Submitted by
mtb4123
a Cross Country Rider
from Adelaide
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2010
Strengths: Everything. Superb rim, taken everything I have thrown at it. Street, dirt, very hard riding. Only a few bent spokes, but other than that has lasted everything and is an awesome rim. Very light!
Submitted by
German Joe
a Weekend Warrior
from Germany
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2008
Strengths: Always straight and true. Good looks. Nice for the price.
Weaknesses: I haven't found one yet, and I'm a fat guy Mt biker.
Bottom Line:
Bought these rims as an upgrade from my stock rims during a major rebuild on my old GF hardtail. It was a great choice.
I'm a fat guy that likes the winding trails throught the trees over here in Germany. Long steady climbs and fast downhills are on the menu almost every weekend. I have received many compliments and they look great with muddy Tioga Psycho (tan colored) tires. Bottom line:
Great rims for the price, I couldn't be happier.
Greetings from Germany.
Strengths: Ran it over with my 4Runner in my driveway by mistake...took it to my LBS, had it spun...no problems! it was cradled by an uneven slab in my driveway. been riding it for a year an a half since with no problems. great xc wheelset for the price and weight.
Bike Setup: full xt build, float fork and shock on an edge cycle's titus racer-x
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Joe
a Cross Country Rider
from SLO CA USA
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2008
Strengths: Always true. I have two sets: one on a '98 Schwinn Moab - original owner. 2000 miles on- and off- road, and never need truing. Second bought recently after pleasure with the other set.
Similar Products Used: Mavic 321s, Ferals with Xero hubs
Bike Setup: All XT drivetrain, save for crank - STX.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Kosul
a Weekend Warrior
from Athens,Greece
Date Reviewed: November 3, 2006
Strengths: Very strong and cheap
Weaknesses: Not the lightest but good weight for its price
Bottom Line:
Very strong rims. I do mostly trail riding and the wheels get some constant bashing on rocks at full speed.I have trued the rims just once (just a little). Concerning the weight I don't do any racing so there is no need to have the lightest rig around.
Submitted by
Fergie
a Cross Country Rider
from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Date Reviewed: August 16, 2006
Strengths: It rolls around and around, and around, for years.
Weaknesses: After 2200 miles, I haven't found one yet.
Bottom Line:
The wheels on my bike are one of the few things that are original, and I only replace things that are broken. The hub on my front wheel is experiencing some wear now (side to side action), and my rear wheel (XT hubs) is now disintegrating, with spokes popping after every few rides. The Mavic 221 hubs? still going. I will try to rebuild these wheels this winter, with the same hubs and rims, if possible. Right now, I am waiting for a new rear wheel to come in the mail before this one lets go. These rims have done me right, after several years of taking a beating.
Submitted by
Micheal Desk
a Downhiller
from victoria,britishcolumbia, canada
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2006
Strengths: havent owned one yet...
Weaknesses: your reveiws...
Bottom Line:
Im planning on buying a 32 hole mavic complete on a deore hub for 50$ im a downhill, freeride, dirtjumper on average i hit 8 foot drops everyday but will go up to 12 footer's. plus major downhill and 5 foot tall 10 foot gap dirtjumps. I am not planning on this rim lasting long. just need to get riding again as i blew my mag 30. HOW LONG DO YOU THINK THEY WILL LAST ME? (and im only 120 punds)
Submitted by
Anthony Bowen
a Cross Country Rider
from Panama City, Florida (TAFB)
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2006
Strengths: I have been on these only a few times. They are lighter than the stock rims I have before. The tires go on with ease. I use 2.10 IRC Mythos XC tires. I like the way they look too. Hopefully I will be able to add to this in a year or two. It is nice to see so many rewiews on a product that I will be using a lot of.
Weaknesses: I had some work done to my bike and had to have my wheels properly setup. I guess that wasn't accomplished at the place that built them. Be careful when purchasing wheels online. When I get them back, they should be able to handle anything I can dish out.
Bottom Line:
I will have to continue this review when I put some miles on these wheels. I hope that they are as reliable as the reviews indicate.
Bike Setup: 03 Gary Fisher Tess SS (32-16), Canecreek Direct Curve Brakes, Bont SS Race Crank, MTB Speed V, Crank Brothers Mallet C pedals, IRC Mythos XC Tires, the rest Bontrager Select.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Eddie Mathews
a Cross Country Rider
from Kerrville, Texas 78028
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2006
Strengths: It's a great rim for what it was designed and built to do -- cross country biking!
Weaknesses: According to all those who are trashing it, it's weakness is that it can't perform like rims in the $500 price level. Folks, get real! They do their job if you put them on a bike designed for typical cross country. I am 220 lbs. and have zero problems.
Bottom Line:
The 221 rim should be fine for the rider who bought a bike to fit the kind of riding they like to do. Too bad those who mention their rims failing on non-jumps didn't comment on their air pressure. I bet you they couldn't even tell you if you asked them. Everyone I know who has had bent rims while riding normally had bad habits of not checking air pressure before jumping on their bike and taking off. In three years, I have never taking my bike out without measuring and adjusting air pressure to fit the type of ride I am doing. It's that important folks! As a result, my 220-pound frame has never bent a single rim and have had only one flat in 1000 mile of riding. And I think I am fairly agressive on trails and bunny-hopping on and off curbs on my street. Don't have an air pump? Taking the time to buy one and using it is cheaper than buying new rims or paying the LBS to true your rims every month.
Similar Products Used: Mostly stock rims with two Trek hardtails -- 4100 and 4500 and one Specialized Enduro.
Bike Setup: 2001 Specialized Enduro, Manitou Skareb Super 100mm front fork, Fox Vanilla coil rear shock with 900# spring, Specialized Team Control tires, Mavic 221, Avid Speed-dial brakes, Thomson stem, Easton Monkeybar handlebar, Shimano LX derailers, lots of other upgrades.
Strengths: Been riding it up and downs..still give me the confidence in it. of coz there are occasional drops here and there not to high just a couple of feet..wont hurt it..
Bottom Line:
Will continue with it till it fails me or might upgrade to other Mavic crossmax'es later..Good buy value for money..
Just an update from my review in 2004. I still have the rim, still ride hard and am still casing the odd landing. Its still cheap, and still round...and fairly true. The 221 is still with me, and recently I was challenged to put a fat tire on it....my front tread needed replacing so I stuffed a Kenda Kinetics 2.35 on it....iti fits and seems to run well. I still thing fat tires belong on fat rims (better tread footprint that way) but it seems to work good!
Submitted by
Belgian Bob
a Weekend Warrior
from Oxford
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2005
Strengths: Round, light, not tricky to fit tyres to. Strong enough to take a year of trails and XC riding in a sometimes careless and aggressive fashion.
Weaknesses: Probably suffered from being a factory build on my spesh... A year isn't a long life for an XC rim, is it?
Bottom Line:
Factory wheels on Spesh bikes: You get what you pay for. Probably not a bad rim in itself, but after a year of singletrack and rocky descending (I'm not a downhiller, I don't pretend to be. Think very rough XC), these died last weekend... I'm going to rebuild with something a little stronger, and have the wheels made by a proper wheelbuilder, just to be sure.
Next time, I'll make a mental note to have wheels on the jig for a service BEFORE a 3 day weekend of riding... Doh!
Weaknesses: to narrow for anything wider then a 1.9 tire
Bottom Line:
Not a bad rim. Bought because the front rim and hub were trashed, so I got this, expecting to bend the rim and replace it soon anyway. So far the rim is straight and true (even after casing a couple of curbs and stairs). Probably great for XC, or lighter riders like myself. I wouldn't want to put it under a 180+ rider, or do any hardcore stuff on it...probably not safe. Overall a good product, but I like wider rims!
Bike Setup: Trek 4500, Man black fork, rhyno rear rim, kenda kinetics
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Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike Smyth
a Cross Country Rider
from Aurora, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2004
Strengths: Unbelieveable rims. They are exceptionally light, except if you're a weight geek. If you are then, well, you may want to go for something a little lighter. However, even with the lightness they are STRONG! In my 1 year of riding these rims i've needed them trued only once. And that's not because i ride sissy. I've used these rims for everything: downhill (pretty gnarly), XC (perfect for XC), and even freeride. They hold up perfect - not even a flatspot yet.
Weaknesses: Nothing...except MAYBE weight...
Bottom Line:
Unbelievable. Simple as that. Strong, light, and durable as hell. Go buy 'em today. Good work Mavic.
Bike Setup: Thin Blue Line CO2 Max, Duke XC air fork, XT derailleurs, Truvativ FireX crankset, Mavic 221 rims, Deore hubs, deore shifters/levers (combo), Selle Italia seat, Uno Ultralite seatpost, WTB Nanoraptor tires. It's the bike that rode me to 10th in Ontario for midget racers - BIATCH!
[FONT=Arial][FONT=Arial]undefined[/FONT][/FONT][SIZE=7]undefined[/SIZE][COLOR=Black]undefined[/COLOR] I have a set of Mavic 221 rims (hooked to XT hubs). They are slightly "dishe Read More »
Anyone know where I can get a pair of Shimano M221 (size 46.5) MTB shoes? I've been very happy with the shoes but they are starting to show some wear. I've check ebay and Qbike, Read More »
I ordered and received a shimano lx / mavic 221 wheelset from Blue Sky Cycling in Feb. I have had a couple of issues with the spokes.
The first issue that I noticed was that th Read More »
i need a new rear wheel/hub. This is a spare bike for friends who dont have a bike but want to ride with me every once and a while..
i found someone selling Mavic 221 with LX hu Read More »
