"All Mountain" Rims

P-Jay

What are the best rims for trail centre style riding?

I've got a 2006 Enduro expert. The standard wheels wern't much cop and I got fed up with them bending so bought the toughest wheels available to me at the time. Mavic 729's on Hope Pro2's. But after a year or so on them I'm getting held back by the weight of them, they don't spin up very well.

I was thinking DT Swiss 5.1's as Hope use these on their own Hope Hoops, any other sugestions????????? I can't seem to get a straight answer from my LBS, I alsp fancied 721's are they narrower (and therefore lighter) versions of my 729's?

Anonymous

719 or 819 if you want tubeless would be my choices. i used the 819s for a while and weigh in at about 19 stone and had no problems atall, pluss they are light at 450g each but expensive, im lead to believe the 719 is the same rim just with out the ust spoke bed.

ithnk the 5.1 is a difficult rim to get tyres on and off of.

ratty2k

I've also seen a lot of people reporting they damage the 5.1 rims easily as well. I have the 819 rims and rate them, I aint the lightest of folks, and they have stood up well to being thrashed round the Peak and various trail centers. Had them a few years now as well.

switchback18

EX721's are almost indestructible I'd say - I had one as a rear on a hardtail - the only reason I don't use it any more is it had a cheap hub, so when I upgraded I went for a different rim as well - the wheel is on a friend's bike stil & has never needed trueing. It was built about 4 years ago.

...but I always advise getting them built by someone you trust - the best rims in the world willl bend if they're not built well.

Personally, I've got WTB SpeedDisc AM rims on one bke because that's what they came with - they've been fine since I retrued them myself. My hardtail has Mavic XM321 (now EN321). Chose these as they were cheap & I'd seen good reviews & they're not too heavy. Built them up myself, and again, they hardly ever need trueing, and then it's only a mm or so. These might be a bit light for heavier bikes, but should be OK when you say it's mainly trail centre riding.

Edit: recently bent the front SpeedDisc - replaced it with an EN321. The SpeedDisc is the only rim I've ever destroyed.

pdid

sheepsteeth wrote:

719 or 819 if you want tubeless would be my choices. i used the 819s for a while and weigh in at about 19 stone and had no problems atall, pluss they are light at 450g each but expensive, im lead to believe the 719 is the same rim just with out the ust spoke bed.

ithnk the 5.1 is a difficult rim to get tyres on and off of.

Agree

I had a 717 on my Rock Lobster originally which i bent in a couple of months, replaced with a 719 on Hope pro 2 and its been solid as a rock.

Phil

dave_hill

Mavic EN321s. Not necessarily the lightest, but they're good value and pretty bombproof.

stevebrock

ratty2k wrote:

I've also seen a lot of people reporting they damage the 5.1 rims easily as well. I have the 819 rims and rate them, I aint the lightest of folks, and they have stood up well to being thrashed round the Peak and various trail centers. Had them a few years now as well.

Only thing about the DT 5.1 rims, is the paints chips easily! They are tough rims and stay true!

Steve_b77

I've got Hope Hoops with DT 5.1D's on my Pitch and had no issues with them atall.

No damage to report and the paint is still intact after a couple of crashes and lots of flying stones/gravel too.

Kiwi Kranker

Well on my Ransom I have 5.1's (labelled someting else but they are 5.1's) and I only weigh 78kg and I had to have both of them trued after only a few rides. they MUST be built by someone who knows what they are doing, since getting mine done properly I have had no issues.

switchback18

Kiwi Kranker wrote:

they MUST be built by someone who knows what they are doing, since getting mine done properly I have had no issues.

This is so true - if you can learn to build wheels yourself you can have total confidence in them. I've found that lightweight XC rims built well are stronger than heavy duty rims built poorly. As I build my own, I don't have much experience of shop built wheels - apart from Albany Cycles in Coventry - he builds awesome wheels (I think his name's Mark)
If you've no intention of building your own, find a good builder & stick with them, even if they're not the cheapest. The way to build wheels cheaply is to cut corners.

psilocybe

i've just put some DT Swiss E2200 on my Orange 5, praps a little heavier than i would have liked but at least they quality and look all carlos fandango like.