Favorite Trail: thongs are on the floor next to the headphones that like to be sat on ur ears
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$1.00
Purchased At: taco bell
Similar Products Used: internet, camel, mountain goat,
Bike Setup: the usb tht is sitting on the desk just farted in my face now the basement smells of poo ------ huffy slider
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Submitted by
Daniel Elps
a Racer
from Charlotte, NC , USA
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2005
Strengths: Great Looks, Strong, Light
Weaknesses: No wear indicator on the rim if you use v-brakes (I use disc's though)
Bottom Line:
WTB named these wheels correctly, they are as straight as Laserbeams, as fast as Laserbeams and only about 400 grams heavier than Laserbeams. I am not really a Mountian Biker but I am a semi-pro road racer so Im pretty used to light wheels and these wheels really have a low curb weight. Definetly worth the $.
Weaknesses: Severely dinged side wall, tuff to change tires
Bottom Line:
They look burly and I read the previous mtbr reveiws and was excited about them. Unfortunatly the second time I took my new pride and joy out on the trail I put a SERIOUS ding in the side wall, the top of the rim bent in and the internal wall bowed out, pushing the brake serface out. I haven't been able to bend it smooth yet. To be fair I was riding a rocky trail, hopped a stream bed at about 18 mph, and landed on a small rock in the trail, no pinch flat (35psi),just a narly dent (FYI I'm 150 pounds). Not a bad value, and sounds like alot of people get tons of miles out of them. I say check the rims, or wheel set before you buy as it seems quality control is spotty.
Bike Setup: IRO Single Speed, rigid fork, surly 1X1 hubs, dt spokes, Moto raptor 2.4's
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Submitted by
Weather expert
a Cross Country Rider
from iowa
Date Reviewed: March 1, 2004
Strengths: very stiff. wear resistant, good braking. easy build.
Weaknesses: GODDAMN IMPOSSIBLE TO INSTALL/REMOVE TIRES FROM IT!
Bottom Line:
i have wasted at least 5 plastic tire levers on these rims. mounting a 2.1 is already hard enough, but once i had to use 1.25 slick on these. talk about bloody fingers.
but because of the tight fit, it might be a good candidate if ou plan to use stan's.
other than the tire mounting thing, this rims is pretty sweet. it built up pretty easily, it's held up for 3 years of riding, very rarely needed trueing and doesn't crack like 517.
Similar Products Used: syncros lil snapper, bonty mustang, 221, 517, 519
Bike Setup: it's a wtb momentum wheelset, momentum hubs and laserbeam 22mm.
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Submitted by
Monty
a Cross Country Rider
from Richmond
Date Reviewed: February 29, 2004
Strengths: Very strong. Has stayed relatively true for three years.
Weaknesses: Very, very difficult to put tires on. I have broke tire levers during tube changes.
Bottom Line:
This is a very strong rim. I have had to adjust/tighten the rear spokes once in three years. I have not touched the front. Sadly, the difficulty in putting on a tire downgrades this rim greatly. I have spent upwards of twenty minutes attempting to put the tire back on after a flat. This hurts your time in a race.
Submitted by
Nab
a Weekend Warrior
from Somerville, MA
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2004
Strengths: Light, tough and pretty.
Weaknesses: A little hard putting the tire on.
Bottom Line:
These rims are great. I think i got a good deal. $60 for the wheelset laced to Lx hubs. They're light and so far have remained true after a month and a few 2-3 foot drops. It's a little bit harder to put the tire on but it didn't take me 3 guys are 2 hours. I only used 1 plastic lever and that took me 10 mins. Usually i take 5 mins. So far, i've tried with Tioga psycho and Schwalbe Fast Fred with no problems. And they look good !!!!
Submitted by
Rob T
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose CA
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2003
Strengths: WTB quality,build into a good strong wheel(not perfect as with Mavic),nice and wide
Weaknesses: Almost impossible to remove "ANY"tire with plastic levers on the trail
Bottom Line:
Good rims until you have to remove a tire.I tore a sidewall.I broke 4 plastic levers trying to get the tire off this rim.It took 3 guys about 20 minutes wrestling to get the tire on and off.I also was dealing with No Tubes so the mess complicated things even more.We all had sore hands when we were done.When I got home I bought metal tire levers.Still tough,just didn't break any levers.I tried all the different tires above to no avail.I can fix a flat normally in less than 5 minutes,maybe a little more with the No Tubes.Every other rim/tire combo I've used never had these problems except an old Sun rim mated to a Conti XC tire.Needless to say the rim is now replaced and taking up space on my garage floor.I put on a Mavic 519 rim.The wheel built up perfectly true,tensioned and round.it's held up great under alot of pounding and big hits.WTB makes good stuff,its a shame that this rim is simply unreliable due to its imcompatibility with ANY tires and the fact that its nearly impossible to remove a tire by yourself.With 'good rims' No Tubes is a great product. The flat free traits and performance of No Tubes equipped tires easily outweighs the mess of tire repairs out on the trail.The only time I've had to do repairs on the trail was when I tore a sidewall and No Tubes won't seal a rip.
Similar Products Used: Mavic,Bontrager,Sun,Campagnolo
Bike Setup: C.K.ISO hubs,DT d.b. spokes,NO Tubes system,Conti,Specialized,Hutchinson and Scwalbe tires tried
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Submitted by
Rob T
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose,CA
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2003
Strengths: nice and wide(FR version)build up ok
Weaknesses: incredibly hard to mount tires(Conti Verticals)
Bottom Line:
I bought these mainly because they're not French and they were the widest I could find at a decent weight.I probably won't use another if all tires are hard to mount.They built into a nice wheel,not as straight as Mavics though.I'll review again soon.
Strengths: tall braking surface, strong for compression and laterally
Weaknesses: sidewall supereasy to ding, tall braking surface
Bottom Line:
Seem super easy to ding the sidewalls and put bumps in them. Dinged it first week of riding quite bad without even pinchflatting. Pretty poor. Managed to bend/bash out the bumps enough to be bearable with v brakes but still.... Probably wouldn't be so much of a big deal running discs. Also, these rims are the hardest rims I've ever had for changing tyres. Had to go out and buy steel tyre levers (which are munting the rim's surface) and have to use them to get nearly all tyres off and some back on which I have never ever had to do in the past with other rims.
Submitted by
Fish
a Cross Country Rider
from Atlanta
Date Reviewed: December 13, 2002
Strengths: Strength & abitlity to stay true.
Weaknesses: Weight is a bit on the heavy side
Bottom Line:
I have had these rims for 1 year plus and have loved them. They are very strong. I have had them trued once or twice, really not noticable, my mechanic clued me in. I ride 1 too 2 days a week average, I weigh 200 lbs and beat the crap out of these things and they are in great shape. I run a disk brake up front and V brake in the back. I ride all over the southeast, some rocky steep burly stuff and some casual trails like Tsali in NC. I would buy them again and recomend them to evryone I know.
Bike Setup: Hardtail and now on my curent full suspension XC rig
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Submitted by
Loi Nguyen
a Weekend Warrior
from Los Angeles, CA
Date Reviewed: November 22, 2002
Strengths: Light, Sweet Looking, Strong
Weaknesses: None really
Bottom Line:
Great rims, stays true even after 4-5 foot drops and riding through ruts and rocks.
I did tweak it a little, but it was partially my fault, landed off camber on a stair jump 4 foot high, tires rolled off rim (slightly low on pressure)and the rim took the impact. However, the whole incident only gave me a small hop, but the rim remains true.
These rims don't hold up AT ALL. They are terrible, and I was dissapointed in GT for putting them on something that is supposed to be really strong (of course we all know now thatthey had bigger problem!) Avoid these rims if you are a freerider, or anything but an XC racer.
Bike Setup: These were oem rims on my 2001 GT Ruckus.
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Submitted by
Knut Hellan
a Weekend Warrior
from Trondheim, Norway
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2002
Strengths: Gives confidence. Strong for normal situations.
Weaknesses: My rear rim got a bump. I think I took a side hit, but I am not sure. Anyway, the rim should have handled this! Heavy!
Bottom Line:
I have used WTB laserbeam 25mm first on a Cannondale Super V 1000 Freeride (stole) and now on my hardtail. While my CODA rear rim was bent on the first spring ride on the 'dale, the WTB was took an enormous amount of beating. I am the only one who has entered my LBS asking for a new front axle as the old one got bent!
The rear rim on my hardtail got a bump, probably from a side hit. This could be a QA slip.
Good strong xc rim for full suspension bikes. Took alot of hits before I got a flat spot (urban riding- not the rims fault). Ill be switching to Rhyno Lites because I want a wider rim (29mm). As a technical xc racing rim, Id give these 5 chili's, but theyre billed as freeride rims, so 4 chillis as they could be wider.
