Which would you go for?

I will run the rim tubeless at somepoint. I’ve had no problems setting up a ghetto wheel.

I ride mostly on rocky ground and I weigh circa 95kg’s. Light would be nice but strong/durable.

I’ve never had an issue with Mavic’s but No Tubes are an unknown commodity to me- should I chose the No Tubes this time? Do I need to use No Tubes products (expense?) stuff exclusively though?

Can only comment on the 521’s but I can’t seem to destroy them whereas the Roval Traversee’s I had before collapsed if I looked at them the wrong way.

My point with the Traversee’s – I got flamed on here by people saying they were fine and I was clumsy etc. Nonsense, but let’s assume it’s true – it says a lot for the 521’s!

Arch rims would suit better, prefer stans to mavic tubeless (have both)

721s. I am about your weight and am a bit of a gung-ho rider and as such tend to destroy wheels. My 721s have lasted around 4 years and apart from the odd bit of trueing the have been fantastic. The only thing I would consider swapping them for is some of those light bicycle carbon rims.

Those are pretty different rims tbh, Crest is a good rim but it’s a bit XC, 521 is a solid enduro/light downhill rim. Arch Ex or Flow Ex would be a better comparison with a 521.

Mark, I’ve been running 521’s on my bike for 3 years now. As above, Arch or Arch EX would probably be a more realistic comparison weight wise but mine are still straight as a dye and I’m pretty much the same weight as you.

Ok, in a straight bun-fight EN521 or Arch EX- go with the Arch, but the Mavic isn’t a poor second choice?

Put it another way, the Flow Ex is Stans burliest rim, I’ve got one on the dh bike and there’s a load of people using them in world cups now, but it’s still lighter than the 521. So you don’t need to look at the relatively anorexic Crest to get a better weight.

If you’re planning on tubeless then it makes sense to use a proper tubeless rim tbh. Mavic don’t bother to compete in standalone tubeless rims, though, the crossmaxes are good but the 819 is ancient- heavy and skinny, no contest.

I’ve got stans crest/hope 29er wheelset and I’ve no complaints but there is a weight limit and I think your just on it at 95kg, I would say the arch ex would suit you better and as long as they come with the valves and tapes fitted there shouldn’t be any extra costs mine even came with 2 bottles of sealent..

V. Happy with my crests. I’ve set mine up tubeless with Roval tape, Roval & Superstar valves, all sorts of tyres and used Stan’s sealant. So no, you don’t need all Stan’s kit to make it work.

Nobby Nics, Ignitors, Ikons & Bontrager tyres have all fitted fine.

On the arches- can I use my ghetto rubbe rim strip/shraeder valve?

Or short term just fit a tube until I get the proper tape?

If you buy Stans rims you just need yellow tape and tubeless valves.

I’d ghetto any wheel though. Im only doing one wheel and ghetto would work?

I haven’t done a 521, but, I never had a result with ghetto that was anything like as good as the real thing. Also, there’s a weight impact there, tape and valve weighs basically bugger all, and a fair bit less than a bmx tube or stans strip, even if you get away with not having to tape up the rim to bulk it out.

Meanwhile in Stans land… You can use their tape, or you could buy cheaper stuff from Superstar, or, you could use electric tape- it’s not quite as good as the Stans tape but it works fine with a couple of wraps round. Valves, if you want to cheap it out you can use the valve off an old tube, though, not all work well. Or again check out Superstar, theirs are well priced.

I’d ghetto any wheel though. Im only doing one wheel and ghetto would work?

Adding a question mark to the end of a sentence doesn’t automatically make it a question…

Why, is this part of making life difficult/hard for yourself? 🙄

A roll of Stans Yellow Tape is all of a tenner, and will do a couple of wheels.

Hora, sorry for the hijack but I missed your reply some weeks back on the bed thread. Just replied.

I’ve just replaced a Pringled crest rim on my 29er with an arch ex, definite and significant improvement in stiffness /tracking.

Cheers guys

Its not tubeless yet as I need to sort. Plus note the 2001 XTR rear mech 8)