Boyd Jocassee 650b Wheels: Gravel from the Ground Up

Gravel and multi-surface adventure riding represents the fastest-growing segment in cycling. For too long, we’ve been tethered to tarmac by our 23mm tires and rigid carbon race machines. A sea change has happened and riders now eagerly crave any opportunity to keep rolling on, even when the asphalt ends. We just need our equipment to keep up. This is where products like Boyd Jocassee wheels come in – a gravel-from-the-ground-up product.

PELOTON

Boyd’s Cycling of Greenville, South Carolina has met the gravel revolution head on with its new Jocassee 650b carbon clincher disc wheel. Started in 2009, Boyd’s Cycling has steadily grown its product line. The company released its first proprietary, wind-tunnel-tested carbon rim in 2013 and has continued to innovate each year. Named for a lake in South Carolina’s Devil’s Fork State Park, the Jocassee is Boyd’s first gravel-specific 650b carbon wheel.

A former pro himself, the company’s founder, Boyd Johnson, has witnessed the gravel scene’s growth first hand. He’s ridden it on everything from a road bike with 25mm tires to a CX bike with 40mm tires. As the tires grew looking for traction and compliance he felt geometry change, gear ratios shift, and handling slow. This led him to develop a smaller wheel around a 47mm tire size – a 650b with a 47mm tires mimics a 700c rim with a 25mm tire that could be run at cush 34 to 38PSI, while preserving geometry, handling and gear rations. In short, it makes a gravel bike handle more like an every day road rig, yet capable of tackling deep, shifting gravel.

The Jocassee 650b is Boyd’s answer. It’s a tubeless-ready disc-brake carbon clincher wheel set designed to take riders deeper into the heart of adventure with the new crop of 650b 40mm and beyond Road Plus tires from brands like Panaracer and WTB. Since a typical gravel event winner in the midwest averages over 20mph for hours and hours, Boyd wanted to add some aero help, so it’s 36mm deep with a 24mm internal width and a hookless rim bed. Laced with Sapim CX Ray spokes to Boyd’s own Quest centerlock hubs, the $1650 Jocassee can be ordered with either 24/28 or 28/32 spoke counts. For an extra $300 Boyd will lace a set up with White Industry CLD hubs instead.
$1650 / 1550grams (with Quest hubs); boydcycling.com.