Merlin wheels pleeeeaassseeee

The Northern Monkey · January 2010

C'mon then... which rim do I go for?

Want em strong enough for some nice trail riding, but light enough for a bit of xc.
UST maybe, but i'm not too fussed. i prefer tubes

must bare in mind that i'm 16 1/2 stone but i think i'm a fairly light/smooth rider.

B

HandjobDan · January 2010

Stans Arch/ Flow Tubeless, or Mavic EX721Tubed version

warrerj · January 2010

depending on your weight I've been told the Stans Flows or 355's are good.

supersonic · January 2010

D521

The Big Cheese · January 2010

Mavic Xm719 - great wheels for the heavier rider, and light enough for XC

ride_whenever · January 2010

the D521 is pretty much the only light indestructible rim, according to an acquaintance who is a semi-pro, i've seen what he did to a pair of 819 rims (many many flat spots with the rim flat, not just out of radial true as well as breaking them at the seam :shock: )

However you cannot get them any more

the 719 has been great for me so far, but i want to try some of the stans rims next.

pdid · January 2010

The Big Cheese wrote:

Mavic Xm719 - great wheels for the heavier rider, and light enough for XC

Agree with the 719`s, superb rim for strength vs. weight. DT 5.1`s also worth considering.

The Spiderman · January 2010

719s or Flows

MarkDon · January 2010

Are xc717's too lightweight for this application? If so, at what point or weight are they not suitable?

guilliano · January 2010

Can't fault the Stans ZTR Flows that I got Merin to build. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone

The Northern Monkey · January 2010

pdid wrote:

The Big Cheese wrote:

Mavic Xm719 - great wheels for the heavier rider, and light enough for XC

Agree with the 719`s, superb rim for strength vs. weight. DT 5.1`s also worth considering.

I was also thinking the xm719. NOt too expensive either.

SS... i've done a search for the DT5.1 and a lot of people say the ding very very easliy!

Monkeypump · January 2010

Xm719 (on Hope Pro II) from Merlin have been faultless for me.

Definitely recommended.

The Spiderman · January 2010

MarkDon wrote:

Are xc717's too lightweight for this application? If so, at what point or weight are they not suitable?

I currently weigh over 14 stone and have been using 717s on my hardtail for a couple of years.They are pretty tough.

I doubt that they are much weaker than the rims mentioned above,its just that being realatively narrow they only support tyres up to a 2.2,meaning you are more likely to damage the rim via a pinch flat.

MarkDon · January 2010

Cheers for clearing that up spidey, think i'll stick with the 717's and 2.1 tyres.

grumsta · January 2010

719s are good - I did the Mega on them and I weigh 16.5 stone, they only needed a few spokes tightening up afterwards.

My new Stan's Flow rims are pretty sweet though, but I've not tried them out properly yet. Very easy tubeless setup though.

The Northern Monkey · January 2010

Just got a reply from the merlin wheel builder (I only emailed last night so I'm very bloody impressed!).
He's recommended the 719rims so i'll go with them

Just need to gets paid nowwwwwwwwww!!

Anonymous · January 2010

i had pro2 with db spokes and xm819 rims. they were very tough and weighed 1900g (which is a bit heavier than they are "supposed" to be) if you dont want ust though you might as well save 100g and use the 719.

The Northern Monkey · January 2010

ahh so thats the difference between 819 and 719!

Not sure I want tubeless.... i'm not convinced by it

Anonymous · January 2010

if you ever wanted to give it a go the rim strips add up to about the same as the difference between the 2 rims anyway.

im under the impression that the xm819 is more tough though as there are no holes in the bed of the rim so the rim should be stiffer and whatnot,

The Northern Monkey · January 2010

hmm fair enough... something to think about!cheers for putting even more ideas in my head :P

joshtp · January 2010

sorry to thread jack, but how strong are the stans ztr flow's im thinking about a merlin build of ztr's on xt rear hub and a pro2 15mm front (is the pro2 15mm adaptable to 20mm?) how light would that be? it would come to about £180 and i recon that that is awsome value for a very good wheelset.....

GHill · January 2010

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

sorry to thread jack, but how strong are the stans ztr flow's im thinking about a merlin build of ztr's on xt rear hub and a pro2 15mm front (is the pro2 15mm adaptable to 20mm?) how light would that be? it would come to about £180 and i recon that that is awsome value for a very good wheelset.....

Flows are a pretty burley rim, certainly all mountain strength. The Pro II hub is convertible, but you need to buy a kit. Weight will depend on spokes etc., with DT Comp I would think about 1950 g. That's with the XT M756.

joshtp · January 2010

GHill wrote:

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

sorry to thread jack, but how strong are the stans ztr flow's im thinking about a merlin build of ztr's on xt rear hub and a pro2 15mm front (is the pro2 15mm adaptable to 20mm?) how light would that be? it would come to about £180 and i recon that that is awsome value for a very good wheelset.....

Flows are a pretty burley rim, certainly all mountain strength. The Pro II hub is convertible, but you need to buy a kit. Weight will depend on spokes etc., with DT Comp I would think about 1950 g. That's with the XT M756.

1950 for both wheels?!?!?!? thats not much more than my back wheel alone at the moment! WOW! might have to do some sabving...

GHill · January 2010

Both wheels, without tyres, tubes or cassette.

Probably worth getting some cone spanners too, for the XT hub.

warrerj · January 2010

ProII with Flow DT DB spokes and brass nipples =
880g Front
1006 Back

1886 for the pair

If you want to go tubless then have alook here :
http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheels_info.php

ScottAspect45 · January 2010

I have XM719s on Hope Pro IIs from Merlin and I'm very happy with them. have taken a beating on my Stiffee with only a little tweaking needed from my friendly wheel builder.

mikeyj28 · January 2010

Go with the Mavic D521. I have a set and they aren't as light as my 717s but they are stronger with the bonus of being relatively light in comparison to other rims for the money!

Northwind · January 2010

I got Merlin to make me a set of 717s on XT, they've been very good, but I did end up regretting not getting 719s- the weight and cost difference isn't that big but the wider rim would have been worth it. And maybe 819s for tubeless for that matter.

Still, my 717s have needed only very minor tweaks and they've been thumped pretty hard. I put it partly down to the build, a mate of mine has the exact same setup from a competitor and he's forever having me retrue the wheels.

njee20 · January 2010

For the price of building on a Stan's rim (current rrp £90) I'd look at the price of a pair of Hope Hoops on Flows, get a nicer rear hub than the XT one, and quite possibly for less money!

819s are a bugger to build on, I'd far sooner have a converted Stan's rim than a UST one too, particularly if you're not wanting to use UST tyres. 719s or Flows for my money.

Northwind · January 2010

I gather Stans rims convert to tubeless in the same way my Traversees do (since the Traversees are a blatant stans ripoff as I understand) so it's just tape round the rim to seal it, is that right? If so, it's a brilliant way to do things, light and simple.

Cheshley · January 2010

I've had a set of D521's on my Marin HT for about 8 years. I'm over 17 stone and after light XC rides, local quarry shenanigans and more than the occasional foray into the Peak District they are still as straight as the day I bought them. No idea how much is left on the braking surface tho!!!!!

I've just put an XM719 (on Hope Pro II) on the front of my Specialized FS after I stuffed the original one into a tree. Not been out on it much but I'm happy with it so far. Bought it from Merlin after recommendations on this forum.

Just need the rear one to match it now.......

Merlin wheels pleeeeaassseeee

Comments

Categories