Hi all….

I’m considering building up some lightweight XC wheels for my On One Whippet….and wondered if anyone has done the same recently and wanted to share some knowledge of what they chose? I’ve currently got fitted some Superstar DS25 wheels with Novatec hubs coming in at 2100g. I’m a 78kg rider and do like my downhill xc sections so something that wont fold after the first wee knock would be good 🙂

I’m happy enough to do a self build if using brass nipples. Would consider something like 28h front 32h rear but I’m open to suggestions/your experience of this.

TIA

What budget and what would you class light weight?

Hunt XC Wide are hard to beat on a budget for XC riding

Second that. Hunt XC wide.

Do you ride anywhere rocky? If so, Hunts might be a bit soft.

fitwheels.eu. Loads of info on here. They were fine even with brexshit.

I got some DT swiss 421s on 350 hubs. Light enough (<1800g?) Strong enough (not that long ago the 421 would have been a downhill rim). There are cheaper options, there are lighter options. I’ve been happy with mine – done some XCO, XCM, trail centre stuff. All good.

Cheers for the replies so far.

Probably looking at a weight of approx 1500-1600 to make it an appreciable difference in wheel weight. Budget- ideally less than 400 blabs

I’ve got some Chris King ISOs on DT XR492 rims for pretty much what you describe.
They do everything on my Solaris, raced a beginners enduro with them, loads of all day rides and they are my spare XC race wheels. (Race wheels are Tune Prince/Princess on DT XR311, which are lighter but probably too fragile for your needs, and most of mine, they are race only)
The CKs were second hand so not too expensive either

If my crossmax elites die I’ll be buying Silt XC’s.

1500g wheels for under £400 buying new isn’t going to happen without serious compromises.

Hunt or Silt are the best bet, but the compromise is narrowish (but ok) internal width rims, narrow gauge spokes, paper thin rim tape (Hunt), alu nips and living with a few dings now and then.

The good news is both offer crash replacement policies which I have made use of with Hunt when a stick ripped spokes through the rim and for a rim dent.

If you want to spec your own wheels then maybe use a site like R2 bike to see real world weights and decent prices. The breakdown of my Hunt XC Wide wheelset may help understand how the various parts contribute to the final weight

Pair Boost Hunt XC Wide with valves and Stans rim tape: 1672g
Rims: 440g and 452g
Front hub: 156g
Rear hub (HG freehub): 283g
Spokes and nipples: 316g
Rim tape (Stans): 17g
Valves (Hunt pair): 8g

Oh, and if you fancy carbon rims and can compromise some weight then the Bontrager Kovee Elite are currently £500 a pair at Sigma Sports with the code “Sale10”.

29mm internal width rims, lovely ride feel, free crash replacement rims in the first two years (discounted after two years) and almost instant pickup freehubs

The disadvantage on these is weight but I reckon it is worth it and love mine even on a rigid SS.

The one rim I did weight on a rebuild was 395g which is really quite light for a decently wide carbon rim so the weight is mainly in the hubs and spokes which are relatively easy to upgrade if you really wanted in future.

1500g wheels for under £400 buying new isn’t going to happen

This +1

I got Stans Arch 4 (i28mm) on Bitex 211 & Sapim CXRay spokes for £570, they weigh bang on 1700g on digital kitchen scales including tape and valves.

For your budget you need to be looking to buy direct from China, or stump up some extra cash for Roval Controls, DtSwiss etc @ around £1k.

Two things you need to consider is what internal width you want and aluminium or carbon (carbon will cost extra).

I’d go Hunt for the cash. 25mm id rims are more than fine for XC / light trail IMHO.

+1 for having to spend big money new for 1500g setup. That’s the weight of my Roval Carbon Control wheelset and they were about a grand.

You might be able to do it a bit cheaper by going with a direct to consumer Chinese carbon brand but still won’t be as cheap as the Hunts.

https://off.road.cc/content/review/wheels/hunt-trail-wide-boost-29-wheelset-review-8149

weight of 810g front and 1,040g rear (including tape and valves).

That’s 1850g for the Hunt Trail Wide boost wheeset.

Stan’s Crest should get fairly close to that weight, just take your pick of novatec/bitex/chosen hubs. Mine weigh 1600g for 28spokes with dt competition spokes.

£200 for the rims, £100 for the hubs, dt revolition spokes would do it within budget, and I think the thinner spokes would help them stay truer (although mine are having a hard life on the gravel bike).

And £100 and 70g less than those hunts:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Fulcrum-Red-Zone-5-29-Wheelset_114980.htm

I’ve been really impressed with the 7’s on my Scandal.

I’m a similar weight to you OP and I run hope pro 2 evo hubs with Stan’s crest rims on my fast xc bike these have sapim d lights but if I was doing it again I’d go with sapim laser which are the equivalent to DT Revolution but generally cheaper.

Mine have taken a battering in the peak District mixed between a full sus and a fully rigid 29er and they’re still lovely and true… And about 10 years old!

If you can build yourself and go with crest rims, sapim laser spokes and bitex hubs you’ll be under budget and 1500g or so.

Another vote for fitwheels.eu. loads of options and great service from them. I wanted a wide set of wheels for a rigid bike so went for WTB KOM light i29 rims on DT350 hubs. Cost about £450. 1900g so not heavy or light. But not expensive and plenty strong enough for xc.

Another vote for fitwheels.eu. loads of options and great service from them. I wanted a wide set of wheels for a rigid bike so went for WTB KOM light i29 rims on DT350 hubs. Cost about £450. 1900g so not heavy or light. But not expensive and plenty strong enough fo

Save a hundred quid and get Hunt Trail Wides with less weight – running fine on my FS in rocky Scotland.

Have a look at the JRA web site, you can spec some wheels that get pretty close to your requirements. Good people to deal with as well.

Only a few rides in but I’m happy with my hunt trail wides. I’ll likely pick up some xc ones for those days when I’m putting the miles in instead of the gnar.

The only criticism is their rim tape – it works but it’s awful. I’ll change it while I get new tyres.

Save a hundred quid and get Hunt Trail Wides with less weight – running fine on my FS in rocky Scotland.

There are other threads on here about the Hunts and their dingability, even after their new ‘tougher’ rim material. The build itself was fine and the hubs had a nice fast engagement. But the rims were just too soft for me. I’ve never broken a wheel before or after the Hunts. But on every proper ride on the Trail Wides I was getting a ding that was so bad the tubeless wouldn’t reseal so I had to finish either on the rimpact with no air or by putting a tube in. I paid for a rebuild the first time (they didn’t give me the option of crash replacement because it wasn’t a crash, it was just riding over a water bar), dented those, got sent a set of the Enduro wheels because I was obviously too extreme for trail wheels, sent those back as they were too heavy, and after having to persuade them I didn’t want to cough up to upgrade to the carbons I got my money back (not including the £80 rebuild I’d paid for). The hits that were folding the rims up weren’t even damaging the tyres!

Replaced them with EX511s on 350 hubs from fitwheels. I’ve since done the Hunt-killing rides multiple times with no more than a few scuffs on the rims. They weigh about the same as the Hunts, but I could probably have gone a bit lighter with the XM481s.

70kg rider on a 120mm 29″ FS, for reference.

No problems here with my Hunt XC Wide. Really good wheels for the money. Noticeably stiffer and lighter than my Crests. Currently running some lightish 2.6 tyres front and rear and they feel great.

I’m sure my Superstar V6/Stan’s Flow come in at under 1700g and they were under £300 so surely it’s not an impossible task to find slightly lighter for similar price

The main questions here imo are, do the rims have to be wide, and do the hubs have to be boost. If the answer is no to either then there’s ridiculous used bargains out there for these unfashionable wheels. I got a set of DT1350s a while back for IIRC £250, and just recently picked up some Tricon 1550s for £100.

(and converting unboost to boost is really easy)

I’m sure my Superstar V6/Stan’s Flow come in at under 1700g

I’d be amazed tbh

I’d take a look at Newmen but they’re pricey. Otherwise xm481s on pro 4s. Plenty of weight in the hubs but it’s the rim weight that matters and the hubs are endlessly serviceable and adaptable. Looked at Hunts but didn’t see the value in them. I know others do.

The only criticism is their rim tape – it works but it’s awful.

How can it be awful if it works?

It doesn’t have to look pretty, it can’t make any difference to weight, about the only other thing it needs to be is easy to remove and clean up after. But if it works, why would you need to?

IMO, it is fine for a couple of tyre fittings but after that rips/ moves/ wrinkles up. Really fragile as it is so thin (if that can be a thing for tape!)

I have a nearly new mk3 crest on dt Swiss wheelset which I believe is around 1500g if interested will put in classifieds

Im interested, pm me with a few more details please.
Thanks

Thanks all for the info…food for thought. I’ll update in due course.

@swan0mighty I’ve sent you a pm…

I agree with DanW. My Hunt road wheels wouldn’t go up tubeless from new. I retaped with some new tape they sent me and it worked but as soon as I changed tyres I had to retape again( not with Hunt tape)

BNIB – Hunt XC Wide in the classifieds at £300