used in the same way.

Aluminium hub shells, stainless steel spokes, and brass nipples can be recycled at most metal recyclers once they’ve finally done their duty.

If you ever retire an XC Lite wheelset and aren’t sure what to do with it, get in touch and we’ll help with the best options at the time.

Wrap-Up

XC Lite is built for riders who want a lively, responsive XC wheelset that’s still tough enough for real‑world riding. It brings together our experience designing carbon rims, building thousands of wheels, and supporting riders all over New Zealand and beyond.

If you’re considering a new XC wheelset or an upgrade from stock wheels, we’d love to help you figure out whether XC Lite is the right fit.

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