Lightest ALLOY 29er MTB wheelset ever?

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Very nice but a similar price and weight to a set of Pulse Carbon wheels from Lyne.

[Jewbacca]

1 hour ago, nick_the_wheelbuilder said:

I had a rim pretzel once - a first-gen WTB KOM i21.
If I turned the nipples more than half a turn each, it went all wonky. Took me about 4 hours to tension and true.

There's light and then there's stupid.
I'm convinced that once you go too light the wheels become so fragile that they're really impractical.

1st gen KOM rims were hard as nails! The WTB version before that was cheese.

We have become pretty spoiled these days though. Building wheels with wider profiles and significantly more material really has made things easier.

Early 2000s to 2012 ish if you took more than a quarter turn borrow per round you got significant side pull.

I remember building a set of WTB i23 circa 2013 and thinking 'holy moly, this thing has not MOVED!'

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

17 minutes ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

Very nice but a similar price and weight to a set of Pulse Carbon wheels from Lyne.

You're right.
The Lyne wheels are also superb value, and at approximately the same weight at only R2000 more.

There are pros and cons for both options obviously.

Things one should always consider when investing in any wheelset:
- Purchase cost.
- Warranty.
- Replacement part cost if damage occurs (how much is a new carbon rim vs. a new alloy one?)
- Availability in the future of said parts.
- Future-proof compatibility.
- Ease of maintenance and reliability.
- Personal taste and preference.

It's always a complex decision, and there are way more right answers than wrong ones these days.

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

2 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

1st gen KOM rims were hard as nails! The WTB version before that was cheese.

We have become pretty spoiled these days though. Building wheels with wider profiles and significantly more material really has made things easier.

Early 2000s to 2012 ish if you took more than a quarter turn borrow per round you got significant side pull.

I remember building a set of WTB i23 circa 2013 and thinking 'holy moly, this thing has not MOVED!'

It's crazy to think that I've not built a new MTB wheel in years with rims narrower than 25mm.
Burly 30mm alloy and carbon rims, which are so laterally stiff, are such a breeze to build compared to narrower rims.

I rebuilt a set of 2013 Roval Control carbon MTB wheels last week with 22mm inner width rims and they took ages to true because they were so sensitive to tension adjustments.

[Koos Likkewaan 2]

Maybe a stupid question, but here goes anyway.

I know lighter wheels are more responsive, which has its benefits. I guess Al vs Carbon does not make a difference in this regard.

Now my question.

Wheelset at 1470g vs a good quality wheelset around 1750g (250-300g diff), would it make such a big difference ? More importantly, would I, at 90kg even feel the difference ?

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

7 minutes ago, Koos Likkewaan 2 said:

Maybe a stupid question, but here goes anyway.

I know lighter wheels are more responsive, which has its benefits. I guess Al vs Carbon does not make a difference in this regard.

Now my question.

Wheelset at 1470g vs a good quality wheelset around 1750g (250-300g diff), would it make such a big difference ? More importantly, would I, at 90kg even feel the difference ?

Good questions.

Will you feel the difference?
Absolutely.

You do need to consider the tradeoff between light weight and durability as well.
Would I advocate the wheels I just built for all-round mountain biking for someone at 90kg (+12kg for bike + 3kg for water and kit)?

No - I'd recommend stronger, and heavier rims. 450-490g rims like Arch Mk4 would be a better long-term choice.

This brings the wheelset to 1700g - outside of carbon territory.
Go with 30mm inner width, strong carbon rims at 350-390g per rim and you have a strong, durable wheelset, at 1500g, but costing R20-30k.