Usually I’d say dt ex511 as many above have. However I did manage to flat spot one on my ebike.
The hub failed on that wheel shortly afterwards and I was given a hope Fortus 30 on hope pro 4 as a replacement (all theu had in stock).

And, to be fair I’ve been impressed. The Fortus 30 seems tougher. Still straight as a die after several months, and I am hard on wheels

(My hunt trailwide ARE v2… eek..)

DrP

Other Hunt threads on here suggested that even the newer versions still retain some of that cheesy goodness.

This reviewer put a chunky dent in one actually:
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/components/wheels/wheel-sets/hunt-enduro-wide-v2-wheelset-review/

el_boufador

The Fortus 30 seems tougher

Yeah – it’s a full-on DH rim and weighs 720g (!) in 29er compared to 570g for the EX 511

Well, this has escalated a bit. Bird have their Forge in stock, forks, wheels and all… Help!

Came so close to buying a Forge, had it all configured but puzzlement over what to do with all the parts on my old hardtail, how to deal with the different freehub standards and a bit of BB height concern just stopped me…

Once I’m no longer host to many sores and blisters and ulcers (how can one throat contain so many?!!) I shall pop into my LBS and have a wheel chat…

The Forge is lovely, I have a Zero29 on order. Ex511 rear and XM481 front. My last rear 481 was short lived 😎

“The Forge is lovely”

Don’t tell me that now! 😉 I’d just got to the point of concluding that the ~10mm higher BB and adjustable chainstays of the Moxie had won the new hardtail race!

adjustable chainstays of the Moxie

I considered the Moxie before buying a Squatch but owner feedback suggested to me that short chain stay = skinny tyre and if you wanted a wider tyre your choice of chain stay length was more on the long or longer scale.  May not be an issue for you but at 5’8” I gave it a swerve

I think there’s more clearance than on the older Moxies – but also that’s because the chainstays are longer! I’ve got 420mm chainstays on my hardtail and 455mn chainstays on my Levo and I prefer the latter’s balance etc most of the time – I’ve got pretty long legs and arms so I’m not short of leverage.

If my chainstay length hypothesis is right then I’d be expecting to run short chainstays when the local trails are grippy and long ones when they’re loose/slippery, and long if going anywhere more open and fast.

Just asked my LBS to price up some EX511 on Pro 4 with 32 spokes. Should be bombproof!

I think Moonglu are £520 for them now, if that helps as a reference.

Thanks!

I’ve just put my Pro 4 / EX511 back on the FS beast. Looked at them closely in doing so and they are both as straight as a pin and no wobbles or flat spots in the two years they were on the bike.

120+ KG over all sorts of terrain, mainly trail centres and rocky peak district / North Wales rides suggests they are very strong and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed @chiefgrooveguru

Mine were originally from Moonglu and they cost £500 2+ years ago, so £520 nowadays is a great price imho.

Having said that, I am sure the XM481 / DT240 combo that I took off the Ripmo after basically one ride would also have been perfect. For some daft reason I have got it in my head that I need the EX511, and because of this psychological rubbish I’ve now sold them. Having ridden both, I’m not sure the DT full build is worth £200+ more than the Hope hubs, unless you are really chasing weight saving.

I’ve also found that I am now partial to the Hope hub sound, which is a strange thing – but again a warm nice thing to go back to. 😉

Moonglu build a damn fine wheel.

Its costing me roughly £450 to build up a set of Hope Hubs, Sapim Race, DT EX471 wheels at the moment, without labour. Add a bit more for brass nipples (the rims come with alloy squorx and PWR washers).

Built up a rear wheel for the ebike, Hope Pro4, EX471, Sapim Race Spokes (would of like to have used Sapim Strong or DT Alpine III’s, but because bike industry/covid). Should be bombproof compared to the chocolate wheels that scott fitted.

I’m curious I run a flow mk3 rear and have flat spotted and knocked it out of true a bit. Is a ex511 condsidered tougher? Cheers

With the Flow rims, my understanding was that the Flow EX was tougher than the newer Mk3, hence there’s now an EX3 for greater toughness in a 30mm width. So an EX511 should be tougher than the Mk3 as by all accounts it’s one of the strongest alloy rims around.

Yeah, the Stans are not especially strong- definitely easier to dent/less hard than DT and a bit cracky to boot. They hold up against normal use pretty well mind, just that they bend easily

(there’s different sorts of tough, like, the original Flow was very denty, but overall reasonably sturdy, I’ve still got a gen 1 on the front of the DH bike which is basically one massive dent. The Flow Ex was less easy to dent, but much easier to actually destroy.)

I run a flow mk3 rear and have flat spotted and knocked it out of true a bit. Is a ex511 condsidered tougher?

Waaay tougher.

The Flow EX3 seemed promising but I bought a pair of wheels with them and it was so tight getting the tyres on (they had extremely shallow rim beds) that I sold them out of frustration. Lucky I’d got them in a 50% off sale.

For me I’ve found that I can run pretty light front wheels but for the rear I need to almost ‘overbuild’ – especially based on only 80kg and not a jumper in any way.

I reckon it’s because I ride almost exclusively in the Tweed Valley, with the odd trip to even rockier places, and run a relatively short travel (Cotic FlareMax) bike, but, ride with folk on 160/170 bikes.

Latest rear is a Hunt Enduro – seems bombproof and only really 150g penalty.

chakaping

it was so tight getting the tyres on

That’s a Stan’s feature. WTB tyres in particular are pretty much impossible for Stan’s, WTB make their tyres tight, and Stan’s make their rims big

Got them! Also have new bigger discs (the other ones have some life left in them but not loads, so they can go on the new hardtail) – they’re the new 2.3mm thick Hope ebike/DH rotors, 220mm front and 200mm rear. Fresh chainring, chain and cassette too. And fresh tyres!