I asked the good people of STW to assist me with choosing a new wheelset for my Mega AM. I have finally narrowed it down to:

1. DT swiss ex1501
2. Light bicycle 38mm on pro 2 evos

Please cast your votes below, the wheelset with the most votes by 6 o’clock tommorrow evening wins and i will push the button. Please please please don’t suggest any other wheelsets it took me long enough to get to this point.

Rab

Light bicycle every time now, have 3 sets, won’t go back to an alloy rim now

DT overpriced tat.

chris king on open pros

38mm?! That must be a helluva tyre profile

Light bicycle 38mm on DT240s

😉

Go for the LB on Pro2s, DT rims are rubbish, the hubs are great.

Internal width is 31, i wanted the 35 but they suggested the 38 would be better

I’ve got the DT EX1501 and can recommend them, had a pair for best part of 2 years now and have not had a problem, and they’ve been hammered. Not sure I’d want to pay the full price though.

Not really a like for like comparison though they’re pretty different wheel sets. If you can self build I’d go lb but put them on dtswiss hubs. I’d stick to the ex1501’s if buying complete.

I wouldn’t put such nice rims on hope hubs personally. Rather buy used DT. And that is in fact what I did, refurbished DT240s with Lasers on Lightbicycle rims, blimmin awesome

I had a look at self build and it really stretches my budget

Not sure that I agree that DT Swiss rims are crap, didn’t gwinn do the best part of a DH WC course on one without a tyre?
dt swiss 240s with ryde trace enduros? 29mm internal width, offset spoke bed. I have some on the HT and it gets ridden enthusiastically with 95kg on it! I do find the hope evos a little draggy compared with what I’m used to though.
Have a look here;
http://www.actionsports.de/en/dt-swiss-240s-disc-is-custom-wheelset-mtb-650b-4044

I’ve no experience of the LB rims but have cracked 2 carbon rims in the last 18 months. I would consider the type of riding you do, the type of terrain you ride in and the tyre pressures you like to run before making a decision. I have just bought a set of EX1501s from Germany and ridden them for the first time over 4 days in Glentress and Innerleithen and am very happy. Whilst I do miss the ultra direct snappy feeling you get from a stiff carbon wheel, I suspect the DT wheels are going to be more robust over the longer term. Regarding the quality of the EX1501 rims – I understand that DT have made significant improvements in their rim technology lately and the rim used in this wheelset is identical to the EX471 which took a beating under Arron Gwin when he rode the Leogang World Cup DH race with a flat rear tyre last year. Out of interest (not normally a weight weenie) I weighed the Enve M70 on Hope Pro 2 that came off the bike compared to the EX1501 that replaced it and they weighed 1040g and 922g respectively …yes, that’s right the aluminium wheel was 118g lighter!

Light bicycle 38mm on DT240s

This sounds like the best answer. My experience of DT rims is poor- they seem to ding so badly as to be unusable within a year.

refurbished DT240s with Lasers on Lightbicycle rims, blimmin awesome

This

If it’s not an option then LB on Hope.

Just bought the LB 38mm rim on Hope pro II’s only used on one ride so can’t really comment. Initial impressions are very good. They are much lighter than the Stans rims I had before. I was able to run a lower pressure without the tyre squirming and folding and the didn’t seem as draggy despite the lower pressure.
So far I am glad I bought them but only time will tell.
I think you will always look towards the LB ones if you don’t buy them and wish you had!

2. Light bicycle 38mm on pro 2 evos

That’s what I bought so I vote for those 🙂 The 38mm rims are chunky but not heavy, my bike looks like a monster truck now. Only had them a short time so can’t report on longevity.

Ok everyone thank you for your votes. The LB won. However after working out the LB costs with potential import tax, paypal fees, tubeless valves, tape etc it really is stretching my budget to the max, and i agree with wanting better hubs for the LB rims.

So the solution is to buy the EX1501 wheelset and hammer them over the summer with the intention of buying some LB rims and build them onto the dt hubs apparently same as DT240s over the winter.

Thanks for all your help troops. Much appreciated

Rab