[Closed] Easton Haven AM wheelset?

butterbean - Member

I'm looking to shed some weight on my current set up of Stans Flow/Hope Pro 2 wheelset which comes out at just under 2050g when you include the rim strips.

It shouldn't do. Are you using rubber rim strips istead of the yellow tape or something? Mine are about 1900g with yellow tape and valves and there's no reason to use a stans strip on Flows IMO.

Specialized's Roval Traversee EL can be had cheap-ish just now (£360?) and is lighter than your target. Possibly not as strong, possibly flexier, never used the Eastons but I've never found them excessively flexy, and they've survived some totally uncalled for abuse.

I have the Stan's/Pro 2 and IU was sure it was a lot lighter than that.

Either that, or I've been sold a pup.

Northwind is right too, no need of the rimstrip on them, yellow tape is perfect.

Weight (J-Bend): 880 / 1006g
Weight (Straight Pull): 880 / 1006g

and there's no reason to use a stans strip on Flows IMO.

....unless you're heavy and/or you corner super hard in which case you easily burp air from the tyre.

The rim strips make a big difference to helping the tyre stay seated and air tight in my experience.

A Flow on Pro2 with double butted (DT COmps) should weigh about 1900g tops without strips.

I have a set of Crossmax SXs on sale if you're interested.

Just bought some Roval Traversee EL's based upon the fact I got them cheap (£324 to me with extra 10% discount at my LBS, down from £600). and based upon internet reviews and forum recommendations from various people (including Northwind who I know rides harder than I can).

Can't vouch for their longevity yet, but they fit the bill nicely in terms of weight/width/tubeless etc. Being curious about the quoted weight of 1550g I weighed mine... Well, 1610g (including the rim strips and valves, Easton's 1650 doesn't include the valves) I thought was pretty good. And the wheels come specced on high end Specialized Enduro's with 160mm of travel, which indicates as to their intended use.

Having had a good look at a pair of Easton's in the flesh (and I for one love the way they look, others don't cos they can be a bit "blingy"), I can't see why they're so damned expensive. Very nice bit of kit for sure, but I'm not sure they're worth it. Oh, and with the Specialized wheelset you get the guts from the DT Swiss 240S hubs, possibly the most reliable hubs out there. Don't know what the Easton hubs are like, but I'll bet they're not as good. That and the Spesh wheels can be adapted between QR/15mm/20mm on the front straight out the box, and QR (in the box) or 10mm/12mm bolt through out back with a kit you can buy separately from DT Swiss. The Easton's are stuck with whatever you buy iirc, so if you buy a 20mm front wheel, you can't adapt it to 15mm or QR...

would you get away with Crests on Evos ? lighter than flows. mine come to 1720g with yellow tape and valves.

If I had the cash to burn I would buy the carbon Haven's as that is a big weight saving; but I don't see the alloy ones as enough incentive for the possible hassles.

I've got two pairs of Hope ProII on Flow (ooooooh 😆 ). Both are 850g front and 950g rear +/- 10g... so 1800g for a pair. Ditch the rims strips and go yellow tape to save a few grams.

I did look at Haven's and DT 1750 etc when I bought new wheels this year, but I like that I can get spares... no, sorry, NEED spares as I've trollied two rims in the two years I've been running these. I once waited 6 months to get spares for a Mavic Crossmax wheel and ended up buying a Hope wheelset while I waited.

Depends on how important the weight saving is to you. I've heard good things about the Haven wheels and a couple of friends have them... including a carbon pair *drool*.

Running two pairs of identical wheels means I can swap them easy. I'm running big 2.4 tyres on one and much lighter 2.2 on the other - the weight difference between the wheelsets is substantial.

I also have some older Roval Traversee.. all well for the first 6months, then the rim got badly dinged.. may have just been one of those things but had flows for longer in same area without ding.. Then spoke broke at Wharncliffe on DH track.. again probably not that suprising.. and I've replaced the bearings twice in 14months of use..

There OK, but not as robust as Stans/Hope combo IMHO. They are nice and quite though.

At [url= http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=23421 ]this price though[/url]... a better buy than Hope Hoops...

EDIT:There the wrong model.. sorry.

I have a pair of Pro 2/Flow on one bike and Pro 2/Crest on the other - same size rotors so I can swap them over in a jiffy to fit with the riding I'm doing.

Might be an idea...

re. rimstrips - I've just got some as I was fed up with the tape keep creasing up when I changed tyres. V annoying.

A lot of points to consider here.

Ok - the Pro 2/Flow wheelset (in my case) was 'just' over 1900g bare (Hope Hoops). I've had to resort to running tubes in them due to burping issues - the yellow tape is fairly crap, the Stans strip is better, but thats an extra ~150g on top of the wheelset. Hence the total weight of ~2050g.

Having done some investigating, the Havens seem to be more of a real world 1700g, but the new 2011 Havoc's are a true 1750g, plus reportedly a lot stiffer and stronger.

Anyone running these by comparison?

I guess what I really want is my cake, and to eat the whole lot. Have ridden a bike with some Rovals (Enduro) and they were flexy as hell, so souldn't be keen on that option really.

Geetee - I had considered the Crossmax's, but the spares issue is, well, an issue.

Crests - issues with wider tyres. This bike gets used for everything other than my DH bike, and when the mood takes, sometimes that too plus will be used for the Mega again next year so I really need to be able to fit a 2.5/2.35 combo on it.

What tyres are you using? I've literally had one burp in the whole time I've had my Flows, and that impact would have taken out a tube too. I've used various tubeless ready Specializeds, and standard Kendas Maxis and Schwalbes, no issues with any of 'em even using them for downhill.

From what I've seen, most people suffering burping issues are either running excessively low pressures, slack tyres, or too much tape (if you use more than the recommended one wrap round, the bead loses its definition a little and doesn't hold the tyres as well)

Various - mostly Maxxis, some Schwalbe.

Ride & race a lot of DH (to a fairly decent standard without blowing my own trumpet too much) so tend to ride the 5 a bit like my DH bike, maybe i'm just a cornering machine! 😀

Other than the weight, I quite like the Flow's, but I seem to be struggling for choice on something that will save weight, allow me to run proper tubeless and mount a decent tyre width on.

Havens are an absolutely lovely looking wheelset. True dream bike stuff. If you can afford them, you are morally obliged to buy them. The world needs wheels like these.

Ok, enough gushing. Looked at these a while back and just had a quick Google search to find the info I was looking for but alas, so I'll have to go from memory.

There was a lot of talk about dodgy hubs. I accept that every product will have some warranty issues even if it's just one minior and rare fault but you'll always hear about it on a forum somewhere as a total product design flaw. So, you need to sift through all the B.S.

How do you know if an issue is genuine or just forum B.S. In my opinion, the basic principle is:
If it's the first gen product there are more likely to be teething problems.
If the teething problems are a geuine issue there will be a revision in following generations.

So, the Havens.
Yes, the hub was revised.
No, it wasn't just for axle sizes.
From memory, the bearing preload ring I think it was changed from normal to reverse thread of the other way round. Can't remember. Key point is, the bearings and prehaps pre-load seemed to be the issue on the forums and there was a design change. So, I suspect there was a genuine issue.

My advice, get the later model wheels/hubs. I've seen older models going cheap but wasn't at all tempted for the aforementioned reason.

fulcrum red metal 3s fit the bill, weigh 1650/1685 and are tough enough so far..

butterbean - Member

Ride & race a lot of DH (to a fairly decent standard without blowing my own trumpet too much) so tend to ride the 5 a bit like my DH bike, maybe i'm just a cornering machine!

Could be! Last thing I'll say on the subject though is that I've got a set of Mavic UST rims as well and they don't perform any different to my Flows as far as keeping the tyres on goes. The reality seems to be just that sometimes a tubeless rim will let the tyre burp just like sometimes a tube will flat, if you work it hard enough.

I got a pair of Havens when they first came out, worst wheels for reliability I've ever had. Both sets of bearings F&R dead in 6 months, new front wheel eventually (took shop mechanic cornering the rep at a trade show) and rear rebuilt, then after 4 months use from March to June the rear went again, this time new axle, bearings and free hub but only after the shop nagged the importer.

Hopefully they've fixed them now. 🙁

The people quoting the weight of there Hope's with Flows did you actually weigh yours? As mine are around the 2050g mark, and when STW weighted there test wheelset in the mag that's what they came out out as well, and that's with yellow tape.

or are the people quoting 1800-1900 weigh there's with their 'special' scales.

Weighed mine, aye, on normal electronic cooking scales which I know to be decently accurate.

The Singletrack score isn't just wrong, it doesn't make any sense in the review (it would put them into the heavyweight class). I've a feeling they weighed their 721s twice instead as it's only a gram less, and the Flows rims certainly aren't half a gram less than a 721.

The people quoting the weight of there Hope's with Flows did you actually weigh yours? As mine are around the 2050g mark, and when STW weighted there test wheelset in the mag that's what they came out out as well, and that's with yellow tape.

This was my point - mine were just over 1900g (1927g iirc) and that was absolutely bare, with no rim tape at all.

The yellow tape & all its associated bits made it about 50-60g a wheel on top (so worst case 2047g) but I found the yellow tape to be useless, the rim strips were just under 100g each (95g I think) so 2117g.

I've since been nosing around the Easton Havoc AM wheels, as it looks like it's abit more durable - i've seen a few scale shots of them pretty damn close to the 1750g claimed, with valve.

I always had a lot more luck with proper UST rims (with both UST & non UST tyres), so i'm tempted by them. With my current Flow wheelset with tubes coming in at 2300g, even with sealant, thats a healthy 500+ saving.

The Singletrack score isn't just wrong, it doesn't make any sense in the review (it would put them into the heavyweight class). I've a feeling they weighed their 721s twice instead as it's only a gram less, and the Flows rims certainly aren't half a gram less than a 721.

Unlikely - the Pro 2/721 wheelset is over 2050g. I know this having run them for years on my DH bike & probably had 5 or 6 sets.

Easton Haven AM's:

these wheels can be had for around £400

Where are they available for that price?

cheers

butterbean - Member

Unlikely - the Pro 2/721 wheelset is over 2050g. I know this having run them for years on my DH bike & probably had 5 or 6 sets.

In that review they said 2095g for the 721s and 2094g for the Flows. At least one of those is wrong. My 721s are a bit heavier as they're 36 spoke so I can't compare directly with my 32 spoke Flows but there's no way an equivalent Flows build is only 1g less than 721s.

Point of this is, don't trust that singletrack review, it's wrong somewhere. And I'm pretty sure it's because someone wasn't paying attention and weighed the 721s twice.

Possibly - although at that weight they are within ~20g of mine with the Stan's strips though, if they weighed them with those included.

I weighed both my sets of Hoops on the kitchen scales - don't tell the missus 😮 Scales are good enough for baking so I believe them!

Normal spokes and six bolt hubs - as I posted above 850g front and 950g rear so 1800g for the pair.

One pair I have with rim strips and the other with yellow tape, neither have I burped unless the sealant has dried out and I've let the pressure drop... or I've shredded a tyre. Frustrating as problems can be any I have had are purely down to operator error.

Check reviews on mtbr and make sure they are 2011. The 2010 hubs got slated enough for weak bearings I passed on the opportunity to get a pair at cost, and when merlin were doing em half price. Mings experience is typical of the reviews.