I’m contemplating a new wheelset for my Yeti SB95 and have considered the new DT 481 but will probably go for Easton ARC’s as they get good reviews and aren’t too pricey, I just need to decide on the width. I’ve got some old 23mm inner LB rims on my XC bike, and my Stooge has 35mm inner front and 30mm rear rims which works well with a Chronicle/Racing Ralph combo.

Lots of people run a wider front tyre, and we’d all prefer more grip in the front, less drag at the rear, these 2 seem to go hand in hand with wider rims up front, narrower in the rear. So why isn’t this common?

Now to decide on which ARC’s to get, 30mm fr/27mm rr, 27/27, 27/24 for lightest weight? I’m using Minion DHF 2.5/DHR 2.3 combo.

You’re probably thinking a bit too much about this. Anywhere between 23-30mm would be normal, and i doubt a 3mm difference would be noticed front to back.

I’m going to say fashion or mild ocd. A recent thread about stems showed a high number who had to have the same brand stem, bars and seat post rather than chose what works best. Same for wheels. Must be matching! Yes you can get matching rims in different widths but generally when you buy a pair of wheels they are the same. I’m happy with different rims. Mine are different widths, different brands, even different colours but they do different jobs so I’m happy with that. A little wider on the front is a good thing IMO.

45mm rim on the front and 35mm rim on the back, seems to work very nicely.

Have got three bikes with different size f/r rims to me it makes sense

Last time I looked it actually says on the sidewall of a 2.5 Minion that a 25 mm rim is ideal and similarly a 23 mm rim is ideal for a 2.25 Ardent

Yes I’m probably over thinking it! I reckon I’ll go for the ARCs in 27mm and 24mm as a middle ground and to keep the weight down a bit.

I’ve got an Arc27 wheelset and a Arc30 wheelset. It’s hard to tell the difference between the two.