Looking for new wheels for a new 29er I’m getting. Not sure what wheels to get though

Looked at Fulcrum, a hope build and the Cole ones that evans are now selling. Which I like just not sure of quality etc.

Any suggestions?

do you want tubeless? what’s your budget? Personally I reckon Hope Pro2 / Arch combo are pretty hard to beat for value, light weight & toughness. With more money I’d replace the hubs with DT240s.

This topic has been on the forum many times, so a quick search should bring up some answers.
What type of riding will you be doing with them?
Never heard of the Cole ones, I’ve got Fulcrum SL’s and can’t fault them – not the lightest but well buit and so far no problems after a year of varied use.

oh, and make sure you get them built up by someone who’s good with Stans rims. I’ve had quite a range of build quality on the 3 sets I’ve got.

Well budget wise I was going to about £300ish maybe £350 if I can stretch. Riding will be just general mountain biking, round the lakes and peaks when I get away. If I get a set built then I will use Merlins as they’ve always been good to me in the past. Not tubeless though.

My mate also has fulcrums, no issues at all (well, except when he whanged into a tree, ripped off the rear mech and shoved it through 4 spokes. not relaly the wheels fault though…). He got the fancy bladed spokes and rebuilt them himself.

I have Halo Freedom 29ers, rear hub ate iteslf in 3 months, got the rim laced to a ProII and they ahve totally faultless now for over a year, inc Portes du Soleil.

Also have Americal Classic AM wheels, and they have also been great, narrower and lighter than the Halos.

Out of interest- why not tubeless?

That’ll get you Arch or Flows on Pro IIs. I can highly recommend JRA for excellent 29er wheel builds.

ps…tubeless is better 🙂

Out of interest- why not tubeless?

Well and this may sound silly, but I don’t get it. And now they’ve been around for so long I’d feel embarrassed going into a shop and asking about it.

Depend on your intended use and weight but crests got my vote. im 75kg if that helps.
Tubeless for the win. 😆

Hay i didnt get it at all either. Ask questions or search. It all makes sense when you strip it down.
I wont go back to tubes on the 29er but before this i’d never entertained it on my old 26 wheels.
You can always stick a tube in it anyway.
Go for it!

yeah I had a total nightmare trying to get tubeless to work but eventually learned it’s all about rim & tyre choice, plus compressed air (compressor or co2). Get stuff that plays nicely together and tubeless is ace.

Apart from a very loose spoke early on, my ProIIs on Crests have been perfect for general XC duties

Tubeless of course

They were a reasonable price from JRA

I’ve been very happy with my Mavic TN719 (now on Pro II, originally on DT240). Couldn’t justify the extra for Stans at the time, but if I had the dosh would probably have gone for Arch, although in retrospect The Flow would have given the opportunity to run a fatter front tyre. Definitely tubeless though, it’s much betterer.

Out of your budget but these look good black flag