Im looking at a few ways to drop a bit of weight from my bike and so far the biggest weight saving seems to be from the wheels which are …

Formula 15QR+142/12mm + Mavic TN319 29e that come standard on a 5 29.

As they come they seem a bit flexy to but not sure if thats normal or just down to bieng a couple of years old.

What not to expensive wheels would you consider would be a good upgrade over this wheel set that will save me a bit of weight without being to flimsy?

Cheers

steve

Strong, light, cheap. Pick 2.

Not very helpful but you get my point.

What do your wheels weigh for comparison?

What type of riding do you do?

How much do you weigh with full kit?

I’ve just upgraded from hope hoops stans flow 29er at 2040g to some American classics wide lightening at 1560g. Rrp £600.

Wide lightening here too, very good wheelset I picked em up for £460

Is the stock answer not Light Bicycle carbon rims with your choice of spokes/hubs?

I’m not going carbon.

My rear wheel plus cassette tyre and tube is just shy of 3 kgs.

I picked up some Spank Oozy wheels on here for £200 1800g.

You better say what your budget is really.

Wheels are the achilles heel of 29ers in my experience – and unless you go carbon or for an expensive alu wheelset like Mavic XLs, it’ll always be a trade-off between weight and sturdiness.

I’m riding a budget set of Superstar Tech 4 wheels (DS25 rims) and I’m happy to take the weight penalty because they are stiff enough for hard riding and have stood up well to some of Scotland’s worst waterbars over the past week.

No reason not to go carbon other than inital cost.
That said plenty of wheelsets (factory or custom) that will be nearly as light (if not as strong*) for a lot less money.
On the custom front as much as I love Hope reliable hubs, they just aren’t light.. So DT Swiss 240’s are the obvious choice, though I’m trying out some BOR’s which are as light.. got them for the right money.
For the 5-29er, I’d suggest a rim with a reasonable internal width, something around 24mm (wider is nice but you start to add a lot of weight), something like the WTB KOM i25 (or older frequency i23), though Stan Arch’s wouldn’t be a bad choice either.

* if we believe the blurb

My rear wheel plus cassette tyre and tube is just shy of 3 kgs

My American classic rear wheel, Xt cassette and 40t expander, racing Ralph, 180 rotor and sealant weighs 2.5kg. But that may be mostly the tyre and or cassette.

I agree with zippy, dt Swiss 240s with the engagement pick up adapter are probably the way to go. The American classic hubs don’t seem to get great reviews, if I do replace them, it will he with the dt Swiss

Unless you’re a racing snake who’s more into climbs than descents then I’d focus on stronger and stiffer rims than lighter ones, especially on a hard hitting beast like the Alpine 5. It seems to be best to go carbon on 29ers unless you’re happy to have either a flexy wheel or a heavy wheel.

Thanks for the help peeps.

Obviously I would prefer strength over weight saving but don’t really want to add weight.

Would going tubeless help at all.

What about getting my wheels re-tensioned.

WTB KOM i25 built onto DT 350 or Pro 2 hub set. Everything you want and the easiest rims to tubeless in my experience.

Would going tubeless help at all.

Yes, of course.

What about getting my wheels re-tensioned.

Do the spokes feel baggy?

You’re a big guy so you probably are feeling a bit of flex. If you won’t give us a budget, all I can say is buy these…
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/tech-4-tubeless-ready-wheelsetds25.htm

I bet the bike will be much more confidence inspiring – and if you spend more there’s a good chance you’ll still think the bike is too heavy or feel over-biked.

Sorry yes a budget would help… £250 New is about what I’m looking to spend.

Are those superstar wheels any good ?

An alternative!

I have a set of Kinesis Maxlight IX on my 29 HT. They come in at 1800g the pair. Very stiff and solid and I have not managed a ding yet in a year. With kit on I am 100kgs on a good day and sometimes a bit over depending on beer! They are a good trade off of weight over solidity, tubeless ready and I got them from Winstanleys for well under stock price. They are not fashionably wide though!

The maxlights are £360 from winstanley at the moment

Are those superstar wheels any good ?

Yeah, I bought them because I wanted some properly sturdy wheels and they have exceeded my expectations. I now don’t flinch anymore when I pile the bike into rocks or roots!

They’re decent quality and well built as well as being sturdy and not too heavy for an AM bike. And they’ve held up well to some very gnarly trails in the Lakes and Highlands.

I replaced some WTB Frequency i19 with the i25 version. They are much stiffer than the i19 and I found they were nicer to build with than Stan’s Flow.

You may not want to build your own wheels, but you could be able to have some good quality rims and spokes built on your Formula hubs for the price of a lower cost wheel set, which may well use the same model of hubs that you already have.

i25 is a really good rim ime but no lightweight, pretty sure you’d be adding weight there (assumign Mavic’s claimed weight of 510g is accurate- Mavic often aren’t). But also width and tubelessreadiness.

The Formula hubs in there are actually pretty good but they’re not light. TBH the OE wheelset are in that annoying wilderness of not really being as good as the bike deserves, but too good to make upgrades easy.

Me, I’d put carbon on it. Or I’d forget about light, because I don’t think there’s anything light and metal that’ll cut it.

Would carbon wheels lose me that much weight ?

What about rider weight limits on carbon.

I agree about the standard wheels northwind. I guess I’m going to have to spend a lot to get better ?

Can I run the standard ones tubeless ?

Crank bros Iodine 3 tubeless wheelset £299 at Merlin. 1765g for 29er

The early CB wheel sets had poor free hubs, and got a bad rep, but they now have gone back to a more basic reliable system. The rim bed is sealed, so no rimtape required for tubeless.

Would carbon wheels lose me that much weight ?

It depends on where you are looking to save weight. If it’s in your wallet, then yes, i would imagine carbon wheels would make it quite a lot lighter…

renton – Member

Would carbon wheels lose me that much weight ?

The middle-sized LB rim is 395g- just barely heavier than a Stans Crest. But also 24mm inside, and tubeless ready. So it’s as light as an XC rim, but strong and wide as you like. Save you 115g an end over the rims you have but a lot of the recommendations have been heavier.

It is also, unfortunately, $170. So not terrifyingly expensive but a fair chunk more than a quality alu rim.

🙁

Or, put it another way, my 26er rear LB carbon has worked out cheaper than the 2 broken alu rims it replaced, and so far it is in one piece. That’s economics.

(actual economics would mean taking a whole bunch of broken rims, getting someone to rate them as an AAA+ Rim Bundle, then selling them for a million dollars.)

good work (on all scores) from northwind ! 😆

Spokes are important and in some cases you can save more weight by changing the spokes than the rims.

Get the lb rims with some expensive spokes and sell your wheels.

Novotec do some good reasonable priced hubs that are a good weight.

The middle-sized LB rim is 395g- just barely heavier than a Stans Crest. But also 24mm inside, and tubeless ready. So it’s as light as an XC rim, but strong and wide as you like. Save you 115g an end over the rims you have but a lot of the recommendations have been heavier.

Sorry, I’ve got to stop you there, technically that’s incorrect…

The 4 I’ve built have all been between 380 and 388g.

Carry on… 😉

Tactic AM rims seem to get good reviews and they seem a decent weight for 29er AM, well within budget as well

<sigh> 395g +/- 15g, you pedantophile.

I’d like some new wheels to replace the weak and heavy Bontrager Dusters that came on my Trek. They’re utter bobbins, end up out of shape after every ride. The LB rims are very appealing.

This will be the only time I ever say this, but… Those Crank Bros wheels look like they might not be a terrible idea.

Crank Bros. look good for the money. Can’t seem to find a conversion kit for the rear hub to make them fit 142×12

<sigh> 395g +/- 15g, you pedantophile.

Shucks, you say the sweetest things! 😉

This will be the only time I ever say this, but… Those Crank Bros wheels look like they might not be a terrible idea.

😯

Are they cheap enough to throw away and buy another set if you bend one yet? 🙄 There’s better options out there, for less money, such as…

The Raleigh Pro-Build Chosen/Alex wheelset. Chosen hubs (they’re the Halo 120point engagement internals as Chosen make the hubs for Halo) on Alex Volar 2.3 (effectively between an Arch and a Flow both width and weight wise). All for £205 RRP (and you’re likely to get a discount off this!). You’re looking at sub 1900g and tubeless compatibility as well…

just bought the last set of these without tyres .. http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/mavic-crossroc-29-mtb-wheel-set—15x100135x5–/aid:747885
bargain 😀

@pigyn

Do you rate the KOM i25 then? They’re on my wishlist for a new set of wheels, although there are a few that seem to think they’re a little too flexy, which is a payoff for the weight (or lack of).

mboy – Member

The Raleigh Pro-Build Chosen/Alex wheelset. Chosen hubs (they’re the Halo 120point engagement internals as Chosen make the hubs for Halo) on Alex Volar 2.3 (effectively between an Arch and a Flow both width and weight wise). All for £205 RRP (and you’re likely to get a discount off this!). You’re looking at sub 1900g and tubeless compatibility as well…

My mate was looking at the 26″ version of these. What sound does the freehub make?
He specifically doesn’t want a Hope type click!

My Hope Hoops with Stans ArchEx have been fine running tubless not noticed any flex , on my Hammerhead Thumper similar bike to the 5 29er
130mm travel 140 fork my weight in my gear is around 100Kg 😳

What are these carbon rims like for straightlining rock gardens? Op I would recommend pacenti dl31’s mine have put up with 9 months of lakes rock garden abuse with only minor truing (I am near 95kg too) they do dent a bit but easy to pull out, got to be expected when running low pressures and certainly better than cracking, which would be my concern with carbon

Already been mentioned and slightly over budget but I’ve been really pleased with my Spank Oozy 29er wheelset. I’m about 15 stone kitted up and they remain true and running well after nearly 2 years with only one bearing replacement on the rear after a very wet winter. They come in at 1800g and happily coped with a week in the Alps too. If I were buying again I would probably go with the newer, wider 295 trail versions which would probably be better for 29ers. I also have a set of Arch EX rims which are also very good too but I think the finish on the Oozy’s is much nicer.