Hope Fortus 30 vs DT Swiss FR541

So I belted the crap out of my Ebike rear wheel yesterday by very very badly casing a stepdown . Landed square on top of the log that was the edge of the landing.
The rim is now majorly flat spotted and cracked so I need to replace it.

It’s a hope fortus 30 rim which up until now has been bomb proof.

However, the front rim is a DT Swiss EX511. I’m wondering whether to rebuild with an FR541 to make the rims a bit more matchy-matchy, plus DT Swiss is my go-to for wheel components generally.

They both come in about the same price. I might have to buy a new set of spokes for the FR541 though, as the ERD is quite a bit different.

Any views on FR541 vs fortus 30 then ?

Ta!

While it’s possible to debate Hope Vs DT hubs (I’ll admit to favouring Hope), there really is no competition when it comes to rims. Fit the DT

While it’s possible to debate Hope Vs DT hubs (I’ll admit to favouring Hope), there really is no competition when it comes to rims. Fit the DT

This!

DT Swiss Cheese? No thank you.

I’d stick with the Hope Hoops. I’ve two very different Hope wheel sets on different bikes and they’re both bombproof. I’m a big heavy rider, imagine a badly shaved gorilla with the riding finesse of an asteroid.

DT gets my vote.

Hope hubs, DT Swiss rims.

I fitted a sparkly new Hope fortus 30/pro5 on my son’s bike. It lasted 4 laps of fort William before it promptly died on its first outing (and that was with rimpact pro’s and DD tyres). Contacted Hope, they said tough luck but we’ll send you some stickers. They didn’t bother though.

im not saying that DT would be any better, but the piss poor customer service from Hope has me off looking at alternatives.

Cheers all, DT it is then!

bigblackshed
Full Member

DT Swiss Cheese? No thank you.

Unusual comment this? Their old (old old) ones were soft as ***** but the modern ones are about as tough as it gets.

If you change your might I have a fortus 30 rim, has been built in to a rim. But never used, never had tape fitted.
cheaper than a new one?

Ooh, could still be interested @Speshpaul. I’ll pm you

Agree with @Northwind about DT. Definitely the least cheese-like rims I’ve had

If weight isn’t a concern I found the double cavity Hope rims pretty solid. And that was on a hardtail. FR541 didn’t really hold up as well though…

But … if you don’t reverse your car into a tree with the bike on the back it’ll probably be ok.

2 hours later and i’ve just bought a FR541 wheelset for the lad for about 350 quid.

“Hope” they last better than my one did.

Yep, totally cheese like…

TBH Hope rims, more the 35mm* than the 30, have always had the worse rep. I like Hope’s kit stuff, I have a Hope fortus 30 rim (holding up well, unlike myself), it was fitted under warranty to replace a spesch rim, but I’d have bought a FR541, if I’d been spending my own money.

*I dented mine, on my last bike

My advice would be to go a bit faster next time. Schoolboy error.

@daveosaurusrex The 4 southerners towing me into their  ***local*** trails couldn’t ride for shit

(edit: FFS. Blow kiss smiley face)

Personally I’d go DT Swiss as well, any reason for the fr541 over the ex511 which is a bit cheaper and will match the front?

DT Swiss EX 511 Rim

Haha, touché!

The properly Southern one in particular

As a total Hope fanboy I’d still go DT Swiss, no contest, that odd DT Swiss cheese comment dates back to when they first started to take over from Mavic rims, not sure when that actually was, mid to late nineties was still Mavic dominated though. DT Swiss are now the dominant rim of choice for good reason

Interested as looking at similar to upgrade my ebike wheels… interesting that everyone says go for the FR rims, rather than what DT Swiss themselves recommend for ebike usage… HX or H (can’t remember the numbers)

Why’s that chaps?

ps. my rim destroying son has replaced Deemax with FR541 (not on an ebike). They look untroubled by his beastliness so far!

Not 100% but I think the rims on the ebike wheels are the same as others in the DT Swiss range (think info is on their website) but they have thicker hub flanges, steel freehub bodies for HG and maybe a few other things

There’s a super detailed comparison here = the rims all have subtle differences, the EBike rims seem a little behind, I’d be having the FR541

Spoke (lolZ) to Bike Wheels Direct out this (what a helpful company, good prices too!) and he says the rim used on the HX1700 is the HX531.

So slightly different to the FR541. I’ve ordered a rear anyway, already have a front, so gonna rebuild that onto a Hope.

I’m sure the small differences won’t make any difference to me 🙂

Just to add some balance – I’ve had some very loud square edge rock to rim interfaces (the kind that make you wince and stop to check at the next suitable intersection) on my Hope Fortus 30’s (with Pro5) – on my very heavy ebike

Not a mark on them and still true after a year of plenty of use and abuse

Not 100% but I think the rims on the ebike wheels are the same as others in the DT Swiss range

This is not correct I’m afraid, the DT E-bike (or Hybrid as the Euros call them) rims have thicker spoke beds to give them a longer fatigue life as the sustained high torques E-bikes generate tend to fatigue rims faster around the spoke holes which leads to cracking and eventually the nipples pulling through the rim.

If you’re a radical gnar fiend who smashes their rims to bits long before they get the chance to fatigue there’s little benefit to getting the Ebike versions, just get the FR’s or EX’s.

If you actually intend to keep and use the rims for a long period of time and want long-term reliability, get the E.bike versions.

Hope that makes sense.