29er rim for heavy and hamfisted rider?

Joe of Loath

Hey all

Tacoed my Superstar XCX29 wheel at Haldon Forest last weekend (On the blue trail no less, PSA: Those features aren't jumps. The landing is actually off camber, a foot wide, and covered in gravel. And there might be a guy standing just off trail about to take a photo.)

I've been looking at replacement rims, but I'm a bit of a rare combination, so many of the existing threads I've found on google don't apply to me. I'm 6'8"/202cm and 100kg/16st/220lb, so I'm pretty athletic and a fair bit faster than your average old guy with a beer gut (sorry guys, don't take it personally!), I ride fairly aggressively (fast enough to keep up with friends on 150mm full sus and 140mm hardtail bikes), but not particularly smoothly ('Oh, a big rock?' *crunch*), and here's the kicker, I'm allergic to latex, so tubeless is out as I'm allergic to the sealant.

Been looking at the Sun Ringle MTX33 and Mavic 721, so I'm not too worried about weight. Rim will be laced to a 32h Superstar Switch Evo hub. I can build wheels, so I'd rather just pick up a rim and spokes rather than a whole new prebuilt wheel, as there won't be any labour costs.

Thanks!

peter413

The MTX 33 is a very strong rim. I've been running the 26" on the back of my DH bike for the past few years and all I've managed to do to it is a couple of very small dings from riding Fort William with a flat and it went ever so slightly out of true when I mangled a load of spokes when I stuck my mech into the wheel, went true easily again though. I'm heavier than you as well.

It really isn't light though and I would never choose to run one on an XC bike and I have been known to ruin wheels quite easily. Take a look at the Stan's Flow EX. It is a tubeless ready rim but I run mine with a tube for now. Again this is for the 26" version. It is far lighter than the MTX 33 but doesn't sacrifice too much strength supposedly, it obviously isn't going to be quite as strong though. I would (and have on the front) run them on my DH bike if I had the money for new wheels. My favorite rims by far for an XC/AM bike unless you're talking about Enve rims or something. Nice and wide so can run nice big tyres with no problems.

Pretty sure there are latex free tubleless sealants out there as well.

Joe of Loath

Ok, how is it running tubes on the flow? I'd heard that the bead is really tight, and the guy in the lbs agreed with me. The rims looked good, though.

Would be nice to run tubeless, but not sure if I'd find the hassle worth it in the long run.

peter413

They're just like any other rim with tubes. They're easier than the MTX 33 to get tyres on and off if that's what you're asking about the bead?

Joe of Loath

Yeah, that's what I was asking about. Unfortunately they're a bit over budget, unless I buy one with a minute dent at 50% off.

hard-rider

You could consider the Pacenti DL31 rim which gets good reviews and are supposed to be stronger than the Flows. They also have eyelets so should get the stress cracks around the spoke holes you sometimes get with Stans rims.