De-cheesing a bontrager comp line 30 rim: Dt ex511 / fr560 ?

I put some new tyres on my wheels at the weekend and the rear was a bastard to seal due to various dings. Resulted today in me having to return home after it unseated, and pump the tyre up very hard to get it to stay sealed.
This is a comp line 30 wheelset that came with the bike.

So, I am wondering whether anyone has successfully resolved the issue by changing the rim. I can’t find an ERD for the rim, but they are about 21 mm deep from the rim bed to the bead externally. This is the same as the Dt swiss ex511 and fr560. I’d rather not replace the spokes too, to save a bit of cash.

Anyone done a successful swap to either of these dt rims or indeed anything else?

Also would anyone recommend the ex511 over the fr 560 or vice versa? Similar price and application, just the fr is heavier

It’s going on an ebike so not too bothered about weight, other than it would be nice to have the ability to swap between bikes (non ebikes)

No experience of the FR560. I went from an EX471 up front to a 511 . They’ve both been bombproof butbi find the wider front makes the bike want to stand up more readily and take a bit more effort to get over. You can tell the difference between widths while riding

Not a clue on your spokes – but if it’s an ebike and weight isn’t an issue then the FR is truly invincible. The EX511 is also very strong though – doubt you’ll go wrong with either. Would be tempted on the ebike to go fr on the rear and if you ever need to change the front go ex.

Thanks for thoughts, yes I’m tempted by the fr560 for the invincibility!

Re: the rim swap, from my experience with similar situations you will be totally fine. Most of the time I’ve simply sized both rims up by eye and it’s worked.

If you can get the model year, and size (29″ or 27.5″), I should be able to find you an erd from Trek’s tech site

Unless you’re really heavy or smashing stuff really hard, dont discount the xm481. It’s the dt sweet spot for 30mm internal imo.
My 18+stone riding pal who’s has as much finess as an powerhouse ex competitive rugby player and ski racer can be expected, managed to get 2 seasons out of a used xm481 before chasing spoke failures.

@coatsey that would be awesome – thanks!
2021 trek rail 9

Ps I’ve just been to count the spokes – 28 both ends, I think that rules out the fr560 (I think it’s 32 only)

I know the carbon line 30’s use 279 and 277 spokes, don’t know if that will help you in any way!

@bareback I have an xm481 on another bike – had a lot of abuse and it’s a very solid rim. One reason I fancy a replacement Dt Swiss of some sort.

Okay, Sod’s law comes into play again, and your specific wheels aren’t listed, but a touch more digging found a few other Line 30 comp wheels, all being listed as 589mm ERD.

Bonty used to label rims with ERDs and spoke lengths in the past – did they stop doing that?

Yep, seems like it was making life far too easy.

Slight side topic, does anyone know if the upper end dt swiss rims are a different aluminium to the lower end rims.

Ie, is a M502 just a sleeved/eyeleted XM481?

Hi mate I’ve done this recently with line comp 30 29er from a slash – bonty rim to dt Swiss ex511. Link to thread

All the spoke length calcs in the above thread worked out fine. Go on trek website and “help” chat thing person will send you wheel info.

Awesome, this is why I love this place!

Thanks particularly to coatsey and rickwales.

6mm too short at each spoke I am no way going to get away with using existing, so it’s either

1) a different rim (closest I’ve found in ERD so far is a spank oozy 395+ at 591mm but it’s too wide – 40mm! – and 32 hole only. Superstar has an alpine 30 rim which is a bit further away but unsure of durability and I was really set on the dt)

Or,

2) I could potentially use longer spoke nipples. Hmmm. Assuming they’re 12mm presently (not measured), will I get away with making up 4mm using 16mm nipples….unsure.

Need to do some more sums to weigh the costs up

deanfbm – no different alloy, extrusion, surface treatment, joining technique and a better system for spreading spoke tension loads on the rim.

Thank @sillyoldman, was thinking that you could argue the merits of sleeved versus welded, eyelets versus phr washers and get to a place where the premium rims are no better than the budget ones.

But if alloy and extrusions are different, you can probably justify the price of the premium rim’s along with weight and strength benefit.