Hi,

I’m looking at getting new wheels for my full sus, my aim being to go tubeless (i’ve offered to “donate” my old ones to the missus so can’t convert – new it is!)

I’ve been advised to go for Mavic 819 rims but the Merlin website shows the XM819 as UST, does this mean the others arn’t?

Does anyone have particularly good/bad experiences with either of these?

Cheers

SC

Yep XM819 are the normal mavic ust rim for xc 32 spoke use with various hub combinations such as hope pro2 etc
mavic do there own fully wheel sets such as crossmax but are a bugger if u need bits,
personally I like ust as it’s a lot less faff than ghetto and there are now a lot more tyres available so prices falling for tyres, some folk will say ghetto is cheaper and each to there own but by the time you faff with rim tape and lots of milk I personally think it’s a lot of pissing about,
I would go for pro2 or the pro 2 evo with double butted dt Swiss spokes and the xm819 rim, think there as a guy on eBay who sells a lot as well as merlin etc 🙂

I’ve had 819s since 2006 and very strong for xc. Take UST tyres very well although some milk is still recommended. Not v light though.

819s are probably the strongest and most versatile rims for their weight. I’ve had two sets and they’re supremely strong and do proper tubeless.

Yet tyres are heavier, but MUCH stronger!

they are great great rims, mine are 2 years old now, and have had a bashing for 2 years everywhere up the peaks and they still seat proper ust tyres first time!

i have NEVER (touch wood) had a problem with them whilst riding tubeless in 2 whole years! i know of only two punctures that i have physically seen in 2 years and they both self healed with the sealant within a minute! and never lost air again!

superb rims! most UST tyres go on pretty easy with a track pump, tubless ready ones are a bit harder from experience, but most maxxis, shcwalbe etc will generally go on with a bit of soapy suds and a track pump!

everyone raves about stans rims, i have no idea to be honest never used them, but i can 11111100000% vouch for the xm819’s!

I’ve had two XM819 rims fail – both in the same way – the internal weld that runs around the “bed” of the rim (where a rim tape would normally go) cracked.

First sign of the problem in both cases was a gradual loss of pressure; close inspection then revealed a fine jagged crack starting from either side of the valve hole. In the first case this happened at a rather awkward time (I was cycling around Tajikistan – about as far away as you can possibly get from a bike repair shop); I fitted a tube and rim tape and managed to “nurse” the wheel for the remainder of the trip (about another 500km) – by the end of the trip the crack went almost the whole way around the rim.

Suggestion from Mavic was that I’d fitted too wide a tyre and/or inflated the tyre to too high a pressure – neither of which had happened. They also suggested a poorly built wheel – not the case – it had been professionally built onto Chris King hubs. I thought it might therefore have been a one-off, but exactly the same problem happened again a couple of weeks ago. I’ve now ditched tubeless rims and gone back to Mavic EN521.

819s are a bit heavy vs their peers when you factor in the spoke nipples and not that wide. They are pure UST though versus many other because you don’t need rim strip. You should check out stans arch which are lighter, wider and cheaper. You do need rim strip though but it takes 5 mins to fit.

Have been on a set of 819’s built on Hope II’s (built by CRC) and never had any issue with them. Have fitted Panaracer UST, Racing Ralphs, and more recently Conti x-cross RS. Only dramas there were the Conti’s but that was more the tyres fault. True UST is a benefit in that you don’t have to mess around with tape (and can get away with … but not recommended !!! … no sealant).

More recently I invested in a set of Hopehoops with Stans Crests, and initially was terrified that they were so light they would fold up, but over the last few weeks have taken the plunge with them (literally) and pleasantly surprised as how well they hold up. If you want a bit more reassurance then as given prior the Flows are a bit more robust. Downside, tape and sealant.

If I was doing it all over again, I’d go the Stans, either Crest if you’re not to heavy / clumsy, or flows if you fall in the other camp.

I have just been into my trusted LBS and asked for a price to rerim my wheels, taking off my 819s and putting Flows on for more width. He stated it was not the best idea as Stans do have some reliability/quality issues whilst 819s dont.

i honestly cant believe that stans rims are THAT much better, to the point where you would want to ditch the 819s and replace them with said rim…

honestly i think the 819s are pretty flawless from what ive used…2 years hard use, in the rockiest peaks conditions as well as various welsh mountains and they have been absolutly stunning….

unless you a racer looking to shed a bit of weight i honestly cant see why you would want to do it?

and to boot, proper ust tyres go proper ust rims alot easier!

each to their own, if you fancy a change etc, but the 819s are about top of the range in terms of tubeless rims from my experience

used Xm819’s myself, never had any issues, a lot less messing about for me than rim tape and loads of milk and no real problems with mounting onto the bead

819s are heavy for what they are, Stans have them totally outclassed IMO- Flows are stronger, lighter and wider. Mavic fans try to make a big deal out of the yellow tape but it’s a fuss over nothing, once you tape a Stans rim it’s functionally identical to a Mavic UST rim. Just lighter, stronger and wider 😉

Do bear in mind if you’re comparing weights that the claimed weight on the Mavic site is a massive lie, it doesn’t include the nipple ferrule things that are needed to build the wheel up.

I’ve got a set of 819s in a Crossmax build and they’re fine for what they are but I’d not consider them for a new build. Not til Mavic do something to bring them up to date anyway but people still buy ’em.