xc racing wheels - calling all hub experts

[M L]

 

Softer than the crests, but then again its all relative ito weight and type of riding and riding style. For our conditions and races I reckon they are great.

He is a +-82 kg agressive rider, I hope he buys those am classics with a life insurance bundle .

[rouxtjie]

He is a +-82 kg agressive rider, I hope he buys those am classics with a life insurance bundle .

Just on that, there is a weight limit on the AM classic race set....think its 80kg if I am not mistaken.

[Flippa]

Hope Pro 2 Evo built with Velocity Blunt SL rims and Sapim spokes. No rider weight limit and a nice wide, stiff, lightish (420g for 29er) rim.

[Iron]

Just on that, there is a weight limit on the AM classic race set....think its 80kg if I am not mistaken.

 

AM 29 race max rider weight 95kg .

Wheel-Chart.pdf

[M L]

Hope Pro 2 Evo built with Velocity Blunt SL rims and Sapim spokes. No rider weight limit and a nice wide, stiff, lightish (420g for 29er) rim.

Glad you mentioned wide. Read a few tire reviews and the guy always says they work better on wider rims. How does a wide rim differ from a thin rim?

[rouxtjie]

AM 29 race max rider weight 95kg .

Ta...thanks for the correction

[jcza]

Just on that, there is a weight limit on the AM classic race set....think its 80kg if I am not mistaken.

 

Weight limit is 95kgs (I think).

[kennyg]

I have a rim set of 32 h, tubular ready 29er rims. For R7k, I can get a complete Wheel set 105 Kg weight limit, 1600g. The 7k includes tyres.

 

I run them on my SS, and they have been great. There is a significant weight saving when looking at the wheel system as a whole, Rims plus Tubular tyres, for a entire wheel set is nearly 800g. For XC racing I have two option tyres and both are a good combination of strength and weight, rode the Nissan series on them.

 

I have a carbon wheel set that goes for nearly 20k, but weight savings is nearly 1.2kg, not really worth it.

[Delilah]

The way I see it, I need to decide between(and pick any 2 from the list):

Strength

Weight

Price

 

IMO that should be amended to picking from:

Strong

Light

Cheap

Stiff

 

Nobody has ever added stiffness to the list, but that is something that is important to me. Personally, I just loath 29er Crests. They are floppy as soggy noodles. Everyone is obsessed with stiff frames and stiff forks, but then they run wheels with more flex than a bodybuilder on steroids

 

Yes, I owned a set of Crest wheels - two for the household in fact. All that lateral flex means a lot of movement on the spokes, so the wheels kept going out of true. The factory standard wheelset comes with alu nipples. After less than a year (about 9 months), those nipples had seized and the wheels could no longer be trued. The spokes had to be cut to get them out. The wheels carried 65kg and 73kg respectively, so it wasn't a matter of exceeding the rider weight limit. It is just uncomprehensible that so many people like Crests.

 

If you have 7k, and you want strong, light and stiff wheels, look into: carbon rims, hubs of your choice (Hopes are great) and a custom build by Johan Bornman.

 

EDIT: Oh and the rims in that link are 30mm wide, so they give a very nice tyre profile too!

Edited January 14, 2013 by Delilah

[Li Mu Bai]

Ok I need some advice/opinions on wheels. And yes, I did a search (it seems the search function returns all threads accept anything to do with wheels, weird?) and also manually scrolled through the threads but can’t find a good answer.

 

So I am buying a new bike soon and would like to upgrade the wheels before the bike leaves the shop. The wheels will be used for XC racing however note that I do like to ride hard (I accelerate rather than slow down when I see a rock garden so the wheels needs to be able to take a punch). Let’s say I weigh up to 84kg in the off season. The way I see it, I need to decide between(and pick any 2 from the list):

Strength

Weight

Price

 

In other words, a strong wheel that is light will be expensive etc.

 

I would prefer the lightest wheel set without sacrificing strength, and my budget is 7k. I am worried that something like a Crest wheel set will not be strong enough, even though the weight is decent?

 

I know some/most of you will recommend that I get a wheel set built, and I am happy to entertain such suggestions. However please also think about complete wheel sets since I might be restricted to this seeing that I am swopping the wheels out when I buy the new bike.

 

Thx all

I got a set of Easton Havens 29" on CRC's wheel sale end of last year. Great wheels, much lighter and stronger than my DT Swiss. R4k, absolute bargain.

[M L]

 

 

IMO that should be amended to picking from:

Strong

Light

Cheap

Stiff

 

Nobody has ever added stiffness to the list, but that is something that is important to me. Personally, I just loath 29er Crests. They are floppy as soggy noodles. Everyone is obsessed with stiff frames and stiff forks, but then they run wheels with more flex than a bodybuilder on steroids

Yes, I owned a set of Crest wheels - two for the household in fact. All that lateral flex means a lot of movement on the spokes, so the wheels kept going out of true. The factory standard wheelset comes with alu nipples. After less than a year (about 9 months), those nipples had seized and the wheels could no longer be trued. The spokes had to be cut to get them out. The wheels carried 65kg and 73kg respectively, so it wasn't a matter of exceeding the rider weight limit. It is just uncomprehensible that so many people like Crests.

Sound more like a bad wheelbuilder, using alu nipples in a wheelbuild is just darf.

 

My crests are not that flexy, you can feel they aren't mavic rims but I barely notice it, running the tires too low will feel far worse.

[Delilah]

Sound more like a bad wheelbuilder, using alu nipples in a wheelbuild is just darf.

They were the standard factory Crests on 3.30 hubs. Dunno if I trust a company to produce decent rims if they don't even know that alu nipples will seize...

[Flippa]

Glad you mentioned wide. Read a few tire reviews and the guy always says they work better on wider rims. How does a wide rim differ from a thin rim?

 

The wider rim gives the tyre a wider profile, and possibly more volume than the same tyre on a narrower rim. The rim bed gives better support to the tyre too, up to a point.

[BergForce]

The standard American Classic 29 Tubeless wheelset weighs 1600g, the same as a Stans Crest Wheelset, but stronger. They are also much cheaper than the American Classic Race version.