Good Pair Of Wheels For XC

XT hubs on Mavic 717 rims with double butted spokes is a budget favourite. Problem with those CRC ones is that they are using old XT hubs - a couple of generations old actually. The M760 series is better, and the m770 series the latest - are a lot lighter as the M750 series, whilst strong, weigh a ton! Still decent wheels though.

Merlin did - though at the moment they just say 'XT'. I would contact them first!

how much do xt hubs and 717 wheels weigh?

under 1800g is very decent i reckon but if you want 6 bolt, you are probably gonna end up with wheels closer to 1900, i bought a pair of crossrides from merlin for the newest stumpy and they weigh in at about 1900.

so i would recommend a set of crossrides, they are pretty light, very good looking and they come specced on some very expensive bikes.

would prob be a safer bet to get xt set up.

i chose the crossrides as i like mavic (used xm819, crosstrail, cross lands and now crossrides) and know they will stand up to a 19stone thumping and as im sure you already know, i like a nice looking thing.

Just received my xt hub / 717 rim from Merlin, yes they are the M756 hub's they weighed a little over 1900 grams (inc skewers).

Crossrides are fantastic for the price. 717s may be slightly lighter but it's hardly a fair test, the Crossrides have 19mm rims, a comparable 719 wheelset weights 130g more than 717s. You also get quite a bit more tyre choice, 2.3" max width recommended for 19mm, 2.1" for 17mm.

Mine are on their last legs now, they were on my XC bike so they didn't ever get too hammered, they've done tons of miles though, including road through all of last winter. The freehub body is going now causing slight play in the cassette, apparently the bit that is wearing isn't replacable.

Fortunately a new wheel will set me back about £60, if I'd needed a new XT hub + respoke I'd have probably paid as much with a lot more downtime. I've never noticed any flex, I've never had spoke issues, the rim is true as the day I got it and spokes all very tight. I'm using the XT M775 factory wheelset now with some UST tyres, it's a bit lighter but to be honest quite a bit more flexy. Once again, I went for the XT wheelset for the 19mm rims, I wouldn't like being limited to 2.1" max.

The Crossrides still get used on my mile munching wintery/commutey bike though When it dies I'm sticking another one on!

Well ok, not maximum, recommended though:

http://www.mavic.com/mtb/products/XC-717-Disc.323324.aspx

It's easy enough to find stories of people using too wide tyres on thin rims and finding the tyres unstable and worming around underneath them, especially if you run a lower pressure.

I'm not sure how the weight of spokes compares, I'd assume those bladed spokes are heavier though, as I mentioned, my XT wheels with fairly heavily butted spokes are much flexier than the Crossrides.

supersonic wrote:

Crossrides are good, only problem really being the availability of spares (spokes, bearings, axle bits) though I believe the UK importer and service centre side of things is set to improve. 32 spokes probably a bit more durable on the XT set up, but new lower price of Crossrides makes them an attractive proposition.

You're right, the wheels are now sorted direct through mavic rather than Chicken (or so I was told)

I will say that the Crossride's on my Scale are spot on - not the lightest around, but they look the part and can take a beating.

I havre dcls and find them quite intuitive,but know a lot of people can`t get on with them.They work best with a rapid rise mech so that both levers are operating in the same plane,eg tap down for upshift,flick upward for downshifts.
If you use them with a conventional mech your left and right lvers will be going differenet ways,and will get really confusing.