MTB wheels - What rims?

[Garett]

I've decided that I want Hope Evo 2 hubs but I can't make my mind up about what rims to lace them to.
Its for a Spesh Hardrock, I ride a bit of everything, Pennine BW, The Peaks, Lee quarry, Gisburn, north Wales.

I've been looking at;
Mavic xc717 (a bit narrow but nice and light)
Notubes Crest (seems to be the 'go to' rim ideal width)
No tubes Flow (as above but a bit tougher)
WTB i19(doesn't seem to be many users in the UK, more in the USA but similar to the Crest)
All manner of DT swiss

I will be running tubes.

I'm sure any of the above would do but my own indecision is boring me now! Would someone please advise me as to what might suit me the best?

[Jimbo.]

XM719. All the rim you'll ever need.

[Smartboy]

I've got a pair of XM719's on pro evo 2's (using tubes) and have been faultless on my bike for about 6 months during which I've done around 1,750 off-road miles, mainly on trail centres in Wales.

[Garett]

Any idea what sort of weight the wheels are built up with the hopes?

[anonymous-user]

I have Hope Hubs on Mavic EN521 rims, just popping out but give me an hour or so and I will weigh them for you.

[Vladimir]

Hope Pro2s on 717s for me; faultless apart from replacing rear hub internals once.

I'm fairly light though (11stone) and don't jump much.

[Garett]

A lot of Mavic love going on here! The EN521 are quite a heavy rim, quite robust though. The xc717 is quite light but I think it might be a touch narrow for me, I have a conti RQ on the front and although its labelled as a 2.2 its a big 2.2!

[Vladimir]

2.1s on my 717s (Nobby Nics); plenty big enough for 2.2s I reckon.

[anonymous-user]

Wheel weights as promised!

EN521 on Hope Pro 2 with ACI db ss spokes
Front (with 180mm rotor) - 2.42 lbs/1.1 kgs
Rear (with 9mm q/r, 160mm rotor and XT 10 speed cassette) - 3.59 lbs/1.63 kgs

Personally for a set of wheels which are fitted to a burly hardtail and likely to take a few knocks, drops and less than elegant landings, I'm pretty happy with that.

[Garett]

Thanks for that, that seems quite heavy from what I've been reading but then you do have the discs and cassette still attached. I think hope hubs with crests are quoted around 1650g but thats bare. Crests are about 180g per rim lighter than the en521.

[R.P.M]

Crests every single day of the week.

[ditchvisitor]

Crests are great, can run them tubeless on seconds, they are light and really strong, run them on my XC bike and Flows on my freeride, great rims.

[Garett]

Are crests as much of a pain in the arse to fit tyres to as a lot of people seem to think, or are they just doing it wrong? !
They certainly seem to be very popular, I'm guessing a lot of that is to do with their weight?

[NCC]

I know it's not the exact rims you've mentioned but I've been running Stans ARCHs on Pro2's for years and swear by them. If the Crests are anywhere near as good you won't go far wrong.

[Garett]

I went to a LBS and they were singing the praises of Nukeproof. The Generator TR wheels looks pretty good but at almost 2kg they seem a bit heavy for what I want to ride.
So I think I've decided on the Stans Arch EX. They seem a good compromise of strength/weight but the only thing putting me off is tyres being a pain in the arse to get on. I wont be going tubeless so wont need UST tyres so from what I understand normal tyeez are easier to get on the rim. Can anyone advise?

[NCC]

Never used UST tyres on my ARCH's but TLR go on dead easy and boggo-standard, not even a little bit tubeless, are equally fine. In fact, I used to run non-tubeless tyres, tubeless on these rims with no problems at all. Great rims.

[ditchvisitor]

Garett said:

Are crests as much of a pain in the arse to fit tyres to as a lot of people seem to think, or are they just doing it wrong? !
They certainly seem to be very popular, I'm guessing a lot of that is to do with their weight?

The new Crests are all the good bits of the arch added to the old crest, they are really easy to put tyres on, I'm running racing Ralph's and they weren't an issue at all, lots of scare mongering on 'tinterweb but its not a reality!!

[Garett]

Hmm thought as much. Probably just the ineptitude of the general public. Thanks.

[village idiot]

i've got wheels with 717's, crests, 355's, and arch ex's.

for what you describe, i would suggest arch ex's... they are more robust than crests, but not as heavy as flows.... the perfect middle-ground. i find the 717's are a bit narrow for anything other than narrow xc tyres (2.10" max)

i weigh about 90kgs in my birthday suit and used to ride afan with crests and they held up, but i was always conscious i was a bit outside the weight bracket. the arch ex's offer me the confidence to rattle down anything within reason.

i've never had a problem seating tyres with crests... i always use schwalbe evo pacestars running tubeless, but i don't both with the tubeless specific variants... never had a problem and am yet to get a puncture despite running low pressures (the joy of running tubeless... no pinch flats!)

hope pro 2 evos are also great hubs, if not a little heavy... so easy to get spares, no matter how small (useful when you brake a pawl spring or lose the freehub spacer). i also have a set of wheels with pro 3's, but these are pretty lightweight.

last but not least, if you go with traditional spokes rather than straight pull, you will make life easier for yourself should you break a spoke and need to get a spare.

ideal spec would be:-

arch ex rims
hope pro 2 evo hubs (traditional pull)
brass nipples
dt comp spokes
stans tubeless valves and yellow rim tape

i would look at merlin or jra (just riding along) if you want to go custom in terms of spec or colour. if not, and you opt for a regular hope hoops build, shop about on the web as you can occasionally save £50 on a wheelset if you hunt about enough.

also consider second hand... i've recently bought a pair of crest (black) on hope pro 2 evo (black) complete with £100 of nearly new continental black chilli rubber queen tyres. i paid £200 delivered for them. they run true and the bearings are spot on. they only required a replacement pawl spring (£2.50 for a full set!).... +/-£200 is the going rate second hand.

hope this helps.

Edited by village idiot on Wednesday 10th April 22:37

Edited by village idiot on Wednesday 10th April 22:38

[Mr E]

Garett said:

I went to a LBS and they were singing the praises of Nukeproof.

I run nukeproof rims on hope hubs for a steel hardtail, and I'm a clumsy rider. I have been unable to break them thus far.