Wheel Advice

mf-racing

Hi guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my wheels on my 08 Fuel EX9 from the Bontranger Race Lite (Tubeless Ready) wheelset, but I’m not 100% what to replace them with.

I'm looking to make the bike lighter so I thought this would be a good place to get some good savings. I’m not 100% how much the current wheels weigh, and if they are any good or not (seem ok to me, always kept true!)? I know they run on DT Swiss hubs. Anyone know how much they weigh and if they are any good?

After asking about hubs here, I’m gonna go for XTR hubs (rather than Pro 2) but I’m not sure on the rims. I'm thinking Mavic 717's or DT 4.1's as these seem nice and light, but I’m a bit worried about the strength, I don’t want to be worrying about buckling them

Will the 717s/4.1's hold up to tracks like Dalby red/black with 12.5 stones of me on it? I ride pretty much anything that in front of me, so more AM than XC, but I do like climbing and 30+ miles rides.

How much weight will I lose from the Bontranger wheels?

Cheers guys
Matt

uk_mr_brownstone

I'm going to do a proper review after a few more rides, but I got some Stan's Arch rims on XT hubs from Wheelpro.co.uk and so far they've been flawless! If you had them build on XTR I guess it'd be a bit lighter too (although I didn't personally see the increase in cost as worth it). They're tubeless ready, although I've had problems seating Conti Mountain kings on them- but even with Tubes they're way lighter than my old rim/tyre combo.

They're certainly adequate for the riding i'd do which sounds similar to what you do, although I don't do any drops over more than a couple of feet.

I'm not an expert on wheels- but the fact that they work without incident and feel very 'tight' is enough to say that they've been built well.

Splasher

At 1820g your wheels are hardly heavy. XTR hubs are not actually as light in the flesh as they are on paper because a centrelock rotor is heavier than a six bolt - not by much but then we're only talking grams in saving anyway.

You will probably be able to reduce your wheels by around 100g per wheel before you compromise the bike on the burlier terrain whereas running something like tubeless 2.1 MAxxis LUST tyres (Larsens, Crossmarks, Ignitors, High Rollers) could save you 250g per end at a fraction of the cost.

What tyres and tubes do you currently run?

mf-racing

DP

mf-racing

Thanks for that!

I'm running Cont Mountain Kings 2.2 Protection, converted to tubeless using the Bontranger system.

1820g you say? What would XTR/717 come in at? Seems like a lot of money for little savings! I thought my current wheel setup was quite heavy.

Splasher

The information is all available on-line

FR hub 150
Rim 400
Spokes 208 (assumed DT Comp)
Nipples 31 (assumed brass 2.0)
Rim tape 23

RR hub 275
Rim 400
Spokes 208
Nipples 31
Rim tape 23

Total 1749g

By the time you add 20g an end for the heavier centre lock rotor, your equivalent weight is 1789g or 31g lighter than your Bontys. Not being funny but your wheels are called race lite!