Speaking to a biker recently, he recommended lightest wheelset possible makes a huge difference on longer rides due to his technical description of ‘rolling weight’.

If this is true, I’m running (old) Mavic X317 rims, Hope hubs and light tyres for XC rides – what would be a noticeably lighter wheel set? And is it worth doing?

Cheers

ZTR Race + American Classic hubs + black revs + red alloy nipples
standard Race rims. 1250g/pr

From Just Riding Along

Are about as light as you can get – strong enough for hammering but only if you’re less than 75kg 🙂 1250g the pair.

Having said that, you can get ZTR Olympics on Hope ProII for a more reasonable sum of money and they are still about 1500g. Or even Olympics on XTR is even cheaper. It is worth it yes, but make sure you have light tyres first (and pref Stans no-tubes or similar tubeless NOT UST) since it’s cheaper and saves more weight.

You could always surf the classifieds and see what’s there.

youd be better off changing tyres?
and light race tubes?
depends how hard you ride i guess, but 80% of people i know have the same wheelset.
a good balance of weight and relaibility

XC717 disks, Pro2 hubs, DT DB spokes.

DT 240 hubs, DT revolution nips, Mavic 717 rims

I’d say Olympics over 717s every time, they’re lighter, run tubeless far more easily and successfully, and in my experience, are tougher too.

240s on Olympics with Revs would be a good setup.

Have a look at the Roval Controle wheelset too, they seem pretty good, I’ve got the SL version (which I don’t think is worth the extra over the standard version) and they’re excellent.

For ultimate pimpy-ness you can now get DT Competition and Aerolite spokes in white, mmmmmm!

Where would you guys say mavic D521 on hope bulb hubs fits? Somewhere near the ultra heavy end of the spectrum?!

bulb is a bit of a porky hub in comparison to some others, but if your chasing the weight, you want to be more concerned with the rims than the hubs (as they are on the outside of the rotation, the hub hardly moves)

dont know what D521 looks like, and too lazy to google.

another vote for the proII / ZTR Olympic combo, I run mine with Bontrager Jones AC tubeless ready tyres and they are rather light, and survived La Ruta completely unscathed

You’ll get faster working on your fitness, than spending cash on fancy light wheels.
AS it is, 317 rims are not heavy, so get working on your fitness

317 was always a nice light rim, i second the new tire suggestion.

You’ll get faster working on your fitness, than spending cash on fancy light wheels.

How do you know he’s not already working on his fitness? Fit rider = most of the winning advantage in XC races. Bike setup helps.

However having light kit FEELS NICE SO LET HIM SPEND HIS CASH IF HE LIKES!

You don’t have to be Liam Killeen to want a a light bike ffs. Bloody STW thought police!

Clee cycles do lightweight ztr rims and seem to be cheaper than JRA for proII

Molgrips, I do believe you’ve dropped your handbag whilst jumping to conclusions.

I was offering mu opinion that being fitter has a greater effect on on riding than spending cash on new wheels. as it his wheels are fairly light, buying new wheels will not have that much effect on his riding.

btw, i’ve got a 20LB MTB that i ride regularly, i ain’t fast.

Ditch the gears, singlespeeds are lighter 🙂

317’s have always been a decent lightweight rim.
If you’re after new wheels then rebuild the hubs onto something like Mavic XC717’s or ZTR Olympics (I prefer Mavic personally) with some nice double butted spokes, fit some new ultralight ‘race only’ tyres and tubes. Hopes are lovely hubs buit there are certainly lighter ones available – DT Swiss, XTR etc.
If you’re after a factory wheelset then Mavic CrossMax SLR or Roval Controle SL are both about the same (1250-ish grams the pair) and both about £600!

Unless you’re racing at decent level or have lots of spare cash, I’d go for the easiest and cheapest option of keeping your existing hubs and building onto new rims. It does make a noticeable difference to the way the bike handles.

If you’re after a factory wheelset then Mavic CrossMax SLR or Roval Controle SL are both about the same (1250-ish grams the pair) and both about £600!

[pedantry]The 2009 Crossmax SLR is 1520g according to
Mavic – http://www.mavic.com/mtb/products/crossmax-slr-disc.996414.1.aspx

[/pedantry]

Also have a look at the Hope XC3 which someone on STW weighed at 1508g w/out rotors, I think. Much cheaper than Crossmaxes too…

lightweight factory wheels are all about 1500…
mavic slr’s, fulcrum red metal zero, spesh roval’s, crank bro’s cobalts.

only thing lighter is dt 1250’s, with the carbon rims, but they’re something like 2 grand the pair…

That’d be my dyslexia and/or bad typing, I put 1250 instead of 1520…
Sorry!

240s with aerolites on 4.2d rims will be a nice wheelset.. available as factory built under the guise of XR1450.. which oddly, weigh 1450g.
You can get all those bits in uber fast white too 😉

I just got my 1st light wheelset – Bonty Race X Lite from Evans for £300:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bontrager/race-lite-disc-wheelset-6-bolt-ec018012

Pro IIIs are lighter then Pro IIs (and with louder clickiness too)……

surely not possible to have louder clicks than ProII’s???? its the one reason i dont have any 🙁

That was me with the XC3s, Nice wheels.

I’ve got CKs on Olympics at 1428g with DT revs. They’re the lightest/best I’ve got and while CK hubs aren’t the lightest, they’re my favourites.

M

I recently bought ZTR OLympics on Hope Pro II from justridingalong, so far they seem excellent and feel much faster than the previous XC 717 wheels. The service from JRA was excellent.

surely not possible to have louder clicks than ProII’s???? its the one reason i dont have any [:(]

Likewise!

Hope need to make their freehubs quieter not louder. My old BULBs were a better combo of noise/performance than the Pro2’s if you ask me.

oh, and i have fulcrum red metal zero’s, factory weight around 1520

and tune king/kong hubs, built onto stans olympic rims with dt revolution spokes., 1310g

I am the only one wondering about what and how do you ride?

All these fancy wheels with fancy uber light tyres and tube, would they be able to handle 6 hours or rocky trails?

Just wondering…

Juan, I’ve read – although not experienced – that Olympics, for example, are supposed to be strong rims!

I’ve got Crossmax SL’s on my race bike. They’re pretty light but really REALLY stiff. When you put the power down, you rocket forward.
Just my 2¢

All these fancy wheels with fancy uber light tyres and tube, would they be able to handle 6 hours or rocky trails?

I’ve used 517’s and 717’s in the Alps, Pyrenees, Peaks, Lakes, Moab etc etc, never had any problems. The Roval race wheels I got recently have already had half a dozen rocky outings in the Peaks and Lakes with no issues.
I imagine if you’re 15 stone and have the technical ability of a 3-legged donkey they wouldn’t be ideal but I’m guessing the OP has taken his weight and riding style into account…

I was offering mu opinion that being fitter has a greater effect on on riding than spending cash on new wheels.

Yeah but that’s bleedin obvious isn’t it? Do you honestly think that he thinks that saving a bit of weight on his wheels is going to make him win races, and not have to bother training? Is anyone that stupid?

I just get frustrated with being treated like some kind of ponce just because you want a light bike. Grr, and so on.

PS I have a light bike and I train too 🙂

I have just bend my rear wheel during lunch time ride 🙁
Ok i have a bit “short” on the step down the trail… 1.3m high step isn’t really xc me think.