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Mavic or American Classic


Cacey

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Posted

Wide Lightnings are awesome wheels. After 1000km of trail riding still going strong (my weight is 80kg for interest sake).

They grib the tyres more solidly than my ZTRs. You can run your tyre softer and it still feels stable on fast turns. No sideways rolling. This is also a good safety feature. Even if you flat you will unlikely pop the tyre off the rim.

I was running a super low pressure for testing one day and that earned me a small smilie. However that was a hard ride on rocky stuff, and it can be fixed. The ride feel was good but 1 bar was just too low to protect the rim.

Bottom line, I would buy them again.

 

What tyres are you using (front & back) and what pressures do you now ride on these rims?

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Posted

hi ACM, I was/am riding Maxxis Ikons 2.2 on 24PSi/1.65bar. I tested low pressure right down to 14PSI but while still feeling great the risk of bottom outs and rock hits became too big.

The tyres looks huge because of the wide base. This is why I will try some other combinations now, thinking of a Spez GC 2.1 in front and a Fastrak 2.0 at the back.

Posted

hi ACM, I was/am riding Maxxis Ikons 2.2 on 24PSi/1.65bar. I tested low pressure right down to 14PSI but while still feeling great the risk of bottom outs and rock hits became too big.

The tyres looks huge because of the wide base. This is why I will try some other combinations now, thinking of a Spez GC 2.1 in front and a Fastrak 2.0 at the back.

 

Thanks SCD.

I had/have a set of ZTR crest rims.  I was running very low pressures - 1.1 front (Rocket Ron) and 1.3 back (Racing Ralph).  But, recently dented both rims - not "fixable".  I'm 67kg.  I'm interested in the AC wide lightning to see if the wider rim will allow more or same grip at higher pressures (in order to protect rims I'd have to run higher pressures).  I'm also interested in the GC 2.1 as front tyre to see if 1.4 to 1.6bar will result in better (or same) grip than the Ron or Ralph at 1.3/1.4 (front).

 

I'm hoping that the wider (AC) rim (vs. narrow crest) and the GC (which seam to grip at higher pressure than Ron or Ralph) will allow me to run at higher pressures (to protect rims), but provide same grip I enjoy at lower pressures.

Posted

My experience with Mavic is not great. True they are bloody tough wheels but if a spoke breaks its a dod gamn mission to get it replaced, unless your LBS has spares lying around. I was lucky once!

 

American Classics though are also bloody tough and well I have not yet had any grief with them.

Posted

@ACM: don't you want to post a picture of the "not fixable" crests? Curious how that looks.

Other than that let's chat when you have your new tyres and rims. What you describe should definatly work

Posted

@ACM: don't you want to post a picture of the "not fixable" crests? Curious how that looks.

Other than that let's chat when you have your new tyres and rims. What you describe should definatly work

 

Sorry, one (back wheel) is out of focus.  Don't have the rims with me at the moment (at LBS).  But both rims dented into the bottom of the rim structure (not just side wall).  So, the integrity of the rim is compromised.  I know some guys will probably say these are fixable - but I'm not one for riding with something that's compromised going 50km/h downhill at Sabie, taking a jump on a hump in the road.... rim snaps.... landing in hospital.... I've already had a broken leg & dislocated AC joint this year.... don't need more mishaps :eek:

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Posted

Sorry, one (back wheel) is out of focus. Don't have the rims with me at the moment (at LBS). But both rims dented into the bottom of the rim structure (not just side wall). So, the integrity of the rim is compromised. I know some guys will probably say these are fixable - but I'm not one for riding with something that's compromised going 50km/h downhill at Sabie, taking a jump on a hump in the road.... rim snaps.... landing in hospital.... I've already had a broken leg & dislocated AC joint this year.... don't need more mishaps :eek:

I see. These dents are quite deep indeed.

Posted

Anyone have some info or views on the Easton 90's?

 

No, but do a bit of reading on wider rims (inside diameter).... it seams that there is a trend towards "wider is better" and as far as I know the Easton rims also have a narrow (19 or 21mm inside diameter). 

Posted

I ordered my Wide Lightnings yesterday, cannot wait for them to arrive!

 

I still need to decide on what tyres to put on, so far it's between the Fast Trak 2.0 and Renegade 1.95 combo, or a Schwalbe combo with Thunder Burt 2.1 and Rocket Ron 2.25 on the front ...

 

Choices choices ...

Posted

NOOOOO! Those wheels deserve something with a wider profile. Seriously. And slightly more grip as well. 

 

For general GP riding i'd recommend a Rocket Ron / Racing Ralph combo. In 2.25. With the Snakeskin sidewalls (non snakeskin are shaite)

 

Why? Well, for anything but tar, wider and lower pressure is actually better than narrow and hard. Seriously. There have been proper studies on this sort of thing in controlled environments. 

 

But - well done! Awesome wheelset. 

Posted

NOOOOO! Those wheels deserve something with a wider profile. Seriously. And slightly more grip as well. 

 

For general GP riding i'd recommend a Rocket Ron / Racing Ralph combo. In 2.25. With the Snakeskin sidewalls (non snakeskin are shaite)

 

Why? Well, for anything but tar, wider and lower pressure is actually better than narrow and hard. Seriously. There have been proper studies on this sort of thing in controlled environments. 

 

But - well done! Awesome wheelset. 

 

Thanks I will definitely consider the 2.25's as well, I just thought the whole goal of such a wide rim is that one can run lighter/narrower tires, as a 2.0 will become a 2.1 for example.

Posted

Similar boat to Kraggie.  Dented my ZTR crest rims beyond repair and decided to get the AC Wide Lightning.  Will get them in the new year.

 

Currently I'm running Racing Ralphs 2.25 snakeskin (front & back), but prior to that I was running the Rocket Ron 2.25 snakeskin front - for a long time - probably 18 months.  My plan... to do a fair comparison between narrow (ZTR crest 19mm) vs. wide (29mm wide lightning) rims and tyre grip I'll fit the racing ralphs (or ralph / ron combo) onto the wide rims and test like that.  Probably start pressures around 1.6back and 1.5 front (I weigh 68kg... after Xmas probably 70kg :ph34r: ). Then test where max grip is in terms of tyre pressure. With my ZTR crest and ralphs I found that 1.3back and 1.1rear gave very good grip - BUT, these soft pressures probably contributed to me denting the rims!  So, need to run higher pressures.  I'm hoping that with the wide rims the 1.6/1.5bar gives similar pressures to the lower pressures on the narrow rims.  We'll see!

 

But, I'm also interested to test the Spez Fast Trak / Ground Control combo.  From the reading I've done it seams that these tyres grip at higher pressures (to the ralph/ron).  So, maybe running wider rims with the spez fast trak/ground control will allow higher pressures (to protect rims), but provide same grip on wider rim (compared to the ralph/ron on narrow rim at 1.1/1.3bar).

 

Looking forward to testing these combos! :thumbup:

Posted

Thanks I will definitely consider the 2.25's as well, I just thought the whole goal of such a wide rim is that one can run lighter/narrower tires, as a 2.0 will become a 2.1 for example.

 

Yes, if you're after a low rolling resistance (and not so much grip cornering) then the narrow tyre is an option.  If you want the grip the 2.25 - which will probably be more like a 2.3 or 2.35 will be better.

 

I'm thinking.... 2.25 front and 2.0 back.  I hardly ever slide/drift my back 2.25 ralph, but the front keeps breaking away and have bought me some land in Groenkloof (S-bender).  So, maybe 2.0 back for low rolling resistance and 2.25 front for better grip up front.

Posted

Yes, if you're after a low rolling resistance (and not so much grip cornering) then the narrow tyre is an option.  If you want the grip the 2.25 - which will probably be more like a 2.3 or 2.35 will be better.

 

I'm thinking.... 2.25 front and 2.0 back.  I hardly ever slide/drift my back 2.25 ralph, but the front keeps breaking away and have bought me some land in Groenkloof (S-bender).  So, maybe 2.0 back for low rolling resistance and 2.25 front for better grip up front.

That's false (the narrow tyre = low rolling resistance bit) - wider and lower pressure has been repeatedly shown to have lower rolling resistance in MTB applications, due to the constant undulations of the terrain itself. In perfectly flat instances, like road riding, higher pressures and narrower tires are preferable for lower rolling resistance. 

 

Not the case in MTB. In MTB, wider = better grip, lower pressures, lower rolling resistance. 

 

The tread pattern & rubber durometer and tread depth are what you need to look at to determine fast rolling or not, not how skinny it is. Go as wide as you can, within reason obviously. 

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