Submitted by
blackblur
a Cross Country Rider
from with your mom Date Reviewed: November 7, 2008
Favorite Trail:
tsali
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$900.00
Purchased At:
Ebay
Strengths:
Very strong scandium rim and FAST hubs. These wheels are incredibly smooth and light. Red nipples match the CK red of my headset exactly. Rare and exotic. When they hold up they will let you fly.
Weaknesses:
The spoke design. The nipples on the rim interface are beefy, but the spoke has another threaded piece where it meets the hub. A tiny little piece called a hub nut. These are way too easy to break. and, guess what? They have been impossible to get from Shimano since June. The same hub nut is used on the tubeless Dura Ace wheelset and same problems abound. This is the dirty little secret of these wheels. They are sold as everyday use race weight wheels. I have been through three rear spokes because of this and have not been able to use them all summer/fall while I wait on back-ordered parts. try and get someone to really try and find these 50 cent parts when the launch of the 7900 DA Gruppo is going on. Will drive you crazy. I am going back to Mavic where I know i can get parts.
Similar Products Used:
Crossmax SL's,SLR's, XL's, DT 240's, Cane Creeks
Bike Setup:
Santa Cruz Blur, Fox 100X front, Float rear, full XTR 970 series drivetrain, XTR dual control
Bottom Line:
I wish so bad these were the wheels I thought they would be. Look sweet, fast as _, light baby light. Three broken hub nuts in 5 rides is unacceptable. Nice try, but no support. I guess if you had a team truck in the parking lot filled with spares.... I wouldn't dare ride these things more than a mile from my car. There are other choices at this price point that are proven and reliable. Look at i9's or Mavic SLR's.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
slow2go
a Cross Country Rider
from Australia Date Reviewed: October 3, 2008
Stumpjumper HT, xt/xtr drive, thomson post, king headset
Bottom Line:
For XC - I couldn't see any better value for money in any other UST factory wheelsets around this price. Look great as well, in a stealth kind of way. Running 2.25 tyres to give a bit of cushion to the hardtail - hopefully helping protect the wheels a bit too.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
leyjonathan
a Racer
from San Diego Date Reviewed: September 15, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Black Mountain
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Purchased At:
Performance Bikes
Strengths:
These came stock with my bike, GT Marathon Team.
Light, fast, stiff, low maintenance, nice looking!
Weaknesses:
Lightness makes these not bomb proof.
Similar Products Used:
Mavic CrossLand
Bike Setup:
2008 GT Marathon Team, Full XTR, Thomsom stem, Race Face rizer bars, Fox Fork 120 RCL PUSHED, Fox Shock RP23 4" PUSHED.
Bottom Line:
I got these wheels stock with my bike. For the last 6, almost 7 months, have raced, trailed riden, downhilled, jumped, crashed a few times though nothing major, and have hed to true the rear wheel slightly they didn't even charge me cuz it was so minor.
I have a few very minor dents mainly on the rear rim, they are more like scratches. You guys just need to avoid hitting them! Can I say SKILLS???? Don't freaken hit them!
OH yeah, I broke 1 spoke, with some stupid rock, it was crazy though, it did not brake from the nipple, it broke from the HUB side!!! the guys at the LBS where like, WTF, never seen that one before. But yeah, paid $9 and got a new spoke, and no issues since then. This was like 2 months ago.
These wheels are really good, just be SKILLFUL when you ride okay?, don't go crashing into things, DUH!
My bike is has a full carbon frame so I have taken care to rely on my skills to avoid impacting anything hard with my bike or components, just work on your skills and all Super light XC bikes and components should last you as long as if they were made for downhill.
:-)
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
flavios
a Racer
from Mexico Date Reviewed: August 13, 2008
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$900.00
Purchased At:
ebay
Strengths:
very stiff and light the hubs are very smooth and they are ust
Weaknesses:
the spokes may come loose after 1 year of racing
the hub spoke attachment
Similar Products Used:
wh-m975 (2003), mavic crossmax. mavic 317
Bike Setup:
k+rbo bike, full xtr, easton ea90, race face, fox rlt
Bottom Line:
this wheels are for xc racers only!! they are very light and stiff they are great but after a while the spokes can come loose, since this wheels are very light the walls of the rim can easily dent if you hit it with a rock or somthing, so I recomend to use this wheels only for racing and have another wheelset of training.
the rear hub is the strong part of the wheelset it rolls smooth and it requires very little maintenance
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
duncan giblin
a Weekend Warrior
from australia Date Reviewed: April 21, 2008
Favorite Trail:
kellevie 24 hour course tasmania
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$800.00
Purchased At:
appleby cycles
Strengths:
light as sin, stay very tru even after a pasting.very stiff infact magnifcent for cornering hard and very agile.
takes a tubless tire really well trail inflation with small pump not a problem.
Weaknesses:
rear hub. rear hub axel body broke clean through will on a trail ride. i weigh 85kg and ride a HT fairly hard. maged to ride out on the skewer. i am also developing concerns about the free hub skipping allthough happend on same ride so ill see when i rebuilt the hub with new axel.
Similar Products Used:
mavic 717s, 317s, on mixture of hubs including hope, xt, maveric, dabomb and magura
Bike Setup:
orbea, xt, xtr, black spire c/rings race face evolve c/set running endura bearings
Bottom Line:
great but you may have to replace rear axel body if your ride agressive xc. cost of replacement is $60 Au$ so no biggy.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve McCaughan
a Cross Country Rider
from NZ Date Reviewed: March 26, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$500.00
Purchased At:
Chain Reaction cycles
Strengths:
Light, Stiff, rolls well.
Weaknesses:
None so far
Similar Products Used:
Have a set of Crossmax SL 08 and DT Swiss factory wheelset.
Bike Setup:
Ti Motolite all XTR except XT brakes and shifters they are better!
Bottom Line:
Very impressed so far! I only ride with nice wheelsets and these are good. Stiffer than Crossmax on front, roll better and smoother,(early days though). High quality and well made. I also prefer the feel on the trail while riding from XTR. Crossmax feel a little dead at times but they are bullet proof! I will post review after a few thousand kms to see how XTR hold up. Only nervousness is the freehub. I have the updated freehub so hopefully none of the problems of the earlier sets. Best value by far from chainreactioncycles.com at $550 US of any wheelset out there!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
tim yao
a Cross Country Rider
from China Date Reviewed: December 27, 2007
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$700.00
Purchased At:
starbike
Strengths:
light, smooth quiet hubs, stiff
Weaknesses:
none
Bike Setup:
Scale with THM crankset, Pace fork, Sram shifters
Bottom Line:
hi-end product, highly recommended, affordable price with VAT deducted from Deutschland. When i bought them, Euro was lower, price now is higher.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Tom
a Racer
from Grasse, France Date Reviewed: September 12, 2007
Favorite Trail:
North Fork Umpqua
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
Light, "native" tubeless, stiff for light wheels
Weaknesses:
Durability not up to XTR standards. Thin-walled aluminum rear axle.
Similar Products Used:
handbuilt XTR hubs w/ Bontrager rims
Bike Setup:
Flux
Bottom Line:
With less than 70 hours use, no air time, no abuse, no gnarly trails ... I broke the rear axle in half and broke 3 spokes on the front wheel. The spokes all broke under braking forces during descents. The rear axle appeared to be a cumulative fatigue fracture at the thread on the inside edge of the drive side cone. I've always found Shimano hubs to be among the most reliable in the industry, and its one reason I picked this wheelset over Mavic when shopping for UST racing wheels. I'm 190 lbs. so no lightweight, but not exactly a Clydesdale riding drops on these things. But now I'm stuck with a set of wheels which I can't even confidently race on. I also recently built up a wheelset on the 2008 XT hubs, which appear to use the same aluminum rear axle, so now I regret using those hubs and I'm worried I'll break the axle in a few months.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Barry
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver Date Reviewed: August 18, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Jack's Trail
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$1200.00
Purchased At:
Different Bikes
Strengths:
Light, stiff, accelerates like mad, red nipples
Weaknesses:
Freehub is prone to skipping with popping and crunching noises, and that goes for the warranty replacement freehub too.
Rocky Mountain Vertex, XTR and SRAM X-0 drivetrain
Bottom Line:
The wheels are incredibly stiff laterally for a wheelset under 1600gms, they accelerate like there's rockets in them.
After a couple of weeks of use the freehub started skipping after a brief bit of coasting over rough ground or after a slight back pedal. The first freehub would mostly just make the popping noise with no significant feedback at the pedals. The replacement freehub skips about 1/8 of a crank rotation when it makes the popping crunching noise. If you move the cassette/freehub by hand you can feel the point where the pawl just misses the rachet teeth and skips a tooth or two. So far it hasn't skipped under high loads like climbs, just after coasting or backpedaling.
Having run the XTR 960 hubs for almost 3 years with no hiccups of any sort in the freehub, it's disappointing to have problems with a new XTR wheelset this pricey.
According to the exploded parts diagram the freehub is the same on standard 970 series XTR hubs, it'd be interesting to know if anyone has seen similar problems in the freehub.
If the freehub was as dead reliable as my old XTR 960 hubs it would have been 5x5 review, but it gets a 3x4 instead.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
FOES 2007 FXR
a Cross Country Rider
from Pasadena Date Reviewed: December 3, 2006
Favorite Trail:
El Prieto/Brown Mountain
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$1000.00
Purchased At:
Mike RIchard at rbikes.com (Richards Bicycles)
Strengths:
Lightweight, balanced and best of all it's XTR!!!
Weaknesses:
None that I have encountered
Similar Products Used:
All types of Mavic, Bontrager etc.
Bike Setup:
2007 Foes FXR Large with all 2007 XTR components
Bottom Line:
This wheelset is phenomenal. Buy the set and don't look back.
$
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
