mixing rims

Ferrals

Daydreaming about bike bits in the coffee shop queue this morning, I was thinking about which rims I'd like if I was to win the lottery and replace my wheels.. to cut a long thought process short, I came to wondering whether people mix rims between front and rear?

On the forum most people seem to talk about if they are getting the same rims front and rear but I can't see it being a necessity. If, for example, you suspect you are harder on you rear wheel than your front, it would make sense to me to get a stronger rim on the rear and to save weight on the front. Do people do this or not?

Chunkers1980

I did run a lighter weight rim on the front but then bought a new pair. I think matching them does look better - but there is a weight saving in there if you go different.

Thewaylander

I personally like my rims to match cos I'ma big fairy and like how my bike looks.

But if you look at the new Mavic wheels for instance they have a wider profile rim up front and narrower at the back for differetn tyre shapes and rotating weights.

The Rookie

No need for the same front and rear, by all means have different if it makes sense. I run different rims on my commuter, but that was just an accident of the wheels I bought (pre loved) for it.

njee20

Thewaylander wrote:

I personally like my rims to match cos I'ma big fairy and like how my bike looks.

+1

Tyres too, I can just about get my head around non matching tread, but like the manufacturer to match. A (very fast) friend of mine can't even cope with that, he has to change his tyres in pairs!

No real reason for it though, different depth wheels on road bikes are fairly common.

drlodge

I like the wheels to match, but its not uncommon with aero wheels to have a deeper section and more spokes on the rear wheel, the front wheel may be radially laced too where as the rear will be 2x or 3x on the drive side at least.

Ferrals

I was thinking, purely hypothetically, of stans arch ex on the back and crest on the front so it wouldn't look too far off, due to my desire to both go lightweight and re-live the xc racing triumphs (well maybe not quite triumphs.. :oops: ) of my youth and to go warp speed on a hardtail round the various trail centres and dh orientated trails here in south wales.

I know what you mean about tyres though, i switched my back tyre (maxxis crossmark) for a conti x-king, which I love, but now I have an irrational need to get a conti to replace the maxxis ardent on the front too

Chunkers1980

drlodge wrote:

I like the wheels to match, but its not uncommon with aero wheels to have a deeper section and more spokes on the rear wheel, the front wheel may be radially laced too where as the rear will be 2x or 3x on the drive side at least.

Seriously - do you know where you are?

drlodge

London last time I looked. Sorry, didn't realise you MTBers don't use deep carbon aero wheels

njee20

Point still stands - plenty of factory wheels still have more spokes on the rear than the front, often with different lacing patterns.

.blitz

whether people mix rims between front and rear?

Have a assortment of 26" wheels with various rims and axles but they are all black. Some have the same rims but from different years so the stickers are different

Never really thought about it tbh

felix.london

cyd190468 wrote:

or if you're a bit more enduro you could have Flarches.

haha..been thinking of doing just that! The only thing stopping me?...my set of Arch EX are white and there's no way I'm putting a white rim on the Votec!

The Rookie

I'd agree with that, although I have seen a dark bike with white RS forks that used a white rim at the front and a black at the back and that worked really well visually.

Ferrals

cyd190468 wrote:

. You could have a set of Stan's Crarch, or if you're a bit more enduro you could have Flarches.

Crarch sounds like something Stan picked up in amsterdam, and as for his flarches, bad posture all the way

I do think crarch would feel good though

Ryan Jones

From my BMX days, pretty much everything on offer was a more heavyweight rear wheel with a lighter one up front. Makes sense, as you're (generally speaking) harder on the back wheel than the front so save weight wherever possible.

rockmonkeysc

Most wheels are sold as single wheels so no reason not to buy a lighter front and tougher rear.
The front generally gets an easier life but occasionally it gets a heavy impact with a rock you didn't see or a heavy front wheel landing which would kill a lighter rim so I stick with matching rims.

Horton

Mavic are already onto this - if you have £700 to spend...

http://www.mavic.co.uk/landing/Crossmax_enduro_WTS/Crossmax_enduro_WTS_en/Crossmax_Enduro_WTS.php#enduro_lp_front_rear

peter413

Horton wrote:

Mavic are already onto this - if you have £700 to spend...

http://www.mavic.co.uk/landing/Crossmax_enduro_WTS/Crossmax_enduro_WTS_en/Crossmax_Enduro_WTS.php#enduro_lp_front_rear

They're the wrong way around though, the weaker wheel is the rear wheel for some bizarre reason.

I still run odd wheels on my DH bike (Flow EX on the front and MTX33 on the rear) but the other bikes match. I also often have different manufacturers tyres on as well. You could always change the stickers if they have to match and sharpie your tyres

ndthornton

The trouble with this is you generally want a bigger tyre on the front than on the back (or I do). Bigger tyres work better with wider rims. Definitely don't want a smaller rim on the back so I tend to leave them in pairs.