Well not too confused but some help wouldn’t go amiss

First question, I am considering building a kaffenback for winter/ commuter/ cross duties, I’ll be damned though if I can find a 700c rim that is disc specific, I considered a set of kinesis cross lights, I’m just unsure if they will be grand to run a road tyre and if they’re as light as they claim. I’m also dabbling with the tubeless idea so considered a stans iron cross but they warn against tubeless with a road tyre due to the different bead shape. What’s a good choice therefore for reasonably light (preferably disc specific rim) that is possibly tubeless (either full wheel set or something I can build onto something such as pro2 hubs)

Secondly looking to upgrade the wheels on my summer bike (£300-500 budget)
I have looked at the
Shimano rs81
Fulcrum racing 3
Mavic ksyrium
Any others to consider?
Any first hand reviews?
How do the mavics compare weight wise? They seem heavy

Sorry for the double ask

Narrow 29er rim for your first Q?

I considered a set of kinesis cross lights, I’m just unsure if they will be grand to run a road tyre and if they’re as light as they claim

in my experience no, of the 6 or so sets I’ve seen weights for only one of them was as described, the rest were about 30g over for each wheel

I run them with a 28mm road tyre (which is the smallest they will take) and they seem ok with that

I considered a 29″ rim, they seem to be lighter than tough road rims anyway but not sure they’d run tubeless, but then neither will the kinesis either

That’s interesting tehtehtehteh, is that true of the 2014 model at a claimed 1555g?
28mm tyres will be perfect, it would be nice to have the option of 25 but not essential

Handbuilt wheels with Hope hubs and H Son archytpe rims. Whilst they are not disc specific, they are black and, since you aren’t using brake blocks, they will remain so over winter months.

in my experience yes, I’ve had 3 sets of the 2014 myself and only one back wheel was close, the rest were all 25g – 35g over, so unless you get lucky expect something in the 1600g range rather than 1555g, also the qr skewers were pretty poor

you get what you pay for basically, a 1555g claimed wight for around £250 must mean some corners are cut somewhere

I think the hand built h son archetypes will be overbudget for the winter build, they were an option I looked at (with lighter hubs) for the summer wheels in the second question
That is very helpful tehtehtehteh, I am happy with that kind of discrepancy and I have qr’s spare I’m sure
So the only downside to kinesis is that they can’t be run tubeless, has anyone got a suggestion for a tubeless rim?

I think my Crosslights must have been pretty close to the claimed weight, a few grams here or there and that was with the (standard) rim tapes fitted. Never tried the skewers though.

Whilst researching, I read that 25mm was unofficially ok, I think some magazine had asked Kinesis.

I can’t say that I expect any corners to be cut for £250; a Stans Crest/Hope wheel set weighs and costs slighty more, but that’s a wider rim with heavier hubs from ‘better’ brands.

Stans alpha or iron cross?

I’ve got alpha’s on novatech hubs and they’re <1300g, cant remember if that was with/without QR’s. Either way they’re ridiculously light for a £200 wheelset.

Probably a smidgen fragile for a kaffenback though.

Ok thank you for that

Does anyone know if an iron cross rim will run with a tubeless road tyre?