Best Trail wheels for £1000

rapid_donkey

I suggested Flow EX wheels as they seem to be up to a bit of everything. Stans list them as XC/AM/DH wheels on their own website http://www.notubes.com/ZTR-Rims-C18.aspx

If you want to save a bit of weight, Crests are a good option too.

If I had that much money to spend I would go for a Merlin wheel build over Superstar. If you google Merlin wheel builds, their reputation is undisputable. I have Superstar wheels though, and they are great, so they are not a 'bad' option.

As for tyres, its probably better to do a search on the forums. Everyone has different opinions. I use Panaracer Fire XC Pro all year round. Contintenal Mountain King or Rubber Queens (folding or black chili) are a good all round option. Lots of people rate Bontrager XR4's too.

jairaj

The Flow EX is not correct for the OP's needs, its heavy and far too strong for the OPs needs. I'd suggest the Crest rim its strong enough for the riding he does and much lighter. I ride at Woburn regularly and the Crest is fine for that kind of riding.

With the budget you have you could go for something like a DT swiss 240 hub or an American Classic hub. Have chat with the guys at Just Riding Along. They are wheel building specialists and have a pretty good range of high quality components.

dusk

Superstar AM carbon? Not quite the lightest but should be strong as anything and look the part

jairaj

Not quite the lightest but should be strong as anything

how is that helpful? The OP clearly stated he wants to sacrifice strength for lighter weight.

step83

JustKelly, ill be up Aspley woods next Sunday if you want an idea of the wheels and weight of the Superstar wheels (crests with Switch evo rims) Felix linked. Id say the XR3's are not the best for the trails even with my rubbish knowledge. Dont forget the importance of tyre pressures, too high you wont gri p enough and too low you wont get anywhere.
But offers there if you want to see the wheels an get an idea of weight etc

rockmonkeysc

dusk wrote:

Superstar AM carbon? Not quite the lightest but should be strong as anything and look the part

I wouldn't touch cheap carbon wheels. I have seen a couple which have de-laminated and one which has cracked. Either top quality aluminium on spend serious money and get some Enve carbon rims.

dusk

jairaj wrote:

Not quite the lightest but should be strong as anything

how is that helpful? The OP clearly stated he wants to sacrifice strength for lighter weight.

shhhhh, OP also stated they wanted to spend £1k and people are recommending £200 wheelsets. Also statesthey are new to mtbing so it could be fair to assume they don't know everyhting. Also When I said not the lightest they are still lighter than OP's current wheels.

Superstar Carbon wheels aren't cheap, they are still pricey (not to ENVE levels) and come with a warranty

justkelly07

Thanks for the offer of a look step that's kind, not around next weekend
As the wife taking me away for our annivery but maybe another time ?

Thanks for everyone else's input and I now have an idea of what I'd like to do,
Stans wheel builder with weight Calculator has helped aswell so think I need to
Get a look at a few rims to see which look good and will go with the bike and then
Build the lightest set from there, def think custom built is the way ill go !

Thanks again people

lawman

I've used crests for 2 years on my HD and had no problems at all. They've had a few DH runs as well as haven't so much as needed a spoke key, very impressive and if you're a wheels on the ground kind of rider I think you'll be fine with those. I had mine build up on hope pro2's with DT supercomp spokes and they're bang on 1550g for the pair so you'd see a significant saving. If you want to go even lighter tune or DT Swiss hubs will probably take them down under 1400g and still have a big wad of change left to use elsewhere.