Wheels on my XC race bike are about 1850g ish.  Trying to keep the budget down as much a possible whilst staying light.  So, I have a pair of XTR hubs from 2007 – the front is no good being QR, so I reckon the best option is to get an XT front and use the XTR rear then lace them onto Crest mk3s with Sapim Race spokes.  Should be around 1500g and be pretty cost effective at what, £220 ish all in.

The use is XC.  I’m not overly bothered about strength – Prior to this bike I’d been using ZTR Olympic wheels for nearly a decade with Laser spokes, and not had to even true them.  Ok so my LBS built them rather than me but overall I am pretty light on kit.

Any better ideas?  I could use Laser spokes but since the bike feels a little flexy I’m tempted to accept the 30g or so extra to gain a slight increase in stiffness.

I have Crest MK3’s, light, reasonably wide and for the weight, quite durable. On the durability front, rear rim lasts 1200 miles before it starts cracking, although I am 95kg and our local xc rides include drop offs, stairs and other similar abuse.

DT XR361 is another option

I don’t think you’ll beat Crests. The mark 3 are a great rim. Wide and light. I’ve got some built onto some Superstar Ultra lite hubs with CX ray spokes and they are only a shade heavier then some DT Swiss XCR1200 carbons I’ve got.

 they are only a shade heavier then some DT Swiss XCR1200 carbons I’ve got.

How much do they weigh then out of interest?

If you’re interested I have some stan hub crest rim wheels that I might sell, they’re the mk 2 rims though I think.
Around 1600g with rim tape.
Email if interested cheers.

Messaged and emailed you granny_ring

Hope xc are great for me because of the weight limit on crests. Matched with nova tech 771/772 hubs they build into a light wheel set.