Submitted by
Alexey
a Cross Country Rider
from Moscow, Russia Date Reviewed: November 1, 2008
Favorite Trail:
suburb woods and parks
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$85.00
Strengths:
Did not true a single time in 5 years. ASYM design works well!
Weaknesses:
Naked aluminum outer surface gets dark and greasy with time, uncleanable. Retro design.
Similar Products Used:
Ritchey WCS (unwelded joint, disaster with v-brakes)
Bike Setup:
Klein Attitude hardtail, xt-xtr mix
Bottom Line:
Mine are Ceramic with XTR v-brakes. Everything else is the same. Had a very good initial build with Ritchey WCS hubs and DT 2.0/1.8 spokes (32h).
I am 5'10', 155 lbs, do not ride mountains but bunnyhop a lot in the city as well as on rooty trails. I would call it aggressive XC.
No problem with the wheel stamina at all. After approx 3000 kilometres the sidewalls are in perfect condition, and I ride in the range of +30 to -15 Celcius.
The braking is not perfect, but it has nothing to do with the rim design and construction, so 5 chilis for all.
P.S. Heavier riders may find the rims not perfectly bulletproof, but this would not be the rim fault, IMHO, taking into account the rim's weight.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Brian White
a Weekend Warrior
from Medford, OR, USA Date Reviewed: July 3, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Mt Ashland to Lithia Park
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$219.00
Purchased At:
Performance Bike.com
Strengths:
Wheels have been bullet proof for bike commute and off road. Have been, and still is, true and straight. I weigh 200+ and have not had a problem UNTIL .............
Weaknesses:
Cracks around spoke eyelets, (8 of the 32), on the drive side of the OCB rim.
Similar Products Used:
Going to try the Sun Rhyno Lites.
Bike Setup:
1991 Zaskar LE with Judy SL w/ 3" kit. "Hardtail Holdout". Have been used for 65% bike commute on Richey Tom Slicks (26x1)at 105 psi and 35% on Panaracer Fire XC 2.1s off road.
Bottom Line:
On my last downhill blast with my full suspension cohorts, (4,300 ft in 13 mi), I noticed the rim rubbing the left inner chain stay. When I was washing the bike and wiping it down, I noticed cresent shaped cracks around the spoke ringlets on the right side of the rim face. Wheel is unstable and no longer safe to ride. I was suprised that this rear rim failed me after so much good riding.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Lo-Fi Superfly
a Cross Country Rider
from Colorado Date Reviewed: June 10, 2005
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$80.00
Purchased At:
mtnhighcyclery.com
Strengths:
Very Durable
Weaknesses:
None
Similar Products Used:
Usual array of mavic and the like
Bike Setup:
Intense Tracer, XTR, Talus Fork, King hubs and headset, Easton carbon bars and seatpost
Bottom Line:
I'm afraid I have to disagree with most of the other reviewers. I have had the same pair for five seasons of abuse and they STILL work. I'd never had the same rims for more than one year before I built these up. I never even had the wheelset trued (which probably speaks more about the the builder than the rims). I ride hard too. Lots of technical stuff and lots of 100-mile and 24-hour/2 person races.
Has the design changed since I bought my rims a few years back, or did I just get lucky enough to not wear my stuff down as fast as everybody else?
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Submitted by
Tom Wiard
a Cross Country Rider
from colorado Date Reviewed: February 11, 2005
Favorite Trail:
colorado trail/porcupine rim
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
stayed true
Weaknesses:
side walls bent after 1 year and were wearing through
Similar Products Used:
mavic crossrocs-mavic 1oo seies
Bike Setup:
titus/over the edge racer x 100-marzochi sl-xt -thompson-avid rim brakes
Bottom Line:
The sidewalls wore out very quickly without much mud riding(coving from brake wear) Than the sidewall started bending out and made the braking inconsistant. i weigh 170 and do jump off of 1-2 foot ledges
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Rob
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbia, Md Date Reviewed: May 16, 2004
Favorite Trail:
Avalon
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$50.00
Purchased At:
local shop
Strengths:
Asym design helps keep wheels true. Great entry level rim. Relatively light weight. Wheels hold true even from day one. These rims have never seen a broken spoke or cracked nipple.
Weaknesses:
All rims will eventually wear out from braking. My rims usually last about one and half yrs to two. On my first set the back rim finally cracked after two years (but didn't collase ) I knew I had been pushing it and that it was due to fail so I credited the failure to my own short sightedness
Bike Setup:
Trek 9800 hard tail( carbon frame )Manitou Elite shock, XTR brakes, 32 spokes front and back, DT Dlb butted spokes, alloy nipples, Panaracer FireXCPro 2.1 tires, Shimano XT rear hub, Sun/Ringle front hub
Bottom Line:
These rims hold up very well considering what MTB'ers do to them. The rims I have now I've had for almost two years. The back rim is starting to track (wear down) I ride all year long on classic east coast single track. Hilly, rocky, rooty, and muddy at times. I learned you can prolong rim life by staying away from mud as much as possible and making sure your brakes ( rim brakes ) are aligned properly. Also check spoke tension once in a while (just to be sure) My next set of wheels will be built with the ceramic version which should give me even better braking and rim life. However, if you're catching big air or doing a lot of down hilling I'd go with a more beefed up rim. The only air I catch is no more than 1-3 feet. I also suggest you buy the rims and have the wheel built by your local shop. That way you can look the Man in the eye if something goes wrong with a poorly built wheel.
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Submitted by
thebronze
a Cross Country Rider
from texas Date Reviewed: January 27, 2004
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$120.00
Strengths:
Pretty good combo of strength, light weight, Offset, and durability
Weaknesses:
Sidewalls dent easy
Similar Products Used:
217, 517, sun rlyte, dt xr4.1d
Bike Setup:
brodie steel
Bottom Line:
Were good for about 6 months, then I hit a rock in a creek crossing and wham, that was it. Big ass dent in the sidewall, tore my python lite too....oh well I got the whole super stock set for $120
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Randy
a Cross Country Rider
from Marin Date Reviewed: December 27, 2003
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Bottom Line:
I agree wholeheartedly with the previous reviewers about the weak sidewalls. Hit a waterbar on my last ride and the sidewall bent out. Really haven't ridden them all that much since I bought them. Never had this problem with other rims, notably Mavics. I certainly wouldn't buy these again, though I don't think they make them anymore for tubed tires.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
joebt
a
from athens, oh Date Reviewed: March 25, 2003
Favorite Trail:
sells park, lake hope, anything involving speed
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$60.00
Strengths:
break well at speed
Weaknesses:
sidewalls very weak, replacing them after only a few good rides in the woods on a full suspension bike. bends all over, needed to be trued 2 or 3 times, once after two months of just road riding, very disappointed i wasted my hard earned money on these and took the suggestion of my LBS, because not only were they heavy but the side walls have nice sized dents in at least five places. Making it worse is that i run high tire pressure.
Bike Setup:
GT STS(full suspension), manitou scareb, deore hubs, lx derailers. were also used on a fisher wahoo, with similar setup
Bottom Line:
not worth the money, my stock rims lasted longer on fisher wahoo, with more abuse and more riding time.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Sunshine
a Cross Country Rider
from Fort Collins, CO, USA Date Reviewed: January 11, 2003
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
this rim stays true and round.
Weaknesses:
weak sidewalls
Similar Products Used:
sun rhyno-lite, mavic 317
Bike Setup:
titus loco-moto
Bottom Line:
I did not have to true this wheel very often but I beleive the sidewalls on this rim are weak. I run a Tioga DH 2.1 on the rear with ample pressure and I have two spots on the rim outer rim wall that are collapsed. I pounded them out but smooth braking has been lost. Also, the spoke nipples are pulling out of the rim (the spoke tension had been checked when the wheels arrived pre-built).
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Will
a
from Corvallis, OR Date Reviewed: October 21, 2002
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Purchased At:
25
Strengths:
Asymmetrical design leads to good spoke bracing.
Weaknesses:
Pathetically weak sidewalls! Razor thin sidewalls = very bad design. After putting about 200 miles on this thing the sidewalls were caving in from braking and the rim would literally cave in under a tire lever! When I inflated the tire, the pressure on the bead would cause the rim to noticably bulge out. Weak weak weak weak.
Bottom Line:
I got this rim at a shop I once worked in for next to nothing because nobody else would buy it (weenies wanted Mavics, smart trail riders and DHers rode Suns). I laced it up with radial on the non drive and 3 cross on the drive side and used it as a spare for my hardtail. It always stayed perfectly true and round, the sidewalls just quickly failed under the basic stresses that all rims must endure. Take it from a bike mechanic with 8 years of experience: don't buy this rim if you use tire levers or rim brakes because it just isn't up to it. I'll stick to Sun from now on.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
roger
a Weekend Warrior
from piscataway nj Date Reviewed: July 30, 2002
Favorite Trail:
dirt hills water rocks& roots
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Purchased At:
somerville cyclery
Strengths:
Have stayed true, fairly light
Weaknesses:
none
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
see klein additude comp 1999
Bottom Line:
at 200+lbs and not afraid to hit hard I give these some abuse and the onlt thing I see differand is the brake wall doesn't show those nice groove it had and the ink on the stikers are washing away (I know,that's really bad ) will buy them again have osb on rear and regular up front love em
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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