I always knew my Azonic Outlaws were s bit lardy (even if pretty much bulletproof), but actually weighed them today – 1.25kg for the front and 1.4kg for the rear!

Guessing I should really be looking for something closer to the 1kg mark or a bit under for each end?

How much (real world – not quoted weights) do your AM wheels weigh?

slainte ❓ rob

my front with ringle hub, 32 non butted stainless spokes and rim which has a braking surface, 160mm rotor, hope steel/alu skewer and rim tape weighs about 900 grams.
i dont think its all that light tbh, maybe im wrong though.
^^no tyre/tube in that weight though.

These are what I run for sturdy – bargain deal not from Dave Hind though. Tough but not as bad as yours!!

Replaced a few spokes but thats it

Edit# Ex721 on ProII

At those weights I would suggest that you are dulling the ride, I run Flows on Hope and they are pretty dam tough yet light enough to be able to have some zip.

For £160 you could throw a set of these on and see how they go and if they hold up you should get a better ride for a great price, they also have Flows on their Switch hubs for £220 so maybe worth a look.

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=347

Please don’t think I am pushing Superstar just had a quick look to see what was out there for under £200 and having ran a set of the wheels posted to in the Alps over 18 days I was reasonably impressed.

I have the trusty Hope hoops, Pro2 Evo hubs with Stans Flow rims. Allegedly weigh 900g front, 1000g rear. Singletrack weighed them in a test and I believe they concurred. I think the width is great on an AM hardtail so you can run big tyres – 1.6mm wider than an EX721 (though they’re not as massively strong).

Mbnut – exactly – I’ve had the Outlaws for 3 years now and while they just don’t bend or break I have come to think they’re overkill for what I want (seem more like FR/DH wheels than trail/AM).

Was actually thinking about some Superstar wheels to try as an alternative that wouldn’t break the bank. My wife has a pair of Superstar XC wheels that have been spot on and their ‘AM’ wheels allegedly come up at 2kg a pair and have just got a 4.5 star review on Bikeradar.

slainte 💡 rob

Right, next question.

All things being equal, which of these rims for trail/AM use by a not particularly delicate 85kg rider on a 150mm BFe?

Superstar own brand (made by Alex I believe)
Stan’s Flow
Stan’s Crest
Mavic 717
Mavic 719

slainte ❓ rob

What tyres?

What tubes and disc rotors too?

KCNC rotors seem fine for anything I do in the UK, and weigh so little.

PaulD

How much (real world – not quoted weights) do your AM wheels weigh?

My Specialized Roval Traverse EL’s weigh very close to their claimed 1550g weight. Think they were about 1570g including 20mm adapaters in the end, not bad really!

Certainly that’s 1.08kg lighter for the pair than your wheels, or 2.33lb!!!

I’m not as heavy as you at 75kg, but I’m don’t go easy on my kit either. These wheels have been more than up to the abuse, and I can tell you light wheels make the world of difference over heavy ones!

Tyres will be either Rubber Queen 2.2 F / X King 2.2 R or Wild Grip’r 2.25 F / Wild Race’r 2.15 R in the dry. Trailrakers for the mud.

Tubes? whatever I have laying around.

Rotors are bog standard Avid ones that came with my BB7s.

slainte ➡ rob

I’ve had the £160 Superstar AM wheels for 5 months (1,000km) and I’m made up with them. With QR adaptors the front is 1,019g and the rear is 1,100g although I’ve since converted to their 9mm & 10mm bolt through QR’s. I had a big off buckling the front and sending the chain into the drive side spokes damaging half of them, Superstars repaired both wheels for free including return postage so just cost £12ish to send them there via parcelfarce. The rims are Alex and the hubs are Novatec which both seem good although some of the bearings are feeling rough in both wheels which I believe is common on the switch hubs as they use cheap bearings. A full f&r set of SKF bearings from Katec on eBay (search “prorider switch”) can be had for £40ish so not too expensive to fix and pretty easy to replace.

Hope hoops with Stans Flow are around 1700g the pair – my choice for AM wheels.

I’d go for the Flows (22.6mm internal) or the Superstar AM (21mm internal). The wider the better with a Rubber Queen 2.2! If you can make those tyres go up tubeless then I’d highly recommend it – the extra grip, lower rolling resistance and near zero chance of pinch flats is particularly valuable on the back of an AM HT. I wouldn’t trust the Crests to survive big hits on the back and the 717s are too skinny.

Thanks for the input everyone. Have gone for Flows on Superstar Switch hubs – not silly light but should drop me a pound and a bit for reasonable money and let me try tubeless if I want.

slainte ➡ rob

footflaps – Member

Hope hoops with Stans Flow are around 1700g the pair –

1880g or thereabouts for Pro 2s.

I have pro 2 hubs with mavic 719 rims on both my 456 carbon and Cannondale prophet, not one complaint fantastic wheels/rims for both bikes strong and light weight.

just about to build a 721 onto a pro2.. should be around 1.1 1.2? dont care as long as it stays stiff in my race runs.