I received a Reynolds Assault from a customer for work.
It's the latest model with a completely redesigned logo and everything.
During inspection, it had only a slight wobble and no real issues.
I happened to have both old and new rims in the shop, so I got a chance to compare them.
What changed wasn't the rim—it was the hub.
The front wheel has a wide-flange hub that doesn't look like DT,
laced 20H radial,
The rear wheel also has a hub that doesn't look like DT, laced 24H with 2-cross on both sides.
It's no longer radial-laced on the freewheel side.
Moreover, both sides are fully woven through to the final cross.
It's not different-diameter lacing on each side (Reynolds did have a period when they were semi-competition level),
but it's substantially better than the previous model's rear wheel.
That unique wiggly feeling is gone.
The left end is a slip-fit against the hub axle,
but it's far too loose to be called a press-fit—
when you remove the plastic protective piece inserted in the end's hole during packing,
this end comes out first (watch out for losing it).
The hub axle is aluminum,
though on their RZR it's carbon instead.
As I thought, it's not a DT freehub body.
It's a standard pawl-spring design, not a star ratchet.
Setting aside the question of star ratchet's structural advantages,
the DT rear hub freehub body has dimensions that diverge far too much from the standard Shimano sprocket position—that's what bothers me personally.
As long as you only swap DT freewheel rear wheels with each other, or use just one wheel,
there's no problem.
The spokes were Sapim, so it looks like they've made a clean break from DT.
The tubeless-ready rim tape is already applied,
with a hole drilled only at the valve hole—like a straw poked through.
When you spin the wheel, it makes a rattling noise, though...
Without peeling off the rim tape, there's no way to get at the balloon remnants stuck inside except through the valve hole.
I managed to pull out the debris.
It's the latest model with a completely redesigned logo and everything.
During inspection, it had only a slight wobble and no real issues.
I happened to have both old and new rims in the shop, so I got a chance to compare them.
What changed wasn't the rim—it was the hub.
The front wheel has a wide-flange hub that doesn't look like DT,
laced 20H radial,
The rear wheel also has a hub that doesn't look like DT, laced 24H with 2-cross on both sides.
It's no longer radial-laced on the freewheel side.
Moreover, both sides are fully woven through to the final cross.
It's not different-diameter lacing on each side (Reynolds did have a period when they were semi-competition level),
but it's substantially better than the previous model's rear wheel.
That unique wiggly feeling is gone.
The left end is a slip-fit against the hub axle,
but it's far too loose to be called a press-fit—
when you remove the plastic protective piece inserted in the end's hole during packing,
this end comes out first (watch out for losing it).
The hub axle is aluminum,
though on their RZR it's carbon instead.
As I thought, it's not a DT freehub body.
It's a standard pawl-spring design, not a star ratchet.
Setting aside the question of star ratchet's structural advantages,
the DT rear hub freehub body has dimensions that diverge far too much from the standard Shimano sprocket position—that's what bothers me personally.
As long as you only swap DT freewheel rear wheels with each other, or use just one wheel,
there's no problem.
The spokes were Sapim, so it looks like they've made a clean break from DT.
The tubeless-ready rim tape is already applied,
with a hole drilled only at the valve hole—like a straw poked through.
When you spin the wheel, it makes a rattling noise, though...
Without peeling off the rim tape, there's no way to get at the balloon remnants stuck inside except through the valve hole.
I managed to pull out the debris.