Replacement wheels for a Blur 4 TR – £650 budget

Going to give the wife the Ar27 offset / DT Swiss 370 Wheelset off my Blur 4.

88kg kitted up, trail centres, bit of Lakes craic (high pike, lonscale loop, cumbrian way ie nothing radge), blasting round Galloway / Kershope Forest etc..

2.4 Forekaster F&R or Recon Race

Done a little bit of digging and quite liking the sound of XM481 / DT Swiss 350’s or Pro 5’s

I’m open to suggestions for a custom made pair for XC / Trail duties that will take a wee bit of stick?

Cheers

Stu

XM481 rims are currently £49 at biketart

DT Swiss XM 481 Disc Rim

Roval Control Alloy 350. Front is about £150, rear is £225.

Weight is 1.6kg, uses a DT350 Hub. 27in internal – good for a 2.4 tyre.

https://flowmountainbike.com/tests/roval-control-alloy-wheel-review/

Well reviewed too

XM481 front/XM421 might be worth a look?

I think I read some of the Roval wheels are a bit soft rim wise, would be worth getting a few owners opinions.

Quite happy with my JRA gravel wheelset and they offer XC options also.

Reserve alloy are mid £500s currently at Stiff, not sure on weight..

If I hadnt have got the XRC1200 earlier this year, Id be getting these:

DT Swiss XRC 1501 Boost Carbon Wheelset – 29″ | Merlin Cycles

A bit over your budget I know but be spot on for a Blur TR

Lots of roval half price at tredz and elsewhere currently.

I’d definitely recommend JRA. My stans arch set have been great for nearly 4 years.

Is there any of the Hope pro 5 hubs left on Merlin? I’ve got some of those and some XM481 rims from Biketart for less than £300, add in. £50 for spokes, I found a seller on eBay doing DT Swiss competition spokes for a decent price.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225991962486?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=XGsJ818LSMG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=D4bM1OlDTVi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Or I got DT Swiss 350 hubs from R2 bike in Germany a year or so ago for good prices.

XM481 are really quite a tough rim – I’ve been using them on Pro4s on my trail/light Enduro style bike for years. For fifty quid they are brilliant. Mine are covered in scrapes from rocks etc but still bang straight and even.

Hope hubs are an obvious choice but they are not light, you could spend more on some fancier hubs for a wheel set a bit more fitting for a blur.