DH Wheels…. just a bit lighter?

Have long used a set of Mavis Deetraks for DH -they’re Mavic hubs built on the solid but far-from-light 325 rim – think the rim weighs 750g or so.

Looking for a lighter set, just for a bit more acceleration and general niceness to ride, but without sacrificing durability.

Considered rebuilding the wheels with Flow EX – 250g off each wheel would be brilliant – bt concerned that they’d be a little flimsy for DH use? Looked at the Syntace W40 also – more DH-intended, still very light, but they might also be a bit soft?

Mavic options are the 721, which is Narrow, or the 729, which saves almost nothing.

Any good ideas out there? Spank? Sun?

Halo Freedom or Chaos

have you seen a 721 rim? – they’re not *that* narrow.

and without going down the carbon route, i suspect you’ll struggle to find a (significantly) wider rim that’s a similar weight, that you can take Dh racing.

but, as a suggestion: i’ve also got a pair of sun inferno 27’s – they seem fairly sturdy, and not too heavy (500g ish), and a smidge wider than 721’s…

I have a Nukeproof wheel on the back on my DH bike but its just a rebadged Sun rim, dents pretty easy but seems strong and not too heavy.

Sun MTX 29? 29mm wide and 570g.
Mine have stood up to some serious abuse the last couple of years, and are still going strong.

721 is narrower than a lot of the competition but it’s not excessively narrow imo. Skinnier than my xc rims mind but they’ll support a 2.5 just fine. I wasn’t happy with the strength though, they were really hard– very dingproof- but they cracked to buggery around the eyelets. Maybe good for a short very hard life but not so good for a longer less hard life?

I replaced those with a set of Flows which despite expectations lasted better than the Mavics. They did dent quite a lot, they’re softer, but that makes them easier to straighten 😉 Front is still going strong, rear died (cracked at the valve hole ironically, after all the chat about eyelets) but outlived either of the 721s.

Oh, I replaced that rear Flow with a Flow ex, it lasted about 6 rides. But I smashed the bejeezus out of it on ride 2 at fort william, so fair enough. I got the feeling it’s easier to damage a Flow Ex because of the low rims- less crumple zone before you get into critical parts.

Just putting a WTB Frequency on to replace that Flow Ex which looks pretty promising, and is cheaper than a Flow 😉

Yeah – noticed the Frequency on CRC mentions “Gravity” use but at UST, 490g and that price, it seems a bit too good to be true

Frequency’s a tubeless-ready… Though it has a UST-ey beadlock thing. I’m not convinced it’s going to be tough enough for troublefree dh work but then it’s a good weight and price so, thought I’d give it a crack. No, not a crack.

I am looking to do something very similar. I was all set up to get a pair of Light Bicycle Carbon DH rims but then a mate cracked his envy rim so thinking about Flow EX. Reading the above posts im not sure what to do again so looking forward to reading more posts and seeing what the general consensus is.

I dont do DH, just general mountain biking in fairly rocky locations, so you probably want to avoid all these, but I’ve tried the following:-

– DT Swiss Ex500 – dented a little easily, cracked at the dent eventually
– Light bicycle 33mm wide ‘hooked’AM Rim – cracked in two places
– Have just ordered a light bike 33mm wide ‘hookless’ DH rim – Will see how it goes.

Really dont want to go heavier than any of the above, having light rims makes for a nice ride.

atomlab dhr rims are super tough…you dont lose that much weight though as they weigh 630g

I use a set of spank spike rims on hope hubs, as do 2 other mater, none of us have trouble with them.

Spank Race 28 evo rims look good, supposed to be tough & weigh 500g ish.
Subrosas are good too at 520g ish.
I use Atomlab Pimplites which weigh 630g but are stupidly strong.
They lasted 13 weeks in Whistler bikepark, usually with a few spokes missing.
You could use one on the rear & a lighter rim on the front?

Testing of the Frequency slightly delayed by the fact I laced it up wrong, like a total fanny. I reckon, on balance, it’s going to be as nearly ok for dh use as a Flow is. And in return, it’ll weigh bugger all, and be not too expensive. Seems alright.

Taking it off to france in 2 weeks but it’s only les arcs so not the harshest test.