“If you want to know the price, you probably can’t afford it” is as apt to THM Carbones’s carbon bike components as to a yacht. THM says that its range is engineered without compromise and at the forefront of what is feasible in cycle components.
It makes some of the lightest cranksets, forks and brakes in the world, with all its components hand built in North Germany.
Founded by Thomas Merten, the company was bought last year by Italian component maker 3T, to bolster its premium offering. It’s also allowed 3T to share know-how and marketing.
As part of this, THM now has its own e-commerce website with products shipped direct to customers in Europe, Asia and Canada. US customers will have their own dedicated US-located warehouse.
941 Euros worth of patented German crankset engineering. Rings are extra.
Previously, getting hold of THM components had been something of a problem for the brand’s customers. According to 3T’s president René Wiertz: “Many customers have asked if we can supply direct, because they weren’t able to buy THM products in local stores.
With the new website and online store, we’ve addressed this pressing need.”
The 2017 range of THM componentry comprises cranksets, a fork, a brakeset and a stem. The 941 Euro (plus shipping) Clavicula SE crankset is all-carbon with an integrated carbon axle.
THM says it’s extraordinarily stiff in all planes, with a patented carbon-to-carbon join between the left crank arm and the axle.
THM's Clavicula M3 crankset will take an SRM power meter spider for an all-up weight of 780 grams
THM boasts a weight of 293 grams for a compact crank and 302 grams for a standard. You’ll need to buy rings to add to that; THM recommends Praxis Works’s models.
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The Clavicula M3 modular crank system will work with either standard or compact rings and with SRM power meter spiders. At 740 grams, THM says it’s the world’s lightest SRM set-up. Price for the crankset is 641 Euros. There’s also a mountain bike four-arm version available at the same price.
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You’ll need a matching stem to go with that. Weighing 78 grams for a 100mm version in carbon with titanium bolts, the Tibia stem will set you back 409 Euros. In comparison the 260 gram Scapula CT Road fork looks a bit of a bargain – it’s only 688 Euros.
Pair all that lot to the 1008 Euro 240 gram (without brakepads) Fibula brakeset and you’re good to go. Apart from a suitably spendy wheelset that is.
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Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.
He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.
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