[Closed] Trail Centre Wheels (Crossmax or Pro 2 with ZTR Flows)

WTF? 😕

whats so difficult to understand?

just had some Hope / Flows built (29er so no hoops package)
Lovely 😆

Why do you need a special wheel for trailcentres is the WTF I guess

I'm just after some real advice as to which is the better value. No special wheels needed just listing more info to help gauge similar experiences. I really cant decide?

Will the OP have to change their wheels if they ride off the marked trails?

Genuine replies pls? I'm hearing great things about the Hope Hoops package but are they as good Mavic's factory wheels?

Which trail centres are we talking here? 🙂

oh dont you start grum 😀

btw I've got Hope Hoops with flows and I really like them - had 719/819s before which were also good but not as good imo. Flows are designed for quite hard usage but they aren't that heavy either.

Perfect, was also considering 819's. I ride heavy (more practice req'd) so was drawn to the Flows. Cheers.

[i]I ride heavy[/i]

Ones you can lace nice and tight then. 819 would seem the better choice. They're an arse to build as you can't use a driver, but mine have stayed true (and mine were built by a rubbish builder :wink:).

The flows are bad ass! I have had them on my DH bike for 18 months now and they are perfect... I have different wheels for Fort William though...

I like Flows but I'm not a very fast or aggressive rider. One thing I'd be wary of is that Flow's are US made and I think I remember reading that US inches are different to the French metric inches used by Mavic. I'm pretty sure this is why you need to use additional rim strips with Stan's rims to make them compatible with European 26" tyres. It makes sense to me to use European rims with European tyres. On the other hand, if you favour US-made tyres, the Flow might be a better choice? Just a thought.

Which tyres are European? I've used Maxxis and Bontrager tubeless with no rim strip without any problems.

The easiest way to check is to measure them with a European tape measure or rule. If they come out at a real, European 26 inches then the chances are that they are European. It's complicated by a lot of tyres being made in the Far East where I guess it depends on which inches are in favour. I think Continental tyres are European by the way, hence the name. I'm not saying I'm definitely right by the way, but I'm pretty sure I read it here.

You could get away with lighter wheels on the blue and green runs 🙂

For what it's worth, I have three sets of Crossmax ST's (had one set for over three years) without a fault.
I am in Austria at the moment, and ride a mixture of road (commute) trail (all mountain) and bike park stuff on them.
These would be perfect for trail centres, and are a lot lighter than the hope hoops (which I also think are lovely (and more british - apart from the American/French rims and swiss spokes!))
The killer though is spares, as very few shops stock mavic spares IMHO, and are chuffing expensive when they do.
In short, I love crossmax's! but hope hoops might be better if you ride heavy, and are prone to having to replace spokes!

Also it would be easy to find Crossmax ST's at £260 secondhand - they are regulars for that price and under on ebay and here.
Hope hoops on flows are rarer than rocking horse s*&t secondhand, and at least £360 new!
food for thought...

I picked up almost new pro2 xm819s for £150.

Personally I'd go with the Hopes and ride 50:50 natural trails to trail centres.

Trail centres are great but the books by Vgraphics are really easy to follow compared to scary maps 😀

http://www.v-outdoor.co.uk/products/index.php?prodCategory=Cycling

Hope hoops are nice. I manage fine on the 355 but if you want the flows then they'll be good.

I still cant believe someone has asked which wheels for trail centres!
What next, what saddle / grips / bars for trail centres? FFS its just the same, wherever you ride!

I like Flow rims but personally I'd go for the Crossmaxs rather than risk tinnitus from the Hope hubs.

Crossmax st here. Second set, Scotland, Alps, Morocco, they just kept going. Rims are very tough and not had a problem with spokes popping out or breaking even though I am 16 st and like a bit of airtime.

I've broken one spoke on my 5 year old crossmax xl, which is fine but each spoke is £3.50 and I can only seem to buy them 3 at a time

£10.50 for one spoke!

Other than that they've been ace- weeks in the alps, trail centers.....

I have a pair of Crossmax ST -- they've been excellent for 2 years with no service but now they need a trueing. I'm a big rider and they were fine until they moved over to my hardtail, so I'm inclined to think it's me and my ploughing style. I blame the article I read about titanium HTs and how you're supposed to let them go fast over stuff to get the true benefit.. hey at least I tried to buy into the hype 😀

Hope hoops on flows are rarer than rocking horse s*&t secondhand, and at least £360 new!

Mine were about £250 from Winstanleys, best wheelset I've ever had, far more solid feeling than my 355s or XT M775 factory set. Probably due to the huge width, the fact they get used for DH is pretty reassuring. I don't think I'd ever use anything else now.

[url= http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/24177/Hope_Pro_2_Standard_No_Tubes_Flow_Front_Wheel ]Front Wheel[/url]

[url= http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/24182/Hope_Pro_2_Standard_No_Tubes_Flow_Rear_Wheel ]Rear Wheel[/url]

100g-ish of the weight difference between the wheelsets is down to the lower spoke count on the Mavics.