The sharp end of performance and the upper end of price is the realm that the Industry Nine Hydra 2 Enduro wheels occupy.
A major upgrade over the original Hydra hubs are the core of the Hydra2 Enduro wheels from Industry Nine. There’s custom options to boot and a princely price tag whatever colour you end up going for.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Hydra2 hub
- Hollow bead, 30mm internal width, alloy rim
- Straight pull spokes
- 870 engagement points (0.41 degrees)
- 32h only
- 6-bolt only
- 27.5, 29″ and Mullet options
- Hyperglide, Microspline and XD drivers
- Boost, Boost Rockshox Torque Cap (front only), and QR141 hub spacing
- 12 custom anodised colours
- £1515.00 RRP (£1767.00 as tested)
- IndustryNine.com
In Spring 2025, Industry Nine launched their much-anticipated Hydra2 that left no stone unturned in a bid for greater longevity and smoother rolling to their high-engagement hub offering. With 870 engagement points on offer, the Hydra2 is very much at the wicked fast end of the engagement spectrum, even compared to the already fast Halo Skelta Supadrive wheels.
There’s more to the Hydra2 than just industry-leading engagement (0.41 degrees for the Hydra2 vs 3 degrees for the Halo Skelta Supadrive). The new hubs are laced onto Industry Nine’s 30mm internal width alloy rim, the graphics for which are sublimated onto the shot-peened finish, meaning they’re unlikely to be peeling off any time soon. A hollow bead is designed to reduce the chance of pinch flats but spreading the load of a hit over a larger area.
With 12 different custom anodised colours on offer, the wheels are visually striking, and show off the custom spokes that the Hydra2 wheels use. The thread is machine directly to the spoke that requires no nipple in the rim with tension being applied as the spoke threads into the hub. Far more straightforward than J-bend spokes and nipples, but likely meaning you’ll need to carry your own spares as they’ll not be in everyone’s tool box or local bike shop. Luckily, you get spares included in the majority colour, should you have a sporty-looking set like these.
The Maxxis Double Down rubber fitted to these wheels were fairly easy to mount with no tools needed, and inflated happily with a Topeak Mountain Morph. Rim tape and valves are fitted in the factory, making the tubeless setup that bit easier.
Reduced rolling is achieved by making use of better sealing, full contact lip and dust shields, whilst the bearings used have reduced radial preload. All this also has the benefit of massively improving durability by reducing load and improving sealing. A redesigned rear axle is more than 50% thicker than its predecessor too, improving stiffness, that helps the bearings last longer.
The Industry Nine Hydra2 Enduro wheels would swap out the Roval Traverse HD Carbon hoops aboard my Specialized Levo 4 test machine. With the Roval numbers coming in at £1250 retail, they’re a fair bit more money to the Industry Nine wheels they’d be replaced by, the latter being about 70g lighter.
Almost immediately, the extra twang offered by the alloy wheels compared to the carbon ones made its mark. Whether it was rattling through the chunder and compressions, or loading into corners, the Hydra2 Enduro wheels felt I could still taste what dirt was beneath my tyres, but without kicking my teeth out. The overall stiffness of the Levo 4 being tempered somewhat by the give of the alloy hoops.
This compliance should not be misconstrued as sloppiness though, the wheels are plenty stiff enough in the right places, feeling taught and strong under load and power, but with enough give to be forgiving and let you charge that little bit harder.
With the inherent ‘give’ that an ebike motor exhibits, the monstrous quantity of pick ups on offer with the Hydra2 gives the bike an even more direct feel than the 100Nm/DT Swiss 350 offered as stock. This does mean you will get exactly the power you ask for in a far more direct manner, but will also allow for further fine tuning of support modes. On technical climbs, the extra engagement is a boon.
Despite a winter of use, the wheels show little sign of the conditions and riding they’ve endured. Broad rim walls have seen off some fairly hefty strikes that would have stolen the wind from lesser wheels, and the buzz, comfort and durability they have offered can’t be sniffed at.
You can check out the Industry Nine Hydra2 Enduro wheels over on their website here.
