29er wheels

[creaky]

So I'm in the market for a new wheelset for XC /trails. I've got a set of Roval Control Carbon at the moment (cost me $1200ish) and they are a nice stiff wheelset at 1600g.

I'm tossing up another set of the same, or the SL versions of the Rovals ($400 more to me) at 1380g. The SLs are only 24/28 spoke which worries me a bit as I usually go for 32s. Anyone flogged a set of these mercilessly with success or are they likely to be fragile ?

Other options are LB rims or Zelvy rims on CX rays on CK rear and AC front hubs (hubs I have already) which will cost around $900 to $1200 built and weigh in around 1600g. Problem with this option is the convertibility between XD driver and axle standard will cost more with the CK hub. Rovals I am sorted for all options.

Any other suggestions around that budget range ?

Thanks

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I spent 900 on Alex Supercomp rims tied to Hope Pro2 Evo up front and White Industries out back using Sapim Race spokes (32 each). Came out with a 1530 gm wheelset and are pretty tight. Frankly...at that price and weight...why carbon? If you already have the hubs then this setup would be well under 400.

 

[creaky]

I spent 900 on Alex Supercomp rims tied to Hope Pro2 Evo up front and White Industries out back using Sapim Race spokes (32 each). Came out with a 1530 gm wheelset and are pretty tight. Frankly...at that price and weight...why carbon? If you already have the hubs then this setup would be well under 400.

I just googled the Alex supercomp rims ... 450g ea and 18mm inner width doesn't really interest me for this wheelset tbh. WI hubs are nice kit. Surprising weight for a heavyish rim build unless I've got the wrong model ??

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I just googled the Alex supercomp rims ... 450g ea and 18mm inner width doesn't really interest me for this wheelset tbh. WI hubs are nice kit. Surprising weight for a heavyish rim build unless I've got the wrong model ??

Wrong model. My fault. Evo Supercomp. 390 gms. But yeah...narrow at 20mm so not current flavour of the month.

 

[pharmaboy]

I spent 900 on Alex Supercomp rims tied to Hope Pro2 Evo up front and White Industries out back using Sapim Race spokes (32 each). Came out with a 1530 gm wheelset and are pretty tight. Frankly...at that price and weight...why carbon? If you already have the hubs then this setup would be well under 400.

In spite of the popular obsession with weight, carbon is not about weight in wheels - it's about stiffness laterally so they track with more confidence ( even self confessed numpties say they can feel this in the front ), and more to the point, staying straight . Lightish wheels are flexy and go out of true easily.

 

[Pastavore]

So anyone got any knowledge of the Halo Vapour wheelsets?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-vapour-29er-mtb-wheelset/


Not much available about them on the Googles.

 

[Ackland]

For that price I'd spend slightly more and get hope hoops.

 

[Pastavore]

For that price I'd spend slightly more and get hope hoops.

Yeah, I probably agree but $80 is $80. Just interested if anyone has any hands on experience with them.

 

[pharmaboy]

[HR][/HR]G

Yeah, I probably agree but $80 is $80. Just interested if anyone has any hands on experience with them.

And the first fuck up when you can't get x y part from anywhere, you'll say to myself " why the fuck didn't I buy the hopes!" . I know this is how I'd feel because I've played the game and lost

 

[SF Trailboy]

Yeah, I probably agree but $80 is $80. Just interested if anyone has any hands on experience with them.

Mate not sure what axles you are running but CRC has some DT Swiss M1700's (2014) on sale for around the same price as the vapours. They are currently listed individually in the January sale section as front and rear wheels. Spares (& axle adaptors) will be better at least and they have some reasonable reviews...http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/au/en/clearance/wheels?f=4294957821

 

[Pastavore]

Mate not sure what axles you are running but CRC has some DT Swiss M1700's (2014) on sale for around the same price as the vapours. They are currently listed individually in the January sale section as front and rear wheels. Spares (& axle adaptors) will be better at least and they have some reasonable reviews...http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/au/en/clearance/wheels?f=4294957821

Thanks mate. I am old school QR at both ends, preference is for something adaptable like the Hopes. But I am not actually buying at the moment, I really am just interested to hear if anyone has purchased the Halos, and if so, what they think of them

 

[Bodin]

Thanks mate. I am old school QR at both ends, preference is for something adaptable like the Hopes. But I am not actually buying at the moment, I really am just interested to hear if anyone has purchased the Halos, and if so, what they think of them

LOL @ 3 "DON'T BUY THE HALOS but I have no idea if they're good or not" responses.

I don't think you're going to get what you're after here, but I'm interested to see if someone comes through for you.

 

[SF Trailboy]

Thanks mate. I am old school QR at both ends, preference is for something adaptable like the Hopes. But I am not actually buying at the moment, I really am just interested to hear if anyone has purchased the Halos, and if so, what they think of them

No worries the m1700's use 350 hubs so they are as adaptable as hopes fyi.

 

[k3n!f]

I'm looking at building up some new wheels later this year. My bike came with Notubes Crest rims and DT Swiss 240 hubs at 1580g. I am thinking of getting some new rims and keeping the bomb proof and faultless 240's. I'm looking to drop some weight off them and I'm well below weight limits at 66kg.

Enve rims seem to be poor value at 382g and $899 US each.

Light Bicycle are hard to ignore for value at 365g and $165 US each.

Does anyone have any experience with some of the lesser known rim brands?
Thinking Nox, AX lightness etc?

Budget is flexible.

 

[Ackland]

If AX lightness is on the cards your budget must be good...

I'd look at spoke choice as well for such a high end build.
Sapim cx ray or superspokes would be nice.

Also look at pillar ti spokes.

 

[pharmaboy]

Are you having trouble with the crests?

Generally there is no weight to lose at your rider weight, you are better off looking at tyre selection on a race to race basis - eg at your weight you could get away without snakeskin type protection and could run some of the stupid 500g tyres without big problems.

You get stiffer wheels with carbon that require less truing, not sure at your weight you would get any benefit at all.

 

[k3n!f]

If AX lightness is on the cards your budget must be good...

I'd look at spoke choice as well for such a high end build.
Sapim cx ray or superspokes would be nice.

Also look at pillar ti spokes.

Yeah budget is pretty generous, dunno how much they cost though. Surely they must be cheaper than Enve?

I was thinking Sapim CX Ray or just going with DT Revolutions.

Are you having trouble with the crests?

Generally there is no weight to lose at your rider weight, you are better off looking at tyre selection on a race to race basis - eg at your weight you could get away without snakeskin type protection and could run some of the stupid 500g tyres without big problems.

You get stiffer wheels with carbon that require less truing, not sure at your weight you would get any benefit at all.

Not having any trouble with the Crests, so I'm in no rush to upgrade. I'm already running the non-Snakeskin Racing Ralphs at 525g without issues. I've had three flats which didn't seal in four years (~12000km) with these tires in Canberra.

Some of the Fancy Euro brands have some freaking light wheels <1200g:

http://www.extralite.com/Products/CarboTense 29.htm

I'm keen to keep my hubs though, so I'm just looking for rims at the moment.

 

[Ackland]

Yeah budget is pretty generous, dunno how much they cost though. Surely they must be cheaper than Enve?

I was thinking Sapim CX Ray or just going with DT Revolutions.



Not having any trouble with the Crests, so I'm in no rush to upgrade. I'm already running the non-Snakeskin Racing Ralphs at 525g without issues. I've had three flats which didn't seal in four years (~12000km) with these tires in Canberra.

Some of the Fancy Euro brands have some freaking light wheels

I'm keen to keep my hubs though, so I'm just looking for rims at the moment.

I think you'll find AX lightness to be in the vicinity of double Enve.

My Tune Schwarzbrenner wheels are 1240g using Tune princess skyline front hub, tune Kong rear (tune king is slightly lighter 20g) and Sapim superspokes with tune rims. Wheels are laced with a mix of radial, 2x and 3x with spoke crossings carbon wrapped for extra stiffness

The hubs are amazing and have been as maintenance free as my dt240s.

At high tension, a lightweight bladed spoke resists stretch and wind up a lot more than dt revolutions.

If you're sticking with dt then go aerolites.

If you want more info on the Tunes, pm me. I am working FIFO Canberra in goulburn at the moment and could get them there for you to look at.

 

[k3n!f]

I think you'll find AX lightness to be in the vicinity of double Enve.

My Tune Schwarzbrenner wheels are 1240g using Tune princess skyline front hub, tune Kong rear (tune king is slightly lighter 20g) and Sapim superspokes with tune rims. Wheels are laced with a mix of radial, 2x and 3x with spoke crossings carbon wrapped for extra stiffness

The hubs are amazing and have been as maintenance free as my dt240s.

At high tension, a lightweight bladed spoke resists stretch and wind up a lot more than dt revolutions.

If you're sticking with dt then go aerolites.

If you want more info on the Tunes, pm me. I am working FIFO Canberra in goulburn at the moment and could get them there for you to look at.

That weight is impressive, I was shooting for 1300-1400g. Do you know if you can buy the Tune rims after market or do they only come in a wheelset? Do Tune make them or buy them from someone?

I would prefer to avoid exotic hubs. At least with DT Swiss I know they will last forever, and if they don't, parts are really easy to get.

 

[Ackland]

That weight is impressive, I was shooting for 1300-1400g. Do you know if you can buy the Tune rims after market or do they only come in a wheelset? Do Tune make them or buy them from someone?

I would prefer to avoid exotic hubs. At least with DT Swiss I know they will last forever, and if they don't, parts are really easy to get.

Wheels are 706g Rear and 537g Front = 1243g

Tune Rims are hand made in Austria by Xentis but use a different custom layup to the Xentis rims.
As far as I know they're only coming on complete wheels due to their cost (>1K each if bought separately)

The Tune hubs use a larger dia bearing than DT240 and IMO they roll smoother. The bearings are pretty easy to come by and Krischan keeps good stock of all spare parts for the hubs. They're a pretty simple pawl system and have easy to swap end caps and freehub bodies.

I do understand what you mean about hubs though.

I had a set of DT240 rear with American Classic 130 Front (AC was 30g lighter than a DT240 Front) that were laced to crests with Revos at 1450g. They were really nice but the front flexed. Adding more tension to remove the front flex just caused the Revos to stretch and the wheel quickly became untrueable!

I've had those same hubs re-laced to 30mm Light Bike Carbon rims with Revo front and supercomp rear ~1600g as my training wheels.
Revos are better with a carbon rim but TBH I just used them because I had a half box of spares lying around that I wanted to use. On the carbon rim they haven't been as noticeably flexy.

I definitely think that the change to carbon rims has been worthwhile, a stiffer wheel accelerates a lot faster as it transfers the force better.

I have a set of these rims drilled for internal nipples sitting around as emergency replacements for the Tune rims.... The finish on them is excellent.

http://www.light-bicycle.com/bead-h...ike-rim-tubeless-compatible.html#.VPeW5S6Buao