I want to “plus” my 29er. Can I use a normal 650b rim/wheel, or do I need a wide plus rim?

What are you hoping to achieve?

A wide tyre on a thin rim can cause weird handling issues and you’re not getting all the benefits of Plus.

You’ll drop a bit of BB height either way.

I’m in the process of doing this myself – I *believe* that you don’t get the full benefits when using a standard rim. Certainly the tyre profile is going to be a bit strange. I’ve gone for the Alpkit Rumpus wheels BTW, at £199 for the pair they are cheaper than a pair of WTB Scraper rims!

My Fiireline has a “slightly” high bb anyway, so a bit of drop might be good. I’m hoping for a bit of extra cushioning, and more grip. Basically a semi-fat bike.

2500g for the appkit wheel set???? 😯

2500g for the appkit wheel set????

Yep. Looking through the weights of each part then the hubs aren’t too bad it’s the rims where, predictably, the weight has piled on. The WTB Scraper is 650g, the Alpkit is 750g. But compare to a standard 650b wheel and there’s more – the Hope XC wheels come in at 2Kg for the pair for example so that’s roughly another 150g per end extra.

Not sure how many other pre-built 650b+ wheelsets there are ATM so there’s not a lot to compare to. Building your own: £224 for two Scraper rims; £205 for a set of Hope Pro 4 hubs; plus spokes as an example would lose you about 150g per end. So yes, good value (on the surface) but obviously built to a price.

FWIW, my B+ wheels weighed in at 2,336g.

Hope Pro2 Evo
Scrapers
DT Swiss Comps
Brass nipples

My XM551s on Pro 4s are closer to 2100g – rims are 40mm internal and weigh 595g. Lot cheaper than Scrapers.

https://www.bike-components.de/en/DT-Swiss/XM-551-Disc-27-5-Felge-Modell-2016-p45268/