Danny Macaskill breaking a set. They do seem impressvely tough.

[video]https://youtu.be/VfjjiHGuHoc[/video]

I’ll take a set for testing

I’m not sure it gave me the same confidence that Santa Cruz were hoping it would.

Is that a normal ride for you?

yeh I’m kind of the same tbh alex simon….I thought the video would illustrate they are unbreakable…

at the end of the day, hes riding down some steps, which are relatively smooth by a skilled rider

picture the scenario on a really rocky trail with a punctured flat tyre at speed with a cumbersome heavy rider and the impact would be much worse

I’m not saying these are any better nor worse than any other carbon wheel in that respect but watching aaron gwin go down a DH run with a EX471 alloy rim which was still in piece rather than some steps in a controlled environment is far more impressive to me

again they look nice and I’m sure are strong in terms of carbon layup but the video hasn’t inspired me to go ‘ohhhh look how srong they are’

mikewsmith – Member

Is that a normal ride for you? Clumsily crashing down steps with a puncture? Yes 🙂
No, but I have ridden rocks with an alloy rim after puncturing (too steep to dismount), with only minor signs of damage.

I know some people that have cracked them already.

Lifetime warranty apparently?

At least they have a lifetime warranty I guess. I’ll see if mine crack if they ever turn up…….

**EDIT**Too slow

Well I’ll take the lifetime 24hr turnaround warranty and that given by how many times he went up and down the steps flat before taking several goes with no tyre at all it’s good for me.
If you are really stuck in a descending gully that long and can’t stop you will probably have a new set in the post…

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Whether it’s a sunset lap with friends or a race run against the clock, a broken wheel ruins any ride. We set strength and impact resistance as our highest priority, but strength doesn’t have to mean uncomfortably stiff. Our wheels are compliant enough to avoid that harsh “wooden” ride that gives some carbon rims a bad name offroad. We only make offroad bikes at Santa Cruz, so we have the privilege of being able to focus purely on the mountain bike experience. Everything from the thickness of rim beads to external spoke hole reinforcements comes purely from our experience of knowing what riders need at every level—from international racing to your local trails.

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Lifetime Warranty

Lifetime. No gimmicks. Not limited. If you do actually manage to break our rim while out riding, we’ll replace it for free. And probably high five you in the process! If it gets run over by a truck we’ll help you out with a low cost accidental ‘crash replacement’, because life’s too short to argue. We know riding time’s too precious to keep you waiting, so we’ll do our best to sort you out fast.

Gettin ‘r done in the office
Never Miss A Ride

If you buy a set of our wheels, or they come as stock equipment on a bike you buy, they’re covered by a lifetime warranty. If you break a rim, just fill out the warranty form, and we’ll get a replacement headed your way within 24 hours. Simple as that. If you’re on vacation, we can even ship a new wheel to wherever you’re staying.

If you break a wheel through some momentary lapse of judgement, just get in touch with our warranty department and we’ll still help you out. We stand behind our products, and we want you to be happy with your purchase. If you’re ever unhappy, give us a call or shoot us an email and we’ll try to make it right.

Make sure you take a minute to register for your warranty so that we can process your claim as quickly as possible if the need ever arises. We’ll keep that image of your receipt on file so you never have to worry about proving that you’re the original owner.

I was out on a 5010 from their factory last week with a set of these.

Felt very nice, but the trails local to the factory are smooth for the most part.

Won’t ever bother buying carbon rims, but nice to try.

Lifetime. No gimmicks. Not limited.

We’ll keep that image of your receipt on file so you never have to worry about proving that you’re the original owner.

Limited or not limited?

Santa cruz do seem to go above and beyond in terms of warranty. If I were spending a lot of money on a bike and/or wheels, They’d be at the top of the list because of it.

Oh yeah the warranty if true and 24hr turnaround is pretty darned good, given most carbon wheelsets from big brands are around the same price point, that is confidence inspiring in terms of buying them, and I wouldn’t look elsewhere to buy carbon wheels due to the warranty/24hr turnaround, its a big plus point I’m sure for most people on the edge of ‘whether to buy or not’

**** trying that on my WTB i29 rims, they go cheese like at the sight of a rock.

First rim I’ve ever dinged the front…

I’m not sure i’d use carbon rims for anything other than XC….

I’m pretty light, but ride ‘hard’, and especially on a hard tail I’d be wary about an expensive rim tinging off rocks.. lifetime warranty would be needed, mind..

DrP

That lifetime warranty actually seems to be what it actually says it is; unless i’m missing something…

Looking at vinneyh’s question I wouldn’t say that restricting the warranty to the original owner was unreasonable and doesn’t stretch the term unlimited.

Oscillate Wildly – Member

at the end of the day, hes riding down some steps, which are relatively smooth by a skilled rider

I don’t think it was any one step that killed it, more just attrition. Thing is I don’t think there’s any metal rims that’d stand up to that- pretty sure my old 721s and MTX33s would be abolutely mullered, they might not collapse like that but they’d still be unusable.

Northwind – Member

I don’t think it was any one step that killed it, more just attrition. Thing is I don’t think there’s any metal rims that’d stand up to that- pretty sure my old 721s and MTX33s would be abolutely mullered, they might not collapse like that but they’d still be unusable.

Gwin’s EX471 still looks usable, someone has it on a wee stand in a sponsor’s office someplace.

Would love to see a proper, direct head-to-head betwee these and an alu rim on those steps.

Pretty sure Santa Cruz do what they say – the boys at Jungle really know customer care. My bike is nearly 8 years old and still going strong thanks to the quality that goes into SC products. You may pay a little more, but you get a whole lot more.
I killed a rear triangle on the evil braking bumps in Morzine and SC just replaced it. I broke on the American Trail Race – the bike did not.

I’ve not seen that EX471 up close but the photos when they took it to trade shows looked properly ****ed. Still massively impressive that it didn’t break entirely though, Gwin is out of his mind…

I’m tempted, but I want them on my own hubs. Anyone know if there’ll be a rim only option.

THey are tempting assuming the warranty is as good as it appears as in theory you woudnt need some more wheels until either the bearings for the hubs became obsolete (unlikely) or the wheel standards change again and I want to move too them (alot more likely)

I’d agree transferable warranties are far from the norm.

‘Lifetime’ would worry me slightly- only in so far as ‘lifetime’ has been used to describe some odd things like – 5 years, as it’s the reasonably lifetime of the wheel, not “for the rest of the original owners natural life”.

Warranty also only covers manufacturing faults, it’s not the same as “we guarantee this wheel cannot be destroyed by anyone”.

I suspect they will go above and beyond the norm, after all rims are one of those things that get damaged in normal use – I have a pinch flat yesterday which resulted in a small dent, I’ve already got another in the rear – I don’t mind too much, they still work and when they’re finally ruined a new rim is £50 tops – bit different if you’re buying £1000 rims or whatever they cost.

Personally, I’m probably never going to buy a carbon rim, they don’t excite me enough to put something that expensive in harms way so recklessly. Maybe at £100 a rim I might, but I know whilst I might feel a mild difference, it’s not going to set the world on fire for me.

Northwind – Member
I’ve not seen that EX471 up close but the photos when they took it to trade shows looked properly ****ed. Still massively impressive that it didn’t break entirely though, Gwin is out of his mind…

I reckon new tape and you’d get that a tyre tubeless on that rim 🙂

Surely the point is that the DT rim is still in one piece, and got him to the bottom of the course (surprisingly quickly). Carbon rims tend not to stay that way regardless of how much money you throw at them, as Gwin showed early this season.

sillyoldman – Member

Surely the point is that the DT rim is still in one piece, and got him to the bottom of the course

If you’re racing, sure- for you or I, does it matter? If I get a flat I stop and fix it.

**** trying that on my WTB i29 rims, they go cheese like at the sight of a rock.

First rim I’ve ever dinged the front…

… mine have held up to some pretty nasty abuse including flat rear tyre hardtail descents down drainage bars…

I’d love to try a set of these SC wheels, but I’m not ready to spend that on a wheelset, I’m a mean cherished nice hubs and new rims from time to time type…

I descended from Mt Keen to the car park at the head of Glen Esk with no rear tyre on a Mavic D521 alloy rim, the rim was still in one piece, I doubt a carbon rim would have survived.

I descended from Mt Keen to the car park at the head of Glen Esk with no rear tyre on a Mavic D521 alloy rim, the rim was still in one piece,

Why?

I doubt a carbon rim would have survived.

Oh, well that settles it then. Based on what, exactly?

.

but it lists the internal diameter as 25mm! That cant be right?

Why would that be?
Been reading a lot of pro bike checks from EWS etc. and they are around that to 27mm etc. it seems it’s the punter end of the market that is driving the extra wide stuff

EX 471’s are 25 mm internally, the EX 511’s use the same construction but are 30 mm.

Take your pick, some prefer the feel of narrower rims.

It’s not so long ago we were all using 19mm rims, I’m sure 25mm will be just fine.

f you’re racing, sure- for you or I, does it matter? If I get a flat I stop and fix it.

How about if your a Strava addict?
I don’t use Strava but maybe there is or should be routes you only ride with a flat, no tyre or no wheels… a bit like top gear with a “wet lap” 🙂

Why?

Rear tyre was ripped open on a rock, faced with an 8km walk out in rigid soled SPD shoes what would you have done?

Probably walked, or bodged the tyre for a bit with a tube
Did you have to replace the rim?

Will be my next set of wheels based on my experience with their warranty and customer service. It’s first class. Frame 2 years old had a cross threaded bolt. They sent a complete new frame without even having seen the old frame. They just told the LBS to bin the old one. Two weeks later and I had a new frame. No fuss no argument. Life time warranty means for life.

ballsofcottonwool – Member

Rear tyre was ripped open on a rock, faced with an 8km walk out in rigid soled SPD shoes what would you have done?

I’d have stuffed the tyre with grass. Old school.