REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

New wheels for light freeride/all mountain

965 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by shiggy, Dec 7, 2005

jp3d

Discussion Starter · Dec 5, 2005

I'm going to upgrade to a 2006 z1sl or 66sl (havent decided yet) and my rear hub and rim are in bad shape (Mavic X139, shimano FH M525 - from 2003 enduro), so i guess that mwans a new wheelset is in order. Im looking for something that can handle some drops usualy no more than 4'-6' maybe a 10' if i grow some [email protected], but still be light enough to ride to the top of the hill with. Im going to be racing collegiate DH on this bike as well, but most of the courses aren't very gnarly. Oh and im pretty darn light at around 120lbs.

Hubs: I was thinking of going with Hope Bulbs, but going with Shimano XT could save me $200. XT any good and are the Hopes, or any other hubs worth the extra $$$?

For the rims:
DT Swiss EX 5.1d -$70 - 500g
DT Swiss FR-6.1D - $80 extra 100g and $10 worth it for me?

MAVIC XM 321 $30-$40 570g
Sun Singletrack $25-$45 590g pretty good deal at universal bikes

Any other rims I should be considering, are the DT rims worth their price, and could i get away with the relatively light 5.1 with my weight?

Have I done too much research to be posting a thread here?

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MK_

· #2 · Dec 5, 2005

Alex makes excellent rims in 28mm flavor. They're called FD28. They're 10-20g lighter than EX5.1Ds from DT and only $33 or so a pop. They don't have the $40 tubless rim strip option, though, like the 5.1s. Hopes are good hubs, so are XTs, it depends on how much you care about weight. DT makes great hubs as well. I guess Hadleys are too $$$? That's the most durable option.

Another rim you might want to consider is Tioga Factory DH rim. 35mm wide, 580g. I have it on my urban bike and these have taken royal abuse including getting jammed into stair and curb edges and are still straight. They're built super nice, with double eyelets and the bead is knurled so the tire doesnt' slip.

One last thing to consider is spokes, I would advise agains't too much butting (ie, tripple) and bladed spokes (ie CX rays or aerolites) as they reduce lateral stiffness of the wheel.

_MK

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shiggy

· #3 · Dec 5, 2005

MK_ said:
...One last thing to consider is spokes, I would advise agains't too much butting (ie, tripple) and bladed spokes (ie CX rays or aerolites) as they reduce lateral stiffness of the wheel.

_MK

The CX-Rays build a very laterally solid wheel. A double butted spoke with a 1.5 or 1.6 mm round center section will be less so (been there). Their main fault is cost. The CX-Ray and Aerolite are 2-4 times more expensive.

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jp3d

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 5, 2005

Those Alex rims are looking pretty nice to me, 490g and according to alex's website: "for freeride. north woods and trail riding" $38 Sounds like just what I need.

Hubs:
Front and rear XT: 800g $100
Hope Bulbs: 575g $300
Hadleys: 565g $408
WTB Laser Disc hubs? only 447g and $256 for the pair
oh and king: 513g only $520

So if i spent the extra $200-$300 for some nicer hubs i would be shaving half a pound off the bike and they might sound cool when I'm crusin' down the trail. How about WTB hubs, any good? They could be just the ticket: pretty light light, and with fancy cartridge bearings.

I think the Kings are a little more than i really want to spend, id like to whave the whole wheel at least under $500. So id say its between WTBs and Hopes; XT hubs seem to be a little on the heavy and cheap side. Maybe Hadleys if i can be convinced they are super great.

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shiggy

· #5 · Dec 5, 2005

Thread about my Hope/Alex FD28 wheels:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=119256&

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BrandonJ

· #6 · Dec 5, 2005

jp3d said:
Those Alex rims are looking pretty nice to me, 490g and according to alex's website: "for freeride. north woods and trail riding" $38 Sounds like just what I need.

Hubs:
Front and rear XT: 800g $100
Hope Bulbs: 575g $300
Hadleys: 565g $408
WTB Laser Disc hubs? only 447g and $256 for the pair
oh and king: 513g only $520

So if i spent the extra $200-$300 for some nicer hubs i would be shaving half a pound off the bike and they might sound cool when I'm crusin' down the trail. How about WTB hubs, any good? They could be just the ticket: pretty light light, and with fancy cartridge bearings.

I think the Kings are a little more than i really want to spend, id like to whave the whole wheel at least under $500. So id say its between WTBs and Hopes; XT hubs seem to be a little on the heavy and cheap side. Maybe Hadleys if i can be convinced they are super great.

One big thing about XT hubs is they are widely used and very easy to get parts for. The Sun Single Track rims you mentioned are very solid. I weigh 250. The biggest drops I do would be about 2 feet. I do ride a lot of rock gardens. I've yet to bend a rim. I chose those rims after reading the reviews of people doing 10ft drops to concrete with no problem. I figure if they can hold up to that, they can hold up to what I will do to them.

I bought a set with XT hubs from Jenson but have since had to have them re-laced after quickly learning that machine built wheels just won't stay true under the abuse of a clyde for aggresive XC/all mountain use.

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MK_

· #7 · Dec 5, 2005

Just a couple of things

The FD28 rims were 490g with stickers and 480g when I peeled the stickers off.

I built up a pretty heavy duty wheelset consiting of King ISO rear with HD axle (Fun Bolts), 20mm King ISO front, black CX-Ray spokes and black Polyax nipples and the Alex FD28 rims. The total weight (minus fun bolts) was 1785g. I have quite a few hard miles on these wheels, lots of rock gardens, ~4 foot drops (to almost flat), banged these against rocks in tight tech sections, at high speed, etc. The rims are scraped up, but the wheels are still true. I'm very happy with the FD28s. At the same time, I recently put a different fork on my bike and built up a wheel based on a 24mm hub (DT440FR) using DT5.1 rim and I have to say that the rim looks nicer. Doesn't seem any stronger, just nicer.

As of CX Ray lateral stiffness, I am speaking from personal experience. The wheel is noticably flexier side to side than it has been with DT Comp spokes. In both cases, the spoke tension was evenly high across the wheel.

_MK

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jp3d

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 6, 2005

shiggy said:
Thread about my Hope/Alex FD28 wheels:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=119256&

So do you think I could go with the XC instead of Bulb in the rear to save $40?
I think I might end up with somehting very similar to what you have there Shiggy (minus the custom graphics and colored nipples

)

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Burkeman

· #9 · Dec 7, 2005

I just ordered a set of wheels with Hadley hubs (DT Swiss 4.1's for a XC bike) so I'm a believer enough to shell out for them. I did a good bit of research and heard pretty much only good things about the Hope's, Hadley's, DT Swiss, and Kings but went with the Hadley's as they were lighter than most real durable hubs other than the Kings but were far less expensive than the Kings. Looking forward to getting them here in another week or two.

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LyNx

· #10 · Dec 7, 2005

Well if you're looking a the HOPE hubs - XC or BULB - check out Jenson, they have great prices on them. $250 for a complete set 32 hole BULB's.

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shiggy

· #11 · Dec 7, 2005

jp3d said:
So do you think I could go with the XC instead of Bulb in the rear to save $40?
I think I might end up with somehting very similar to what you have there Shiggy (minus the custom graphics and colored nipples )

The XC front hub should be fine if you do not need a 20 mm through axle.

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jp3d

Discussion Starter · #12 · Dec 7, 2005

Shiggy: Im going to go with the bulb up front because I will soon be going to a 20mm axel fork; so the rear XC hub will probably hold up well for me compared to a bulb?

I think I am actaully get the wheels from Universalcycles, because the give you a really great deal on the full wheel kit (basically like %75 off spokes and nips+ free build) plus they have %10 off everything for the xmas

I would end up paying %7 sales tax at Jenson. I really like Universal actually, I bought some stuff from them and they sent the wrong seatpost, but they have great customer service and let me keep the extra post (probably cheaper than paying to have it shipped back i guess). They actually have a lot better selection than Jenson in a lot of areas as well.

Any one have any opinions on spokes to run (DT or Wheelsmith?)

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shiggy

· #13 · Dec 7, 2005

jp3d said:
Shiggy: Im going to go with the bulb up front because I will soon be going to a 20mm axel fork; so the rear XC hub will probably hold up well for me compared to a bulb?

I think I am actaully get the wheels from Universalcycles, because the give you a really great deal on the full wheel kit (basically like %75 off spokes and nips+ free build) plus they have %10 off everything for the xmas I would end up paying %7 sales tax at Jenson. I really like Universal actually, I bought some stuff from them and they sent the wrong seatpost, but they have great customer service and let me keep the extra post (probably cheaper than paying to have it shipped back i guess). They actually have a lot better selection than Jenson in a lot of areas as well.

Any one have any opinions on spokes to run (DT or Wheelsmith?)

At your weight the XC rear hub "should" be fine.

With the Bulb front be sure to specify QR or 20 mm (or both). You do not get both with the hub automatically.

Spoke brand? Does not really matter. Just get 14/15 double butted (2.0/1.8/2.0).

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