Weaknesses: Stickers are sort of low quality, lots of shavings inside the rim, purely cosmetic stuff.
Bottom Line:
These are nice rims, i got them for 30 dollars on ebay brand new, at that price i could not resist. They are pretty light, theres only so light you can go if you ride offroad. One thing i did not like was i found many of these shavings, from drilling the rims no doubt. They were corkscrews, shavings of the metal all inside, i could tip the rim and they would be trapped inside the double wall and you would hear them. The stickers also, my last set of rims it was etched or something on the surface, these are rather cheap looking stickers. THey function fine, keep in mind these are not free ride rims so dont buy if you're into that stuff. 4 stars only because of the little details i listed, they work great and the sidewalls are a nice touch.
Submitted by
eelpie
a Cross Country Rider
from virginia
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2002
Strengths: light, strong, cheap
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
Built two sets of SS wheels with these rims (my first builds) and they've really held up well. Despite their light weight, they can take a beating, at least as an SS wheel (no dishing required). No complaints.
Bike Setup: On One Inbredd (SS), RF Turbine cranks and BB, PAUL r. hub, Sun SOB f. hub, DT Swiss 14/15 spokes, King HS, Thomson stem/post, SI Max Flite TA saddle, Answer bar, Time pedals, Avid SD 7 brakes/levers
Strengths: a nice light rim. Strong but not quite as good as 0 degree XC
Weaknesses: doesn't quite hold as true as the 0 Degree XC
Bottom Line:
I like this Rim - Sun makes a great Product! although next time I will probably just stick with the 0 Degree XC. It has a nice ride to it but I was just a little to rough for it. I think it didn't like being a rear Wheel- it got slammed a few to many times. But I thought it was a great value for the money and I have had no problems with it just not quite as durable as the XC, but I guess thats the trade off for the "light". Nice braking surface and good quality all around. buy it if you'd rather have light weight- if you'd rather have better quality get the XC from sun -five flaming brake shoes!
Similar Products Used: see my review of the 0 degree XC
Bike Setup: a Full Suspension rig nice XC ride. a kinds of high zoot junk on it- what else am I going to spend my money on?
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Brian
a Weekend Warrior
from Laramie, WY
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2002
Strengths: They're cheap, and pretty decent.
Weaknesses: They're small, and a little light weight for me, but they were doing ok until I started really beating on them
Bottom Line:
These rims have gotten worked. I bought them for cheap at JensonUSA laced to Hays/Hugi disc hubs. These wheels were built like an XC wheel, with DB 14/15g spokes and alloy nipples. They were assembled by either a machine or a moron, I'm not sure which. No spoke prep was used. I think that the discs are screwing around with alloy nipples, causing about eight spokes so loosen up completely one night while out riding. I got them re-tightened and trued at the shop, and they are better again. I ride these wheels really hard, kind hoping they break so I can get something stronger laced on my hubs. I have about six or eight dents in the sidewall/rim brake surface. Some were put there riding, others from tire irons, and plastic ones at that. I can't believe how weak the sidewall was, the side walls on my 517's wouldn't have even flexed with the pressure that dent this rim.
This is a good rim for a heaver xc bike, built right and they will rock, just not for big or sharp hits.
Similar Products Used: Rhyno-Lites, really sissy alex single wall rim, Mavic 517's
Bike Setup: 19" hardtail, 2002 z1 wedge, Shimano XT breaks and drivetrain, FSA V-Drive Extreme Bash cranks(Really cool)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
clarence wiens
a Cross Country Rider
from chilliwack, B.C.
Date Reviewed: June 27, 2001
Strengths: Light??
Weaknesses: Rim did not stay true. It wore out quickly in harsh wet winter riding, and then failed on a small missed curb, even with a 2.2 tire and full pressure.
Bottom Line:
I do a mix of hard cross country, technical downhill, and 3' drops, jumps,and ramps. These rims can obviously not stand up to the increasingly harder wear I was giving them. For easier riding they might be ideal,? I won't use them any more.!!!
Submitted by
Jeff Slade
a Cross Country Rider
from Hudson, IA USA
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2001
Strengths: price
Weaknesses: smoked the rear on a week jump. not impressed. front is still true, so far
Bottom Line:
loved the wheels at first, raced an eight mile, rocky time trial and they did fine. Was out on a light ride and smoked the rear. Could have been the builder, could be me. Going with a rynolite this time around. 3 hot turds overall, they should have lasted longer than 75 miles.
Bike Setup: voodoo hardtail, Mars fork, lx,xt,xtr drivetrain, avid/sram brakes.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ken
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, Utah
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2001
Strengths: Longevity...the first most important thing you can ask from a rim. Can't argue with the smooth braking either. Both light and durable enough not to get in the way of a good epic ride. They also cost a good deal less than Mavics.
Weaknesses: Only marginally heavier than a 517, but probably more than worth it when you want all-around XC versatility.
Bottom Line:
Rims are tricky, since everything attached to them factors into their longevity, as does the buildup. I got my rear built up at Canyon Bikes by Mike a few seasons ago. I would guess I've put somewhere around 5000 miles on it, during which time it needed one good retruing early as the spokes were settling in, and a couple very small tweaks since. I'm mostly cross-country with occasional freeride tendencies, and within that sort of usage this rim has not given me any problems. I finally got a King/Sun front wheel to match my rear, and I'm beyond stoked with it. I wouldn't use it for true freeriding/downhilling, but other than that I think the only reason not to use these rims is if you are either a racer or a female or other lightweight rider, where a more lightly constructed rim is necessary and appropriate.
Strengths: best rim for the money in this weight class
Weaknesses: tend to be sold in machine built wheelsets
Bottom Line:
I ride almost every day in the riding season and I am very heavy and powerful. I have two bikes and four wheelsets; I switch them around often.I have tried the lightest rims (517's, sub 4's) and have found that they lack durability. I have tried heavier Mavics, but I have found that they do not last as well as these rims. At 410 grams, these are only 15 grams heavier than racing rims but these hold up great to everyday riding. I have four sets of them now, some on XT hubs and some on LX. My oldest set is almost 2 years old and probably has 1500 trail miles on it. If you choose tires and tubes carefully, they are easily light enough to race on, but they hold up fine. The problems that some riders are having with these rims can probably be attributed to two things: they are either built and tensioned wrong, or the users are using a cross-country rim for big hit riding. I mail-ordered all my sets and got them all for around 100 bucks; a terrific price but they were all built and tensioned badly. The solution? Buy them and buy a spoke wrench. After your first good ride on your new set, go back and "tune" the wheel. Pluck all the spokes on the drive side, then tension them all to hit the same high note.Do the same on the non-drive side, remembering that spokes on this side will not have as much tension. After the whole wheel is tuned, check it for trueness, and if you need to true it, try to keep it in tune while you true it. I have done this to all of my sets and they now perform perfectly. They stay true, take a pretty good beating, and are light enough to race on. That's why I have four sets!
Similar Products Used: Mavic 517's,221's,222's, zac 19's, Bontrager Asyms
Bike Setup: Schwinn Moab -w- xt, Judy race, etc and Specialized S-works FSR
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Neill
a Cross Country Rider
from England
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2000
Strengths: Having trashed many Mavic's and other assorted rims the 0Degree light was recommended to me by a straight talking guy in a local shop. To date I have been nothing but impressed with these rims which are still true and the earlier brake surface problems seem to have been sorted.
Weaknesses: Cost more than the more common rims ie Mavic, Araya, Bontrager etc and are harder to find unless you use mail order.
Bottom Line:
The best performing and value rim I have ridden although I am certain that a great deal of difference is made by the quality of the wheelbuilder and spokes/hubs used. They have already shown to be a considerable improvement over any other rims I have ridden.
They are not as light as some but for the weight/durability ratio I think they are unbeatable. Probably not really suited to the XC racer who is concious of every gram saved but for everyday XC use they are spot on.
Very dissapointed, i have only covered 350 miles on these rims and already the rear is cracked all the way round the braking surface. After about 200 miles my rear brake started to grab. Then a craking noise developed while riding. Finally i took it in where the damage was discovered.
Submitted by
Allen Macaulay
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2000
Strengths: Light, Strong, and (relatively) cheap
Weaknesses: There are metal slivers left in the spoke eyelets. Caused a couple flats before I figured it out.
Bottom Line:
After almost 2 years of abusing these rims, I can still recommend them. I did manage to flat-spot one pretty bad, but it was my fault. I completely messed up a bunnyhop and didn't make it UP a set of stairs, smashing the back wheel into the top step at high speed. Other than that, they've barely needed any truing, even when I did a DH course at night. I should point out my riding is closer to "free riding" than XC.
I found I could run very high spoke tensions on the rims, which is probably why my wheels are pretty stiff and strong. For anyone buying this rim, check the spoke eyelets for metal slivers, and remove them before you get the wheel built. This will save you from some inconvenient flats.
Bike Setup: Oryx 4000s (hard tail), Full XT Manitou SX-R 80mm travel Wheel built with XT hubs and DT Revolution spokes (3-cross lacing)
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Sorni
a Cross-Country Rider
from San Diego, CA USA
Date Reviewed: November 3, 1999
Strengths: Low price Light weight Cool color STAYS TRUE!!!
Weaknesses: None found as yet
Bottom Line:
Have a set of XC0's on my hardtail -- GREAT rims! So went ahead and bought a pair of XC0 Lites on sale at Airbomb for *$15* each -- figured what the hell! Only had one wheel built -- my rear 517 had warped all to heck -- and used 14G spokes for strength (with blue nipples for chi-chi :). I've been on maybe 10 rides so far -- rough stuff, too -- and the wheel is perfect! Nary a wobble. It feels very light, yet rock solid. TRY THESE RIMS -- Sun shines brightly!
These wheels along with the Sun Sub4 are great wheels. Had the Sub4 built with DT Revolution spokes to XTR hubs and they fly by my Mavic 517s. They are lighter than 517s. As with all rims, it's important to built them right in the first place and you will have no problems.
Submitted by
Allen Macaulay
a Cross-Country Rider
from Toronto, ON
Date Reviewed: July 28, 1999
Strengths: Light & Pretty Strong Machined sidewalls on this year's version Good Price
Weaknesses: Metal slivers in spoke eyelets
Bottom Line:
This is one nice rim. It's pretty light, only 15 grams more than the Mavic 517 (which seems to be some kind of standard or something). However, it stays true better and takes a lot more abuse than the Mavics and Ritcheys I've had. Of course, you can't do Downhill or Dual Slalom with it, but it will survive repeated drops and jumps if you can land somewhat straight.
Similar Products Used: Mavic 230, 231 & 517 Ritchey Vantage WCS, Rock 395 & 415E
Bike Setup: Oryx 4000s Full XT, Judy XC 80mm travel
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Fast Freddy
a Cross-Country Rider
from Springfield, OH
Date Reviewed: May 23, 1999
Strengths: The COOL Mountain Dew Color!!!! Low Weight.
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
These rims are very cool. The wheels (with King hubs) were very easy to build. I weigh in at 215 lbs and haven't had any trouble yet with them - it's been 3 weeks so far.
