Stans Flow EX, worth the extra over Hope Tech enduro wheels?

Have used Stans rims for a few years now, should I just get Hope Enduro wheels on my new bike or is it worth paying the extra for some Hope Pro4’s with Stans rims (probably Flow EX)
There is a £83 premium for the Stans

YES!!!!!!

Definately YES, Mat @ 18 Bikes builds a sturdy wheel, The Stans Rims are bomb proof, Speak to them @ 18 bikes as there might be a discount off Stans at the moment and this might off set your £83.

Worth a phone call.

I’ve a set of Hope Tech and they are very very good. But then would say that, wouldn’t I? 😆

I was actually looking at JRA but will give 18 a bell, got my present 26″ Hope / Flow wheels from them for £250 a while ago because they where a mis-order 🙂
If I got wheels there then I’d likely order my frame from 18 as well

Or I could get them to rebuild my DT Swiss 240 hubs onto new rims….

The Hopes are lighter nowadays

I’ll be ordering some Flow EX on new Orange Pro 4’s shortly.

Is this of interest? I’ve had them in 26″ form for a couple of years and they’re bomb proof so went with the 650b version for my new frame. Seems a good price to me.
http://www.mantel.com/uk/hope-hoops-pro-2-evo-arch-ex?spec%5B%5D=3277&gclid=CJy1_t7Kk8oCFWgOwwodm8MGmQ

Ooh cheers Richard
Never herd of mantel though, who are they?

I think they’re Spanish. Apparently they’re like the “new” bike discount.de! I ordered my set on 30/12 and they arrived today. Not bad given it’s been new year.

Edit…. They’re clearly not Spanish!

Had 2 sets of LBs built up by 18 Bikes and two sets of SS carbons respoked by them. They did a first class job on all of them.

Other rims are available… DT and WTB have better options than Hope and Stans these days. Though, maybe not in a full build if you’re buying off the peg.

Tracey, I really rate 18 Bikes, Matt does a sterling Job on the wheels, He doesnt rush and the quality comes through in the finished article.

We’ve had now problems with The Tech Enduro rims and they were abused for 12 months. I’d happily run them on a DH bike as well as my trail bike.

Tom Kp

I thought Hope Hoops (their factory built wheels) were all the same price irrespective of rim choice (mavic, stan’s or their own)?

I really regret buying my Hope Tech Enduro wheels. I wish I’d stuck to Flow EXs. The Hope rims are not very strong, too narrow and not particularly light. I would go as far as to say I hate them and I’ll be taking them off soon.

Are DT rims still made of cheese Northwind?
Previous experiences have soured me im afraid

got both: not much in performance, but the hope rims are eyeletted.

get the hope rims

Do Hope actually make the rims? I thought they were rebranded DT’s.

Not sure why and prepared to be corrected.

iain1775 – Member

Are DT rims still made of cheese Northwind?

Apparently not, they’re getting great reviews. Agree though that they used to be soft as shite, my 5.1s were terrible.

I’ll be going with the WTBs myself- I had a Frequency i25 before and it was strong like ox, way tougher than the Flow Ex it replaced. Wee bit heavier but they do different widths, plus their KOM which is the same profile and much lighter.

I’ve got i23s on my 29er, I’ve been impressed with them. I’ll be sticking with WTBs for a bit.

Are DT rims still made of cheese Northwind?
Previous experiences have soured me im afraid

The DT rims on my Spline Two wheels seem really good so far. They’re on of the few rims I’ve not dinged yet. My previous Race Face and Easton rims were both dinged quickly on rocks (both still worked tubeless afterwards fine though).

I’ve always seen Stans rims as pretty soft too compared to Mavic. My mates experience of them backs this up too.

iain how about getting your 240s built onto some EX471 rims? They’re solid as demonstrated by Aaron Gwin at Leogang

I’ve just had some EX471’s built up on my Hope hubs – switching from Flow Ex’s. Must say I’m really impressed. Excellent quality, good finish, lighter than the Flow’s and have built up into a really strong wheel!

wilko1999 – Member

They’re solid as demonstrated by Aaron Gwin at Leogang

Well, they’re strong, inasmuch as they didn’t break outright… But they were also wrecked pretty much instantly so from a punter’s point of view I’m not sure it tells us anything useful. If you plan to ride out race runs on the rim then throw it in the bin after it’s a recommendation.

That’s not a criticism either btw, they look pretty damn good

I’ve not tried the Hope rims, and the only Stans I have have been Arch and Crests, not Flows, so can;t offer an opinion on those specific models but the WTB stuff has been impressing me recently, very good profile, seem strong so far, weights are competitive if not the lightest, and they’re not outrageously expensive either.

I’ve suffered at the hands of the soft DT rims* in the past so haven’t tried any of the new ones but all reports seem to be good so hopefully they’ve made some changes.

* The nice thing about them was they saved a few tyres/tubes as the rim absorbed a lot of the impact, and they bend back easily, but they did end up looking like a golf ball by the end of it.

Fair comment Northwind. The fact that he was even running them for WC DH in the first place is a pretty good advertisement for them. I’m running them on 350s currently and I’m very impressed with their stiffness and build quality. Set up tubeless dead easy too.

DT Rims are way better than before. You cant go wrong with any of the XM or EX rims, and the M442 and E512 are the best value rims out there right now.

I have Flow EX rims on my Chromag, no complaints.

Very easy to set up tubeless too, I think I read (when I was making this decision too) that the Hopes were a bit fiddly to set up tubeless.

EX471 here. Very impressed so far. Nice finish, easy tubeless, tough.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned above, but the Tech Enduro are more of a Stans arch market and a more direct comparison would be the Flow V the Tech DH rims.

EX471’s here and I’m really pleased with them.

Never herd of mantel though, who are they?

Domain seems to be registered in the Netherlands… https://who.is/whois/mantel.com

From someone who killed a trace enduro in 2 rides, I can vouch for the 471’s being plenty strong. Best rim I’ve ever had.

WTB i25’s on mine for the last year, still straight, dent and ding free and about the same weight/width as flow EXs but half the price. wouldn’t go back to Stans as they are very easy to dent/flatspot.