Wheels for DH Racing

CalvinR

Hi, im thinking of getting a DH race frame (2010 spesh demo) purely for DH racing, i want a light set of wheels to go on the frame, but at the same time strong wheels....
what would you reccomend? i will be doing the NPS series next year and going to all the rough tracks like fort bill and rheola.
one idea i had was to get a pair of light wheels and a pair of heavy duty wheels, like the mavic ex 729s i had on my glory....what do you think?
cheers Calvin

jay12

some mavic deemaxes. but i think they're pretty heavy

ride_whenever

The ultimate in tough and light was the old d521 mavic rims, an aquaintance who is a semi-pro dh rider up in scotland swears by them as a light strong setup, the only rims he hasn't broken (i saw a pair of 819 rims that he had trashed - flat spots and broke them at the weld :shock: )

The 721 on a decent pair of hubs with good spokes would be a good bet, or the 823 which is UST so inherently stronger and a touch wider. Hub wise i'd say pro II built by a really good wheelbuilder.

The other rim option would be the no tubes ztr flow, very strong and light. (justridingalong.co.uk) if money was no object i'd probably go for industry nine hubs with cx-ray spokes and the flow rim from jra. Otherwise 823 on hope from merlincycles.

mikeyj28

I have a set of Mavic d521s that i MAY well be parting with in a few weeks time.

One thing that can be said about them is that for downhill wheels they are definitely relatively light & they are really strong.

CalvinR

thanks ill probably go for the 721s maybe