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Hi Guys,
What the strongest 29er rim i can get.
I have a Stans Arch MK3 on the back of my 29er and about 8 of the eyelets have cracks and spokes keep going, think wheels life is over, only 2 years and i'm not a hard rider, my weight is about 80kg.
I also have Stans Flows on back of my 27.5 bike and can see 2 cracks starting around spoke holes.
So think i'm looking for rims to rebuild, pref eyeleted this time, as i think that would be stronger.
Looking to spend around £100 max on one rim.
Cheers
Given the paucity of tensiometers of any kind across the wheel builders in general, chances are fair that its been built with greater spoke tension than stans recommend. Its a pretty common thing.
If you were too heavy duty for the rim you would have seen buckling too IMO.
mmm.. I have a tension report somewhere from the hand built wheel build, i will have a look
No, this one was built at Merlin's so I don't have tension report.
Not the strongest but I think strong enough I have DT Swiss XM 481 (30mm) on one bike and XM 421 (25mm) on another. They don’t Have eyelets but do use DT’s special PHR washers. If you want stronger EX511 (30mm) and EX471 (25mm) are the next step up in weight/strength.
thanks ill have a loo, guy in the shop said DT swiss are a bit soft?
a bit soft
Things have changed since 2008 😉
I run xm481 or xm421.. on all my bikes. They are brilliant.
Any Stan's rims I've built up for my kids builds I've used nipple washers to try to avoid the problems you're seeing.
Arch MK3 rims are notorious for this, over tensioned or not. I had a wheelset from Superstar for almost 4 years. By the end they were on the 5th rear rim and 2nd front. I assume Superstar check tension? The last two rebuilds done locally definitely did. Result was always the same. Shame as the ride quality and weight of Stans rims is very good.
I'd be looking at something from DT Swiss. Or my Newmen 30mm rims seem tough. Otherwise I've just had wheels built up with Spank Flare rims. Early days for reliability but they ride nice.
XM481. Look no further!
DtSwiss HX581 if you can stretch your budget a bit.
DT do the FR560 rim in 29" if you really want bombproof, that's your rim.
Otherwise, EX511 is a good mix of tough without too much weight, with the XM481 a bit further down the lightweight end of the scale.
As has been mentioned before, eyelets cracking after only 2 years hints at blan over tensioned build but get someone who knows what they're doing to build them and you'll be reet
DT swiss are a bit soft?
Aaron Gwin disagrees.
I’m just about to build up some Spank 395+ rims with 35mm innner width. They look pretty tough. Sorry that doesn’t help does it. DT Swiss are brilliant just get them.
So guys, thanks for all the info.
Opinion please, this is my wheel. Tape is all holes that have cracks. Bike shop said basic XC only, my m8 said run it into the ground or do i trash it now and replace. I case the odd small gap, i do drop offs about max 1.5m height.
Should I ride it, how long will it last, will it explode 🙂
Big thamnks
Spank Vibrocore, therEs a dh Version, 350 I THINK.
Mavic 521, 511
I kept riding the rear wheel in that state for months each time one of my rims started cracking. Just XC and trails, regularly checking for further deterioration. I'm slightly lighter at 72kg. It didn't explode. But I think any 1.5m drops might be asking too much.
i’m not a hard rider,
I case the odd small gap, i do drop offs about max 1.5m height.
I'd suggest that makes you a pretty hard rider : )
I dented some Alex rims and replaced them with dt ex 471 at the rear and dt fr 560 at the front. No drops of that height, but plenty of rear wheel cases.
The rear Alex rim folded on a rock after a poor landing at llandegla. I chose the ex 471 as I can built a wheel, but It takes me ages and I didn’t want to do it repeatedly. If a full on dh racer like Gwinn will run them, even for one run, I’m likely to get ages out of them.
In whistler last year I missed my braking point and rammed my front wheel sideways into a tree at speed. I don’t think any wheel would survive that kind of ham fisted riding.
The Fr 560 where the rims that one of the shops at the bottom of the whistler lift stocked. They have eyelets.
If you are doing drops like that regularly why not go for the fr560? They are heavier because there is more metal in them
Thanks guys, yes i suppose i prob am a hard rider, not as hard as some but yes.
The guys at the shop said make sure i get eyeleted rim next time?
But then i have seen that it looks like DT Swiss have washers around nipple for extra strength?
Not many rims out there with eyelets these days!
So I am worried about the actual wheel build, and if the place that builds them actually does it correctly as its lots of money and I have just been made redundant!
Seriously thinking about doing it myself!
I have not put any of my bikes in a shop for last 8 years and built loads of bikes, services forks, replace bearings etc. but always avoided wheel build.
Think i may have a go and just take my time if i can borrow a truing stand.
Ex511 all the way!
Rims can and do crack
http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-001/FAIL-150.html
lighter rims possibly crack more easily
http://www.pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-001/FAIL-120.html
http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-001/FAIL-065.html
Hard anodising can crack, leading to other problems
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19950025269.pdf