[karisia_safaris]

I'm riding on an ellsworth epiphany which has allowed me to go with speed through technical areas that i might have slowed for on my old hardtail.
Anyway, my back wheel (DT Swiss XR 4.2 ETRTU 559x19 Erd 544mm) is taking a bad beating. It is not coming out of true badly but rather the sides of the rims are getting bad dents from rocks. I have had to pull out some dents (using a pipe wrench!) for fear that my tubeless tires would begin to loose their seal on the rim.
is this typical for this tyre?
what would you all suggest as a better rim for me that is a bit heavier duty but still not a mother to get up a hill. thanks for your ideas.
jamie

 

[Squash]

Go with wider tires....

if you haven't already. A wider tire is obviously wider and will give the rim more protection. If you are running low pressures I'd also suggest running it up a bit. A little higher pressure can give the tire more resistance to side impacts and help keep the rim from making contact with the rocks. Running tubeless at low pressures = dinged rims, it's more or less a fact of life. Air pressure in a tubeless setup is always a compromise between the best traction, tire stability, and rim protection. I always lean toward rim protection myself.

If you really want a new wheel/wheelset, the old 5.1d or it's current replacement the EX500 is a stout rim that doesn't break the bank in cost or in the weight department. They weigh in at approximately 500g each and make a good stout wheel. That's a bit heavier than your 4.2s, but they are a bit wider and stonger, and they play well with tires up to about 2.4" or so.

Your call.

Good Dirt

 

[karisia_safaris]

thanks squash.
i'm actually running 2.34 high rollers typically at 40 psi which my friend usually say is way to high. ?
jamie

 

[bitflogger]

I'm riding on an ellsworth epiphany which has allowed me to go with speed through technical areas that i might have slowed for on my old hardtail.
Anyway, my back wheel (DT Swiss XR 4.2 ETRTU 559x19 Erd 544mm) is taking a bad beating. It is not coming out of true badly but rather the sides of the rims are getting bad dents from rocks. I have had to pull out some dents (using a pipe wrench!) for fear that my tubeless tires would begin to loose their seal on the rim.
is this typical for this tyre?
what would you all suggest as a better rim for me that is a bit heavier duty but still not a mother to get up a hill. thanks for your ideas.
jamie

I'd go with wider tires and some wider tires need wider rims. I just don't know how rocky your trails are. My favored home turf is very rocky and it really took going to wider rims and tires 2.3 - 2.5 to be ideal.

You also have to look at mountain bike gear like being married to a swim suit model. I'm sure you'd be giving it all ya got and banging with gusto at every chance if that were the case.

 

[ruppster]

The 4.2s denting was my experience on a 26" FS Stumpjumper. Finally bent & kinked the rear. They are soft.

 

[karisia_safaris]

ya, thats what i was afraid of. oh well will get something else. thanks guys

 

[ozzybmx]

OP the 4.2's are really soft , actually all DT's are soft rims . I dented a set of 420SL's that came on a Spech really badly and have had a couple of sets of different DT's after them.... unless they change i'll not go back . Very good rims and components but they dent like crap.

 

[karisia_safaris]

can you reccommend a better rim?

i need something that is tougher but still light enough to pedal up a steel long hill.
any ideas?

 

[shapirus]

i need something that is tougher but still light enough to pedal up a steel long hill.
any ideas?

Personally I bought a wheelset with ZTR Flows to replace my old wheels with the 4.2d rims. I did not bend them that much or make dents, but there was some going out of true without any hard riding on them. I did not have enough confidence in them, so decided to sacrifice a little weight to get a (as people say) solid build. I like the new wheels and particularly the rims so far, although I don't have a lot of miles on them yet to make a fair opinion.
As for climbing, I wouldn't say that wheels weight makes any noticeable difference for climbing, at least when there's not much difference (I mean no more than maybe 15-20%) in weight. Tires (and the air pressure in them) and suspension contribute much more. Weight does make a noticeable difference when you accelerate and decelerate though.