Hi,

I’m looking to change my current wheelset as I’ve purchased a QR15 fork, and my current wheelset will not cater for these.
I’ve settled on hope hoops, and want to go pre built for longevity, warranty, and on the whole, easiness.
The only other catch is that the wheels have to be bought through Evans Cycles, as I’ve got a lot of vouchers from people and need to use these up.

My issue is this; they are currently going onto my hardtail which is primarily used for XC/Trail (light). No massive jumps or anything, just general riding. I’ve got my Zesty for the AM stuff. However I might want to swap them onto the Zesty at some point, future proofing if I ever sell the hardtail as they’ll be better wheels than on the Zesty. So strength MAY be needed in the future.

So I am looking at the XC717 rims; light, strong, cheaper than any alternative, and come with the QR15 adapter. Total price will be about £295, and that is it.
Then there’s the EN521 rim. Stronger and much more trail/AM oriented. Perfect for the Zesty, but on the hardtail where i’m trying to keep the weight as low as possible, these are about 300g more! which is a lot! ALSO, they come in at about £315 for the pair, PLUS I have to buy the 15QR adapter as they don’t come with it, so about another £15, so £330 in total.

I’ve totally discounted the ZTR rims as I have tried mounting tyres on tubeless rims before and been left with blood and anger. If someone can convince me otherwise, I’d prefer to stick to the Mavics.

So for the sake of possible futureproofing, should I spend the extra and bite the weight gain? Or go light and not as strong. Or maybe they will be very strong still?

What do we think?

Any other suggestions, this is the link to all Evans’ hoops; http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/components/wheels/f/hope/26#!

thanks

Well the Stans Flow and Crest rims are very popular with people on here. I have a set of each and mounting tyres has not been an issue.

I would recommend the Crests for the use you describe.

Thanks, I appreciate your input on that. I’ve had a look and they are pretty light! That would be a huge weight difference. And they come with the QR15, and they’re even cheaper.

Can I ask how you mean mounting tyres is not an issue? I once accidentally bought a tubeless nobby nic, and tried fitting it to my non tubeless rim. I spent nearly an hour and I swear to you it was about an inch away from the edge of the rim. Perhaps it was wrong, but I sent it back. I dread events like this, especially at the side of the trail!
I suppose you just lever the tyre on and it’s fine? Maybe I just got unlucky with the nobby nic.

Oh, and another question. Do I go straight pull or standard? What’s the difference?

Ive got EN521 on the hoops. Had them nearly two years now and they’ve been bombproof. I’ve no obvious finesse on my bike with which I bollock my way through stuff, and im pleased to say they’ve remained true.

I have crests and tyres don’t seem to be any more or less difficult than on any other rim. Certainly no issues with trail side puncture repairs. They’re very light, stiff enough, and only have a couple of dings after 18 months of use.

standard spokes and crest rims. If you’re all that worried about the tyre thing then hmmm dunno 717 I guess.
I’ve just bought some 355 rims and yeah it was tight getting the tyres on but if you’ve got decent levers it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Its very hard NOT to recommend the stans rims if you are buying hope hoops. Get better value going for the stans over the mavics.

Crests are pretty tough and very light for xc rims, but if you are really set on having something tougher then get the flows, they are very tough from what ive heard! (Do they offer the arch (in between the 2) with the hoops yet?

As for tyres – most people who use stans use normal tyres (you presumably tried fitting a UST tyre before which are very tough), and dont forget you dont have to run tubeless with stans, but once you do most people dont look back!

The trick with stans rims is to make sure you get the bead into the center of the rim in the cavity section, then they fall on easy! I have pretty much get my conti MK RS on and off without tyre levers on my 355 rims.

Hmm OK I have checked and the ZTR rims are about £20 more than the Mavics full stop! But yet the wheel build comes out cheaper 😛 So this is looking appealling.

I’ve also decided that it’s pointless to think about something I ‘might’ do in the future, focus on now and what they are for, and so I’ll go lighter!

Will still have a look at both though, but really with the option of running it tubeless (weight saving again), there to be used or not used, it seems foolish not to go for them when lots on here are using them without issue!

And with the levers, yes, got a very decent pair of steel levers which were my dads, must be getting on 45 years old now!

thanks for the help!

Got crests and specialized rovals [which rip off stans bead socket design]

normal folding tyres [schwalbe, wtb, specialized] fit fine, though ive heard tubeless specific tyres [like the new schwalbe pace star and wtb tlr can be tight / impossible to fit.

It can be important to get both tyre beads into the well of the rim whilst fitting [can make the difference between impossible and easy!] patience is the key.

remove or don’t use the cloth rim strip, one of my wheels came with one installed, though I think they’ve stopped doing this, [you wont be getting any tyre on if you leave it in place]. Only use the rim tape, even if running tubes.

Personally think stans rim design is the best / most secure design for going tubeless, the wide bead shelf pops the bead on and keeps it there, even when deflated. Don’t need fully tubeless tyres for stans rims, just add sealant to normal ones.

Allot of new tyres are going tubeless ready with tighter beads though, which means choice is becoming more limited, don’t let it put you off though, weight loss, puncture proofing and all round performance is great

Also, the wider rim of stans [21mm internal v 17mm for mavic] makes for MUCH more tyre stability even at a lighter weight!. I would choose the stans for this over everything else actually. I would never go back to a 717 and the unstable feeling it gives the tyre.

Flows here, getting tyres on and off is slightly more difficult than with mavics, but only in so far as I have to use tyre levers with the flows and can do the mavics by hand. I have no issues with doing it on the trail though, the strength/stiffness to weight ratio more than makes up for the miniscule extar faff.

Have fitted Schwalve Nobby Nics (Tubeless ready), Hans Dampf *Tubeless ready) and Racing Ralphs (non tubeless) to Crest and Flows with zero hassle, thumbs only.

Got got a pair of these;

Bloody lovely.

Hope ProII Evo hubs laced to NoTubes ZTR Arch EX
Hope ProII Evo hubs laced to NoTubes ZTR Arch EX
Details
Hand built wheels on the Hope Pro II Evo hub laced to the NoTubes ArchEX rim.
hubs: Hope ProII Evo
rims: NoTubes ZTR Arch EX – black
spokes: DT Swiss Super Comp black
nipples: DT Swiss silver brass nipples
weight: 1669g (front 772g, rear 897g)

£353

Merlin cycles
Hope hubs with mavic 719 rims ideal compromise between 717 and 321 rims (about 60g heavier than 717 rims) and stronger

Wicked cycles are doing pro 2 evo hubs with straight pull spokes on
ZTR flows for 299 a pair ! mine arrived yesterday !!! and are already covered in crud !

o96192083 – Member

I suppose you just lever the tyre on and it’s fine? Maybe I just got unlucky with the nobby nic.

Not so much unlucky… Recent tubeless ready Schwalbes are extremely tight tyres, so it causes problems with various rims- not just tubeless rims though.

Mavic are fine but if you’re buying Hoops then the price advantage of Mavic goes away so you might as well buy the superior Stans rims. TBH I don’t think Mavic are very interested in making competitive standalone rims, there’s not been much development there for years. Cynically, i think they know people will still buy them regardless, so why bother making them better?

SP’s are lighter, by 50g the pair 🙂