First Look: DT Swiss' New XMC 1200 Spline Carbon Wheels

DT Swiss chose this year’s Eurobike show to exhibit some brand new wheelsets, including several new carbon wheels that are on the more ‘exotic’ side of the price spectrum. We already gave you a look at the super light XRC 1200 wheels in our 7 Carbon Mountain Bike Wheels From Eurobike 2017 highlights article, but there was a set of chunkier all-mountain carbon wheels that the Swiss manufacturer also had tucked away in its booth.

It’s called the XMC 1200 Spline 30 wheelset, and it’s billed as a slightly heavier, tougher carbon wheelset that’s ready for aggressive trail riding and enduro racing. As the name implies, you’re looking at a carbon fibre rim that runs a 30mm inner width that’ll comfortably take tyres up to 2.6in wide. So not quite full-blown plus tyres, but more of the new generation 2.5-2.6in tyres such as the Maxxis ‘Wide Trail’ series.

And how tough are they? Well, we got a set in to to find out didn’t we?

DT Swiss has rolled out some new high end carbon wheels, and we’ve got a set of the all-mountain XMC 1200 Spline 30 wheels on board for testing.

“The XMC 1200 SPLINE 30 is for anyone who enjoys high-speed climbing and descending. Fit with tubeless tires, the full carbon hookless rim massively reduces the chance of punctures, is superlight and at 30 mm rim width works to perfection with wide all mountain rubber. The SPLINE^®hub is the lightest wheel hub ever built by DT Swiss, together with the bladed top end spokes and a perfect DT Swiss wheel build it complements the carbon rim for the ultimate trailbike wheelset” – From DT Swiss.

Our test wheels are the 29in Boost option, but they’re also available in 27.5in sizes and with non-Boost hubs too.

DT Swiss XMC 1200 Spline 30 Carbon Wheelset

Designed for trail riding and enduro racing
Available in 27.5in and 29in diameters
Full carbon fibre hookless tubeless ready rims (tape and valves included)
External width 36mm
Internal width: 30mm
240 hubs with sealed cartridge bearings
Available in Boost and non-Boost sizes
Star Ratchet freehub mechanism with 36pt engagement
Shimano and SRAM XD freehub bodies included
Centrelock brake mounts (6-bolt adapters included in the box)
28 x DT Swiss Aero Comp^®straight-pull spokes per wheel
DT Swiss ProLock Squorx ProHead alloy nipples
Max recommended rider weight limit: 120kg
Included: tubeless tape & valves, Shimano & SRAM XD, 6-bolt adapters, wheel bags, internal nipple driver tool
Claimed weight: 1446g (27.5in) – 1547g (29in)
RRP: £1824.99

XMC is DT Swiss’ tougher All Mountain series, and the 30 refers to the inner rim width.

The XMC Spline 30 wheelset is built with high-end carbon fibre rims. The rim profile is hookless to improve pinch-flat resistance, and the outer width is 36mm. That means you’ve got 3mm thick beads that are less likely to cut through the tyre on a really hard impact with a rock (compared to skinnier beads), and should offer more overall strength too. The rims are tubeless compatible, and DT Swiss pre-wrap the wheels with tubeless tape before they’re packaged up and leave the factory.

Chunky rim widths open up flexibility with tyres up to 2.6in wide.

The rims come pre-taped for quick and easy tubeless setup.

There’s a 30mm inner rim width, with 3mm thick hookless beads on either side.

It doesn’t get much more proven than a set of DT Swiss 240 hubs.

Being a high-end DT Swiss wheelset, at the centre of the XMC 1200 Spline 30 wheels you’ll find a set of 240 hubs. They use beautifully machined straight-pull hub shells that come loaded with smooth sealed cartridge bearings and DT’s Star Ratchet freehub mechanism. It’s the 36 point system, so you’ve got 10° of rotation between each click. If you wanted faster engagement, DT Swiss also offer a 54pt ratchet kit aftermarket. However, DT suggests that the faster the engagement, the more regular your maintenance will need to be. Which isn’t a big concern, as the Star Ratchet system is an absolute doddle to pull apart and clean out when required.

Trick machined hub shells are ready for Centrelock rotors. DT Swiss includes 6-bolt adapters with the wheels as well.

There are 28 stainless steel, bladed spokes per wheel, with alloy Prolock nipples locking them down at the rim.

Confirmed weight for the front wheel with tubeless tape and a valve is 726g for the 29er Boost option.

And 849g for the rear wheel with a SRAM XD freehub body.

Just how tough are the XMC 1200 Spline 30 wheels?

Weight-wise, that means our test set comes out at 1574g for the set. However, once you factor in the tubeless valves and rim strips, there’s a very good chance these will come in under the claimed weight. On the note of weight, we’ve been informed that these are the very same wheels that Florian Vogel of the Focus World Cup XCO race team has been running this season on his Raven Max and O1E race bikes. So although they’re billed as All Mountain hoops, it would seem that the extra width and low overall weight has actually lined up well for XC racing too.

Rather than XCO racing though, we’ll be testing these over the next two months on a big-travel 29er (that you’ll be able to check out very soon), so we’ll keep you posted on the performance of these high-end Swiss carbon wheels.

For pricing and availability on DT Swiss wheels, head to the Madison website, or for further information, jump on the DT Swiss website.