Strength of crest rims?

Cqc
Cqc Posts: 951
edited April 2014 in MTB general
Hiya,
I ride rough trails fairly fast, and I've just been offered a pair of ztr crest rims. These would be replacing my current dt Swiss x430 rims which have held up to my abuse decently for a long time. My question is would the crest rims be strong enough? They are described as for XC use, but I've heard that they are pretty strong considering that, and would they be strong enough for big jumps, drops, steps, rocks, etc? And would they be stronger than my current ones? Thanks a lot

Comments

  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Depends more on how you ride than what you ride. Jumps and drops are only tough on rims if you ride them badly or if they are built badly.
    Same with rocky trails, if you ride them smoothly you should be fine.
    The build is very important for strength as well.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    I've used them for the last 3 years with few issues, put a sizeable ding in one a few weeks back but I think that was more bad luck than anything else. I've got 2 pairs and until I started throwing them DH trails they were faultless, a few scrapes but other than that no dings or flat spots at all. Just in the process of replacing both back rims with Arch Ex's as the DH stuff has taken it's toll, but tbf I'm amazed they've lasted as well as they have! A few trips to Antur and thousands of hard xc miles isn't bad going for a 350g rim!
  • Cqc
    Cqc Posts: 951
    lawman wrote:
    I've used them for the last 3 years with few issues, put a sizeable ding in one a few weeks back but I think that was more bad luck than anything else. I've got 2 pairs and until I started throwing them DH trails they were faultless, a few scrapes but other than that no dings or flat spots at all. Just in the process of replacing both back rims with Arch Ex's as the DH stuff has taken it's toll, but tbf I'm amazed they've lasted as well as they have! A few trips to Antur and thousands of hard xc miles isn't bad going for a 350g rim!
    But I won't have to ride in fear or ruining one constantly- ie I can nail DH runs as usual as long as I don't hang up my back wheel on the landing?
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    Cqc wrote:
    lawman wrote:
    I've used them for the last 3 years with few issues, put a sizeable ding in one a few weeks back but I think that was more bad luck than anything else. I've got 2 pairs and until I started throwing them DH trails they were faultless, a few scrapes but other than that no dings or flat spots at all. Just in the process of replacing both back rims with Arch Ex's as the DH stuff has taken it's toll, but tbf I'm amazed they've lasted as well as they have! A few trips to Antur and thousands of hard xc miles isn't bad going for a 350g rim!
    But I won't have to ride in fear or ruining one constantly- ie I can nail DH runs as usual as long as I don't hang up my back wheel on the landing?

    Depends on your definition of DH! Any trail centre descents will be fine, but repeated use on harder tracks uplifts at places like Antur, Revolution, BPW etc will trash them pretty quickly I would imagine. They weigh feck all, as long as you're sensible with them they'll last for years but going outside their capabilities repeatedly will ruin them. If your main plan is for trail centres and natural xc trails they'll be fine as long as you aren't massively heavy. From experience they'll hold up to that fine, and when I got them that's exactly what I wanted them to do, but now I'm riding tougher, faster, proper DH trails more I'd go for Arch Ex's if I was buying again.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    They might be a bit narrow for some wider tyres.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • jairaj
    jairaj Posts: 3,009
    I've been using Crest rims for a few years now and I was very surprised with their strength. I only recently changed them to something heavier and more durable.

    For trail centre and XC riding they should be absolutely fine. I've used them last summer quite a few times doing DH and Bike park jumpy stuff and they were fine, still nice and straight. I was riding the DH on my trail bike so not ploughing through the rough sections the same as the guys on DH bikes but did not shy away from drops and I'm just starting to learn how to jump so not going massively high or far but take the odd bad landing.

    They are not rated for that kinda of riding but they coped very well with it.
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    They might be a bit narrow for some wider tyres.

    21mm internal width so plenty wide enough for beefy tyres. I run Hans Dampfs which as you know are huge and only occasionally feel a bit of rolling from the tyre, notice the slight flex of the wheel more tbh.
  • JMcP92
    JMcP92 Posts: 339
    As folks have said, depends on what you want, however if you're wanting to run any sort of DH on them, I wouldn't.
    I had a set that I ran down some rocky descents, by the time I got to the bottom it was dented all over, out of alignment about 30mm off centre to one side and I managed to puncture the rim itself, not the tyre, which I thought was... impressive? More impressed that despite all that the tire was still holding air at the bottom, so if nothing else they're a good tubeless setup
    Personally, I wouldn't use them, got utterly destroyed way too easily and even if they do fine, I would always be worried of them being knocked about too easily.
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    JMcP92 wrote:
    As folks have said, depends on what you want, however if you're wanting to run any sort of DH on them, I wouldn't.
    I had a set that I ran down some rocky descents, by the time I got to the bottom it was dented all over, out of alignment about 30mm off centre to one side and I managed to puncture the rim itself

    Might I suggest that could be rider error than a fault with the rim? :wink:
  • Cqc
    Cqc Posts: 951
    Tbh I'm a very light rider and I like to hop over stuff and ride light rather than just plough through stuff as I'm on a short travel rig. I do go to bpw, antur, livigno occasionally, and do local DH runs often, but tbh I think they will be fine and much better than my current ones (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/dt-s ... -prod23698) tbh
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    Even so for what you describe Arch Ex's would probably be better I'd say.
  • Cqc
    Cqc Posts: 951
    lawman wrote:
    Even so for what you describe Arch Ex's would probably be better I'd say.
    Yeah, I totally agree, but I'm being offered the crests from a friend that rides a 29er now, and I don't want to destroy his gift to me on day 1... If I was buying them new I would buy arch ex
  • JMcP92
    JMcP92 Posts: 339
    lawman wrote:
    Might I suggest that could be rider error than a fault with the rim? :wink:

    Beyond hucking it to flat or dropping it hand on a rock-edge or something similar, you should be able to ride it down a rocky hill without destroying it, regardless of technique.
    Let's put it this way, if I known I'd done something silly I wouldn't of been quite so surprised that they got destroyed.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    lawman wrote:
    JMcP92 wrote:
    As folks have said, depends on what you want, however if you're wanting to run any sort of DH on them, I wouldn't.
    I had a set that I ran down some rocky descents, by the time I got to the bottom it was dented all over, out of alignment about 30mm off centre to one side and I managed to puncture the rim itself

    Might I suggest that could be rider error than a fault with the rim? :wink:

    Sounds like either too much compression damping or poor riding or both.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    ^^ this.
  • fizik
    fizik Posts: 247
    Mind you arch ex's aren't totally bombproof. 18 months of aggressive xc on various bikes and mine are still straight and round (I weigh 90kg), but have spotted several small cracks appearing around the spoke holes. Shame because you cant get white ones anymore. Just hope they last me through the SES rd 2!
    coiler - http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1463278/
    single speed -http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1370469/
  • JMcP92
    JMcP92 Posts: 339
    fizik wrote:
    Mind you arch ex's aren't totally bombproof. 18 months of aggressive xc on various bikes and mine are still straight and round (I weigh 90kg), but have spotted several small cracks appearing around the spoke holes. Shame because you cant get white ones anymore. Just hope they last me through the SES rd 2!

    Cracked rims + Inners?
    You sir, have a death wish, good luck!
  • fizik
    fizik Posts: 247
    JMcP92 wrote:
    fizik wrote:
    Mind you arch ex's aren't totally bombproof. 18 months of aggressive xc on various bikes and mine are still straight and round (I weigh 90kg), but have spotted several small cracks appearing around the spoke holes. Shame because you cant get white ones anymore. Just hope they last me through the SES rd 2!

    Cracked rims + Inners?
    You sir, have a death wish, good luck!

    Ha, cheers, riding it on my hardtail aswell! First enduro so i doubt I will be going very fast. They are only small cracks atm, so should be ok for now but definitely need replacing before they go bang!
    coiler - http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1463278/
    single speed -http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1370469/
  • JMcP92
    JMcP92 Posts: 339
    fizik wrote:
    JMcP92 wrote:
    fizik wrote:
    Mind you arch ex's aren't totally bombproof. 18 months of aggressive xc on various bikes and mine are still straight and round (I weigh 90kg), but have spotted several small cracks appearing around the spoke holes. Shame because you cant get white ones anymore. Just hope they last me through the SES rd 2!

    Cracked rims + Inners?
    You sir, have a death wish, good luck!

    Ha, cheers, riding it on my hardtail aswell! First enduro so i doubt I will be going very fast. They are only small cracks atm, so should be ok for now but definitely need replacing before they go bang!

    Enjoy the steep gnartasticness! I entered the first race, it was great fun, but missed the entries for this one. However it is Inners, so sad I missed it, but having missed it, I am still alive :P
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    It's a lightweight xc rim. If you ride hard, or weigh a lot, don't do it.
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