DT Swiss XMC 1501 Spline One wheelset review | “Pretty much perfect”

Alloy nipples, 28 holes, straight pull spokes. All things I avoid when riding a hardtail all year round in the UK!

DT Swiss makes some great wheelsets, but is the DT Swiss XMC 1501 the gold standard of lightweight wheels? Find out in our review. You might be surpri …

By terrahawk

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DT Swiss XMC 1501 Spline One wheelset review | “Pretty much perfect”

Spot on Jim.

Yeah i agree and it doesn’t even get a mention. Shorely we want sone sense of longevity being important. Either for financial or environmental reasons

Read the review with interest after buying these exact wheels in 29er flavour earlier in summer.

Whilst I like heaving mine about the room and bouncing them off the floor and being amazed at how light they feel with 2.6″ Rekons on them…

I don’t actually notice that much difference in the actual riding. I was at Antur last weekend so had the DTSwiss 1650s with 2.5/2.6 Minnion DHFs on with an insert. Couldn’t be bothered swapping them out for the xmc1501s for the midweek peak evening ride so kept the heavies on. Did 54km with around 1600m ascent on the 1650s DHF2.6 Insert combo and didn’t really notice that much difference compared to the xmc1501s that I have been riding most of the summer. There’s 700g weight difference all told, and I’m pretty dedicated to light bikes, but was surprised how similar they felt.

Certainly not to the extent that the reviewer raves about them.

I like them and all, but ….

PS. Paid £911 for mine:-)

I have had some for 3 months, after my bike with XMC1200s was stolen.

The 1200s were ok. The flat spokes were a bit noisy in a car park test, and were prone to damage. I had them 3 years.

I went for the 1501s this time around because the 1200s were quite a bit more expensive, and the weight difference isn’t that big. I think the only difference is the spokes, but it’s hard to confirm which rims you get with these wheels.

General performance has been fine, but a couple of weeks ago I cracked a rim. This wasn’t down to a faulty or weak part, just a combination of exo tyre, no insert, too little pressure, and a big whack. It was a hit enough to snakebite the tyre, and both holes needed two salamis to repair. It was a small crack and I used the wheel on chunky trails for another 2 weeks, albeit with a DH casing tyre and slightly higher than normal pressure.

I returned the wheel to DT for repair. For 250chf they are replacing the rim, rebuilding with new spokes, and servicing the hub. That’s about what I’d have to pay for the rim only if I bought one from China, and that would be a heavier rim, so I think whilst it’s not a free replacement I think it’s actually a good deal.

PS. I also like light wheels, and agree they just feel kind of normal. For my only experience of carbon wheels I think that’s probably a good thing.

I’d vaguely remember “the assumed wisdom” when I laced up some Light Bicycle rims for DH racing a few years back that carbon rims and ali nipples did something weird and corrosive together, and that it was a bad idea (use brass instead).

Old wives tale, or has DT ignoring this, or got a neat technical solution?

Alloy nipples, 28 holes, straight pull spokes. All things I avoid when riding a hardtail all year round in the UK!

Not heard this before. What’s the issue?

Umm 1639g for the 29″ version. 1565g is the 27.5″ version.

I’d vaguely remember “the assumed wisdom” when I laced up some Light Bicycle rims for DH racing a few years back that carbon rims and ali nipples did something weird and corrosive together, and that it was a bad idea (use brass instead).

Old wives tale, or has DT ignoring this, or got a neat technical solution?

My understanding is galvanic corrosion is very common between carbon & aluminium (see seized seatposts in carbon frames!), as carbon is obviously a very good conductor.

Not sure about carbon, but DT use a special washer between rim & nipple on their alloy rims?

Think I’d stump up a little more to get one of the “Lifetime warranty” brands.

I considered these but ended up with the roval controls which are a bit lighter at 1450g. I figured they’d be tough enough for a lightweight wuss.

Tried them on the hardtail first and they felt way too stiff. Though I’d not been on the hardtail for a few weeks.

They’ve been on the full-sus since and thankfully my experience is akin to the reviewer’s. I expected the improved acceleration and easier pedalling but it was the precision which surprised me. The way they hold a line takes a bit of getting used to, not necessarily in a bad way, just different. I’ve smashed some of my local PBs up and down, without busting a gut, so they’re doing something right.

Hopefully they’ll last 🤞

DT Swiss give a Lifetime warranty on all of their Carbon Wheels. They also include a 10 year Crash Replacement policy that means they will put the wheel back to new for a maximum of £199 including shipping, which you can use as many times as you like within that 10 year period.

That’s useful to know @Crippo – GF has HXC-1200’s that came on her e-bike

Does the freehub and cassette fall off, spilling its guts all over the floor if you dare to lean it the wrong way while changing a tyre, or have they fixed that superbly amusing DT Swiss attribute?

Not sure about the new exp freehub, but the 350 hub needs a decent amount of force to remove the freehub body as the endcap is very tight fitting. Certainly no chance of it falling off.

As far as I can see the offerings from lifetime guarantee brands are a fair bit heavier.
Reserve rims are considerably more expensive, and a chunk heavier too.

And for the freehub… I haven’t experienced this problem with my current wheels, or my last ones.

Alloy nipples, 28 holes, straight pull spokes. All things I avoid when riding a hardtail all year round in the UK!

28 spokes is less strong than 32

Alloy nippples are more likeky to corrode and seize

Straight pull spokes can spin in the hub when the nipples have seized

Not heard this before. What’s the issue?

Alloy nipples, 28 holes, straight pull spokes. All things I avoid when riding a hardtail all year round in the UK!

28 spokes is less strong than 32

Alloy nippples are more likeky to corrode and seize

Straight pull spokes can spin in the hub when the nipples have seized

Nothing wrong with 28h with a decently strong rim. The wheel strength comes from the whole system, so running a couple less spokes can allow for an overall stronger wheel at the same weight- less grams in spokes means you can put more strength in the rim. I used to see it as a downside too but I, er, accidentally bought some wheels with 28h and they turned out great, happy to be proved wrong.

Definitely rather have J pull spokes and brass nipples though.

I have a set from Bird (their own spec with 6-bolt 240 hubs but identical otherwise).

I like them a great deal. They’re my first 29ers but there was no negative impression of extra weight and inertia. Pretty sprightly in all. They also seem nicely predictable – forgiving of my poor line choices (although maybe that’s 29ers?)

They’re my first straight pull wheels, so the comments about that and alloy nipples has made me think. I didn’t intend this to be a bike for summer only 😀

Wrong thread .

Wheel strength is a weird one. I’d love to see actual footage and figures of how close to the edge wheel builds go when ridden – be it hard and fast or with too much weight etc.

Main reason is an interest in physics and engineering but, I am also keen to learn if my 28H, DT240exp straight pull hubs with XM481 rims will cope with 130KG over rooty and rocky blasts.

One (easy) ride in and I’m still trying to convince myself they’ll be ok on trickier stuff, despite reassuring messages from others saying they’ll be fine.

For example – will the above wheels be 20% less strong than the previous 32H Pro 4. EX511 wheels? 50%, 10%, I dunno. And just how much does it matter if I’m only using them to 50% of their capacity.

Simple weight limits are not reassuring enough.

Sounds like DT Swiss haven’t got a clue what they are doing to me!
Always have been my go to wheels TBH.