Has anyone had any experience of either of these rims?
I’m looking to upgrade my rims but can’t decide on which to go for.

My main concern is the strength of the Alpine.
I mainly ride the usual trail centre nonsense but reasonably often go over to the lakes and venture into the rocky stuff. This would probably suggest that the crest is the best idea but having said that I am only about 65kgs (~10.5st) and haven’t managed to bend/buckle/ding my 317s yet.

The Alpines would be my first choice (slightly lighter and look infinitely better 8)) but I suppose the Crests (being lower, wider and therefore a bit stronger) would be the safer option.

Any thoughts from anyone?

ran 355’s, still run them in fact on my 5 spot but dented the rim quite badly, badly enough to make them go non tubeless now. My spesh carbon came with jelly baby spokes nipples and rims so decided to upgrade and lose some weight in the process. Went for alpine on ztr’s with cx ray. Very lightweight wheelset for a start and roll well. The front has stood up well but i severely warped my rear rim. Lost all tension in spokes and think i’ve slightly warped rear rim. Its been rebuilt now and has stood up fine with an ever so slight buckle in it ( cheers bigdugsbaws). I’m also about your weight but although its my race bike ( and fun/training bike) i tend to thrash it quite hard. In hindsight i would keep these for racing only and buy crest rims for normal day to day use and suffer the ever so slighth increase in weight

HTH

I run ZTR 355’s on my 130mm FS and they’ve coped with everything I’ve managed to chuck at them inc. the peaks and Welsh natural stuff.

I’m 79kgs’ BTW

If you are doing lots of rough rocky stuff then you should consider the ZTR Arch.

It sits between the Crest and the Flow. It’s described as an ‘aggressive XC rim’. I just got some made up on Pro2’s and they are very nice indeed.

I’ve got ZTR Olympic on my Anthem X and like the Alpine they’re not really aimed really rocky tough stuff.

The crest should be absolutely fine for you and at only about 15g heavier than the Alpine but a good bit stiffer and nicely wider I would definitely go with them over Alpines. Arches are a good bit heavier than the Crest and would be overkill for you imo

crests. The extra width means you can run much wider tyres (i’m have both alpines and crests). They seem tough enough for most stuff if you lace 32 spokes.

can be tough to get tyres imo, but recommended

I bought Crests from WheelPro. Not used them much yet, but nice and light and slightly wider than Alpine for good tyre stability. I’d happily get another set.

edit – get tyres on!

The Arch is still only 420g – the same as a XC717 rim

The Crest is renowned for being a devil to get some tyres onto.

XC717s are 395g, but the Crest treads on the toes of the Arch somewhat as the latter is narrower. I’d go for Crests over Arch every time.

I’d say the Crest is probably more suitable from what you’ve said.

I have Crests and they are light and strong so far (five months but I am only 70 kg). In my exerience they are hard to get tyres onto on a tubeless basis. When on they work well however.

Unanimous decision nearly. Crests it is – cheers people.

I have Crest / Hope Pro 2, they are 200g lighter (each wheel) than my Hope Pro 3 / Dt Swiss 4.2.

Stronger, lighter and easy to get Maxxi’s & Spesh tyres on and off when you use the right technique.

Got mine from Winstanleys after waiting 5 months for Flow’s, glad I waited now, I’m 65kgs, running the wheels on a 2010 Stumpy FSR.

What hubs are you going for ?

Crests on my Anthem X, light and wide and look nice too. Have them laced on Sappim spokes, really nice wheelset. Maxxis tubeless tyres can be a real pain to fit though.

Alpine’s for me. I’m exactly the same weight and have had no problems in the 4 months I’ve used them on similar riding terrain too.. Seal and inflate first time, very very easily with Schwalbe’s and some yellow tape. I ride pretty light and quick. Best rims I’ve used…..

ZTR hubs with Crest rims here – using Nobby Nics non UST, tubeless with wheel milk & mounted the tyres without tyre levers.

Same set up as dickie,2.2 Mountain Kings,no probs getting them on,built by http://www.justridingalong.com/ who are very friendly,build good wheels and are good source of advice.
Ian

no problemns with COnti RaceKing USTs on the Crest here

I’ll be sticking them on a rear Hope XC and a front Pro 2 with DT spokes. Already have the hubs and spokes so just replacing the rims (luckily the ERD of the crest is almost identical to the 317s so no new spokes needed).
Tyres wise I’ll be sticking a pair of Nobby Nics on and running them tubeless.
Good times!

Run Crests day to day and 355’s on spare wheel set, both without any problem. When I bought latest wheel set I considered the Alpine rim, but the marginal weight saving seemed too much of a compromise. Can highly recommend the Hope factory wheel sets, super light, strong and very good value for money. Have two sets of Pro 3 SP XC3’s and would buy again. Even with just 24 spokes, they hold up very well, even in Lakes etc.

Had no problem with tires on the Crests, latest Conti X-King 2.2 Race Sports went on easy, as did Race Kings – not used a tire lever once.

i would buy again BUT i wouldnt use them ALL the time –

i have 24 spoke 355s on my race bike and will be putting arches on my day to day bike …

the 355s flex like **** – im 72kgs but like ragdog i ride hard on them – its the old downhiller in me !

My Hope Hoops 355s have pretty much fallen to pieces!! Very flexy, constantly going out of true due to the low spoke tension, dented rim on the rear and have a flat spot too.

I ran xc717s for years with no problems, and my riding style & bike haven’t changed.