Frequently Asked Questions

The wheels are hand made in our facilities in Michigan. All parts and materials are sourced domestically whenever possible. Bearings and some screws/bolts/hardware are sometimes produced internationally. All other hub components were designed and are fabricated right in our facility. We even built the molds for the wheels. We have been building wheels of this type for over 30 years.

Yes, the wheels are made from a carbon fiber composite material with a high concentration of carbon fiber and are injection molded. This process allows for a very durable wheel at an affordable price. The Encore wheel is the lowest priced USA made carbon fiber wheel on the market. The hubs are machined from aircraft grade aluminum. Some components are various types of steel.

We offer a one year warranty, which covers any manufacturing defects. More info on the warranty can be found here (link).

No. Forward Motion Technologies, Inc. is not and was not Aerospoke. Aerospoke was still producing wheels when Forward Motion Technologies began. Some of the employees of FMT are former originals from Aerospoke with decades of experience. Their knowledge was instrumental in developing the Encore wheel and taking it to a whole new level. FMT wheel and hub parts are not compatible with Aerospoke wheels. We are sorry, but we cannot help with parts or service for your Aerospoke wheel.

We manufacture a700c / 29er wheel size exclusively. Our library of available hub types can interface with our wheel to be compatible with a large variety of bikes including road bikes, 29er bikes of various kinds, fixed gear/track bikes, cruisers and more! If you have any questions regarding compatibility of our wheels with your bike, or need help choosing, feel free to give us a call or send us an email(link) and we can help you out. It is helpful to know the year, make and model of the bike you are calling about when inquiring.

Matching paint or powdercoat on a bicycle is very difficult. Even with proper codes, differences in prep, materials, and other application and environmental variables can result in differences in shades, tones and gloss levels. It is recommended to find a contrasting color wheel to compliment your bike. Sure, you can probably get away with white wheels on a white bike or black wheels on a black bike, but trying to perfectly match a red or blue color is a recipe for disappointment. Our painter uses PPG automotive paints and the wheels are painted to order in an automotive finishing booth. They are finished with a matte clearcoat. Custom colors and options are available, let us know your ideas for your project and we can help direct you to some color choices.

These are industry terms. If you are going to use rim brakes, you need MACHINED rims. For us, this simply means that the aluminum rim is exposed and is suitable for rim braking. If you are using disc brakes, you have the choice of “machined” or “non-machined” when choosing a painted wheel. A painted wheel is any of our wheels, except for the “Raw” color. ALL RAW WHEELS ARE MACHINED BY DEFAULT and have the silver aluminum rim exposed. A fully painted wheel, aluminum rim and all, is “non-machined.” This wheel cannot be used for rim braking. Non-machined is a popular choice for some fixed gear wheels and disc brake compatible wheels. NEVER USE RIM BRAKES ON AN ENCORE FULLY PAINTED (NON-MACHINED) WHEEL. Doing so can cause injury or death from decreased stopping power. Still confused?? Machined = rim brakes, OR disc brakes. Non-machined = disc brakes or no brakes.

Currently, there are two major types of disc brake rotors on bikes. The first uses 6 bolts or screws to attach the disc brake rotor to the hub. The second uses a rotor that has a spline on it and fits onto a corresponding spline on the end of the hub. Our disc brake compatible hubs use the center lock spline licensed by Shimano. If your bike came with the 6-bolt rotors, you will either need new Center Lock rotors, or you can use adapters which are readily available and fairly inexpensive.