Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 Hi guys,Wanted to give my initial impression of the Rapide R25 wheels. When I say wheels, I supplied Wayne from Rapide with the hubs and he build up the wheel-set using his R25 rims, Alpina double butted spokes and brass nipples. I supplied the tubeless valves and he supplied the tape for the tubeless conversion. Hubs are a SLX front with 15mm TA, rear is a Superstar Evo 12mm TA.So my first impressions on receiving the wheels was that they were visibly much wider than my standard Giant S-Xc2 rims. I got to work getting the tyres removed from my original wheels, this was tough, WTB's are known to be tight!! They then fitted really easily to the Rapide rims, I kind of knew there was trouble coming......They would not inflate.I mailed Wayne after 8pm on Friday night and he replied straight away saying he could assist me over the weekend. At that stage I thought they were leaking at the nipples and blamed the tape.Saturday we battled on with the tyres and Wayne managed to get them inflated. I can honestly say that I would never have got them inflated alone!!!I weighed the old wheels vs the new ones. Weights are the wheel with valve but no rotor or bolts:Old front: 1040grNew front: 950grOld rear: 1195grNew front: 1075grSo a tidy 210gr unsprung weight saving, although this was never the purpose of the change.That's the story, I have ridden around the block and them seem to be as solid as they look. Like the almost 27.5+ look with the wide tyre profile. I will give a ride impression later. I also went from QR to TA at the rear which may influence the ride report.
BenReaper Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 I'm also looking at getting a new set of wheels,but on a tight budget.Have thought about these,so I'm looking forward to hearing youre review once youve hammered them a bit.
Hairy Posted January 25, 2016 Posted January 25, 2016 Nice. .....and you have to love the sound the superstar hubs make, have a set on both my hardtail and dually
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted January 25, 2016 Author Posted January 25, 2016 Must confess to spinning the back wheel repeatedly, much better sound than the original. Was also a bit shocked to see the standard rear hub is a pretty budget "cup and cone" setup.Itching to ride but work is just too busy at the moment.
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted June 7, 2016 Author Posted June 7, 2016 Any updates? I have not been riding as much as I would like but I did do a Hakahana day and a few jumptrack sessions and it is holding up just fine.Really think these are top quality rims at a really, really good price when compared to some of the "name brands".I would recommend it, although for some the 25mm internal width might be seen as too narrow..........
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