Stiff xc wheelset

rickyrider

Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade the stock wheelset on my Anthem X4, and would like to get a set that are quite a bit lighter, but without sacrificing stiffness too much. I've read that various lightweight wheelsets such as Shimano XT can be quite flexy. I'd like to run them tubeless too. I'm assuming that I'll be getting some handbuilt rather than factory built, as it seems common knowledge this is much better route to go down.

I'm about 74kgs and into XC only - the occasional small drops but nothing more than that. In terms of budget, I'm not looking super expensive - certainly not more than £300 tops.

Cheers

widge34

ZTR Stans crest. £300 with Hope pro IIs at Merlin or £220 with Superstar Switch Evo hubs ( I've just ordered these, shou
D have them tomorrow.) A tough lightweight wheel.

benpinnick

Theres a hope vs superstar debate raging elsewhere, but I would recommend Hope Pro II evos on Arch EX rims (light versus strength) from Merlin with ACI SS DB Black spokes. This is a great blend of strength to weight, and with the extra 10% off that Merlin is offering right now will only just go over £300. It will be 120g heavier than the equivalent Crest combo, but bullet proof and better for wider tyres.

widge34

What is the maximum width tyre for the crests?

benpinnick

Technically they will take everything. However, a simple rule of thumb is that the inner diameter /10 and then converted to inches is a good max tyre size. This is not because they _won't_ work, but rather the profile of the tyre gets a bit too 'balloony' and so moves around too much. That said - I thought the EX had a wider inner diameter, but it turns out it doesn't so the advice is a little bunk on that front, maybe a flow would be better. Still, my rule of thumb says:

21mm inner width / 10 = 2.1" is max optimum size (Crest)
23mm inner width / 10 = 2.3" is optimum max size (flow)

Like I said, no an actual fact, just experience.

supersonic

Hmm, I'd say 21mm was fine up to most 2.4 tyres.

widge34

That's ok then. Will take my 2.35 highrollers fine.

benpinnick

Like I said, its not a hard and fast rule, but you do loose some the benefits of wider tyres if you stick them on thinner rims. If they wanted to make rims tougher but not change the profile they could, but they make them wider for exactly the reason that they expect you to run fatter tyres, and fatter tyres work better on fatter rims.

benpinnick

As an example, I currently have 2.35 tyres on a crest. It works, but its not optimal.

rickyrider

Thanks for the replies so far guys - appreciated. Will have a think. Trouble with Hope though is that darned racket!

1mancity2

rickyrider wrote:

Thanks for the replies so far guys - appreciated. Will have a think. Trouble with Hope though is that darned racket!

Just grease the freehub paws to stop it.

widge34

rickyrider wrote:

Thanks for the replies so far guys - appreciated. Will have a think. Trouble with Hope though is that darned racket!

At least walkers will know when you are biking up behind them.