Which new 29er rims?

After building a new set of 29er wheels for my Evil Following. Trying to decide on which rims. I’d like to go wide if i can but want to make sure the wheels don’t end up weighing to much. Thinking either:

DT XM 481
Easton ARC
New Stans Flow or Arch MK3

What do people think? – not sure i can afford carbon

Leaning more to the DTs

The XM481’s are a bit too light for their width if that makes sense, not at all tough, the XM471 is tougher.

ARC’s are good, not as tough as a Flow EX probably but wider and a tad lighter. Arch EX too narrow for a bike like the Following…

If you want a good deal on a pair of unused ARC30’s my email is in my profile. Bought them for my Wreckoning but never ended up using them…

flow ex. wanna buy a 1 month old pair? or a pair of wheels, flow ex on xt hubs?

The xm481s weight about the same as the Flows and the ARC 30mm.

Yeti are speccing them on the new sb 29er

I really like my WTB Asym 30s, not that light but very strong and asymmetric shape means the wheel doesn’t need dishing, making it a bit stronger.

Just going on what I’ve heard from those that have destroyed them Oli…

The XM481’s are a bit too light for their width if that makes sense

No it doesn’t make sense.
A mate of mine that has cracked 3 Enve rims is running them and they’ve been trouble free for a lot longer than any of his Enve’s.
I also have a pair of them but so far they’ve only done a few local rides and an uplift day at Inners. Again trouble free.

Sounds promising singlespeed. I’m not a heavy rider and dont thrash my wheels. DTs seem to have a good pedigree of late

Where did you get your built up? – what sort of weight did they come in at?

Ton – are the flows the MK3s as that’s what i would be after

Built by Mark at Overspoke, Bewdley.
No idea of weight, it’s no something I give a huge amount of thought to.

How are you finding them in terms of stiffness?

Stiffer than the Flow Ex’s on another bike and not quite as stiff my carbon LB 35mm on something else.

Sound good

No it doesn’t make sense

Well it does to anybody else… But as per usual, you’re just angling for an argument!

A mate of mine that has cracked 3 Enve rims is running them and they’ve been trouble free for a lot longer than any of his Enve’s.

Based upon your sampling methods, the DT XM481 is conclusively much stronger than an ENVE rim. So how do ENVE charge 10x as much per rim as DT?

Brexit has been and gone Stu… We’ve moved on from spin doctors and lying with made up facts. Fair enough your own experience with the XM481’s may be positive, there’s bound to be others that say the same, I know a few people that have had them and they’ve not been as strong as they were hoping and they’ve since moved onto other rims.

Depends on what you ride, I have XM 481’s and have had for about a year, I’m a very (Very!) Heavy rider and reasonably aggressive but down south where I am it’s mostly roots and woodsy stuff, you don’t see many sharp edged rocks so the rim doesn’t get such a battering.

If I lived in the Peaks or Scotland I’d probably edge towards the EX471’s which are narrower and about the same weight but have more meat in the side walls so are going to handle rock strikes better.

So yeah, the XM481’s are plenty strong, they’re just not as resistant to rock strikes as the EX471 so which one you should get largely depends on where you ride and how gung ho you are.

That’s be why one is designated a ‘trail’ rim by DT and the other is an ‘enduro’ rim.

[quoteBased upon your sampling methods, the DT XM481 is conclusively much stronger than an ENVE rim. So how do ENVE charge 10x as much per rim as DT?[/quote]

Brand position on the market, marketing, customer perception ,etc. Usual stuff really 🙂

The new Arch’s at 26mm look spot on. I wouldn’t buy into the hype of wider is better. Mid 20’s is about the sweet spot IME (having used silly wide rims, I can conclude they make sod all difference on an MTB being raced for Enduro & DH).

But as per usual, you’re just angling for an argument!

Am I?
I was just answering the OP’s question with my experiences of them.
🙄
That’s how forums work.
They’re not for you to spout your opinion like it’s the only way.
Opinions are like ass holes. Everyone has one but there’s no need to get it out in public.

WTB asym i35 or i29. Ive got the i35’s built on hopes for the enduro and they are fantastic. Im building up a second set of i29’s for my smuggler as really impressed with them. Being asymmetric is also an added bonus. Good value too.

Yes. Thought about the stans arches MK3s but wondered if they would be stiff enough for a 29er wheel and also i guess thought 30mm as opposed to 26mm would be good to try

Of the three you spec, its got to be the DTs for me. They are an excellent rim. Great strength & ding resistance for their weight. Not to say the Stans wont be as good, but I know the DTs are excelllent, the stans is an unknown, and the Mk2 didn’t inspire me with confidence on that front.

What about Spank ? I’ve never had a pair but thinking about some – partly due to the excellent customer service I’ve had dealing with them ..

How do you calculate spoke length for the asyms?

Use a spoke calc that can handle it, or adjust the flange distances. Something like wheelpro’s spoke calc will do asym, other wise adjust the flange distances to suit, eg if its a +3 sym then add 3mm to the smaller of the two flange distances, and remove 3mm from the larger.

so. Dt xm481s or WTB asymmetrics seem to be the recommendation – which one to go for?

Wheelpro spoke calc has provision for asym rims

Thanks guys

It probably comes down to budget @olibluecoat – the DT is a fair bit more spendy than the WTB. I would have no hesitation recommending either, although I haven’t used WTB Asym rims, WTB hasn’t let me down to date, they make good rims, so its probably a good choice. Also a factor is weight, the XM481 weighing a fair bit less than the WTB. The finish and quality of the DT is pretty much unrivalled (even down to the thickness of the anodising which will keep them looking good for a long time) and the XM481 has an EWS pedigree thats probably unmatched too, so you can’t go wrong in many ways, but you’ll need to build it with PHR nipples ideally, which limits the build options a bit, so that might count against it, but you ride an Evil following, so budget is probably not the biggest consideration so finding a wheelsmith with the right nipples is probably easy enough 😉

Its probably also worth a mention that while I like asymmetric rims in principle, from an engineering perspective they make sense, I have never personally found they really offer a massive benefit over non-asym rims. A well built standard rim will last as long as an asym rim IMHO as the thing that destroys them is not them wandering out of dish, its dents and damage.

Just bought Velocity Blunt SS – 26.6mm internal width, 425grams.
Will have them laced this weekend, so can’t comment if they were worth the hassle…

Cheers benpinnick

Think i’m going to go with the DTs

but you’ll need to build it with PHR nipples ideally,

If you buy proper aftermarket DT PHR system rims they come with the PHR nipples (2mm thread) and washers in the box. Which is handy as they are totally designed around them and really should not be built with standard nipples.

Only practical limitation is that you can’t use 1.8 mm thread spokes (i.e. Super Comps).

Oh, and if you don’t like alloy nipple you’ll have to get brass ones seperately. DT do buider packs of them.

Currently considering the XM481s myself. Although I can’t help but think that the EX471 would be the better choice (90kg rider). I’ve also historically always had Stans rims (Arch EX and Flow EX) and never had a problem.

The new bike came with DT Swiss 350 Boost/XM401 wheels. To be honest I had concerns regarding the rims but they’ve held up well in performance and appearance after some rocky Lakes and Peak rides. They’re reasonably light too.

Unfortunately I had a massive rock strike at the weekend which dented the rim wall and bed. The impact resulted in a flat too as it unseated the rim tape. Although I’ve bent the rim back into shape and re-taped it’s looking worse for wear (looks slightly buckled).

So, XM481s, EX471, Arch Mk3, Flow Mk3, Arc 27 or LB 35mm??

Quite like the though of running a light ‘n’ wide Arch Mk3 but very tempted by the wider XM481s. Although seeing as I’ve totalled a similar rim should I opt for the EX471s? Ot just go left field and order Light Bicycle 35mm rims for strength and weight?

WTB Scraper?

benpinnick – Member
It probably comes down to budget @olibluecoat – the DT is a fair bit more spendy than the WTB. I would have no hesitation recommending either, although I haven’t used WTB Asym rims, WTB hasn’t let me down to date, they make good rims, so its probably a good choice. Also a factor is weight, the XM481 weighing a fair bit less than the WTB. The finish and quality of the DT is pretty much unrivalled (even down to the thickness of the anodising which will keep them looking good for a long time) and the XM481 has an EWS pedigree thats probably unmatched too, so you can’t go wrong in many ways, but you’ll need to build it with PHR nipples ideally, which limits the build options a bit, so that might count against it, but you ride an Evil following, so budget is probably not the biggest consideration so finding a wheelsmith with the right nipples is probably easy enough

DT rims come with the nipples & washers included

What about Spank ? I’ve never had a pair but thinking about some – partly due to the excellent customer service

Just put a pair of Spank Oozy 295s on my Hammerhead Thumper and I am very impressed. The 28H version are on CRC currently for £360. I worried about some negative customer comments and was left perplexed that every online review was raving about them, but they are a product that truly do defy Bontrager’s famous quote. They’re the closest I think you can get to carbon at a stupidly low price. Nice and wide, very stiff, top quality, very easy tubeless and 1890g the pair. Seriously, do not overlook these wheels because you’re not sure about the brand, strength or quality. I’ve ridden them pretty hard since getting them and they have stayed perfectly true. IMO they wee all over the Hope Enduros I’ve swapped them out for.

Oh, to echo the quote above, I emailed their general site enquirer form about my initial concerns and their global sales manager sent me a great reply with exploded hub diagrams and a service guide, ccing Hotlines’ UK service manager. They came with a card detailing the spoke tensions and name of the factory employee that built them.

I emailed Spank USA and they got back within hours! I’ll be getting more Spank products in the future – very tempted to build up some rims ..

mboy – Member

ARC’s are good, not as tough as a Flow EX probably

Rules that out, Flow Ex is as soft as shite. Was a good option in its day, no more. Haven’t tried the mk3 though.

For me it’d be DT or WTB- Kom for light, frequency for tough. I was blown away by my freqency i25, it was barely heavier than the flow ex it replaced but miles tougher. With the DTs I’d be a bit conflicted as I like the extra volume of wide rims but it’s really not a big difference.

I had the previous generation Spank Oozy trail 29 rims which I think were 26mm width, (been replaced with the 295s). Used them on my stumpjumper FSR all over the country, BPW, trip to the Alps etc, apart from the odd bearing they never needed anything. As above the wheelset is really light and tough and look great. I also have a set of Arch EX rims and the finish on the Spank rims is way better.