Got a Giant Reign X1 which I have lost endless nights of sleep over deciding wether to keep it or not!
Anyway decided to keep it and hope iv'e made the right decision??
My question is iv'e just bought some new 36's and now want to replace the Dual Duty's for something tougher and wondered what people thought of the EX729's? are they purely for downhill or can I use them for Welsh trail centres, and general trail riding or just a trip to Morzine?

Any comments from people who use them are very welcome and also what bikes they use them on and for what style of riding and how do they pedal with the added weight? PHEW!! sorry 🙂

Cheers

EX729's should be compulsory on a bike like this! I've got an X0 with EX729's, 66's, fox coil, perfect. TBH EX729's are a pretty light rim for their intended use so ideal for trails as well as Alpine stuff.

721's, pretty light and more or less bombproof.

patriot_matt, will high roller 2.35's be ok on width with the EX729's or will they be too small for the rim and need to be 2.5's?
What tyres do you use?

I ask as I don't want to really be riding on 2.5's at trail centres as they would be hugely overkill!

Cheers mate 🙂

I have 721's on my coiler and have never had any issues – ploughed straight into many a rock garden.

I ask as I don't want to really be riding on 2.5's at trail centres as they would be hugely overkill!

And your bike choice isn't?

729s aren't really any stronger than 721s but a lot lighter – the only advantage of 729s is you'll get a less rounded tyre profile with a 2.5+ tyre.. (I'd go as far as to say 729s are a silly choice for trail centres and general riding).. dual dutys on the other hand are probably spot on. Dual duty's are actually pretty strong for their low weight too.. have you trashed yours? if not, just keep them.. there's **** all in the PDS that's any worse than over here (if you ride the right places)

you'd probably be wanting to run dual ply tyres on a 6" travel bike in a chairlifted resort – the added weight of these is way more than the difference between any of those rims.

EX729's on SC Heckler, Maxxis Minion 2.35 dual plys, superb for trail centre, a little heavy but in 3 years have stayed true through some rough stuff, jumps and a trip to spain. Best rims I have ever used.
15.5 st hard rider.
They rock !

ha ha!!! 😆

i'm a geek with a set of scales…

729 = 675g

721 = 590g

(i've weighed them)

i weigh 80Kg, and i now use 721's for Dh racing – i did use 729's but figured if they were still straight after 2 years with no need for a spoke key then i could go for something lighter.

i would say that 729's are overkill for a full-bouncer that'll get used at trail centres.

with all that suspension going on, your wheels will have a surprisingly easy life.

729's are good rims, but they're stronger than i need for Dh racing.

i've also got a set of halo freedom wheels (rim = 540g), they're plenty strong enough.

I'm borrowing some 729s at the minutes and they are heavy mother truckers- not the nicest to haul up hills!

Surely it has nothing to do with the bike and is about what you are doing on the bike. A hardtail that does big hucks will need stronger wheels than DH bike that never leaves the ground. So maybe you should say how big jumps you are doing and what kind of riding you are doing.

I have 819s and they were fine round Morzine and Innerleithen. Mind you I would probably not get any higher than 6 feet off the ground on a good landing. But I also like riding up the hill as well as down so maybe I am willing to sacrifice a bit of strength and longevity for enjoying riding the f''ker.

729s are a ridiculous prospect for ths kind of bike. A friend had a set on his sxtrail and found the high rotational weight sapped his speed and energy, he had some heavy michelin tyres on as well and it felt insanely heavy in comparison to my 823 rim, tubeless with Conti Rubber Queen.
For the sake of truing once, your ride will be a lot better dropping rotational weight. Look at EX721, 823 and Stans Flows, 823 are strongest, closely followed my 721, Flows are supposed to be strong, comparable to 721, but not many people have a set. A friend just got some after the 729 and has had to true them (although that's predictable after bedding in) but the jury's still out.
I had a Reign with 823s and this seemed spot on, for trail centres I'd be looking at Flows realistically due to the good strength:weight ratio.

I've found 819s to be fine on my Pitch – including doing a week in the Alps/doing the Mega and a few dh courses over here. I weight 16 stone and ride pretty hard/clumsy – I like to get air as much as possible but don't do anything huge.

Personally I would just use the existing wheels until they break, which they probably won't.