Carbon mtb wheels (1 Viewer)

[coleAK]

I got a new mtb this summer, stump jumper EVO expert. Anyway just over 500 miles on it in the last ~2 months and I’m looking to make a few changes.

Change #1 will be going to carbon wheels. For trail/enduro bikes I’m a big advocate of aluminum frames and carbon wheels.

In my last bike (Kona process 134, I still use it as a DJ bike) I went with light bicycle (LB) EN732 Rims on DT240’s. My son has the same wheel set on his trance X, my wife runs LB AM730 with DT350’s on her trance, my daughter has Reynolds black (she got a sponsor deal) label pros (with DT240’s as she HATED the i9 hydras). So I’m sold on the benefits of carbon.

I rode my buddies bike with crank brothers synthesis and the feel was amazing, but they only come with hydras…. Which I also hate. I also rode a set of Zipp 3moto that I also liked but wasn’t sure of their hubs in a high end wheel.

Which lead me to we are one or noble. Both are a “more compliant” design like the crank brothers or ZIPP and I can build them out with 240’s (or hope 5’s). The nobles are ~600 cheaper then the WAO, but I can get a set of light bike with 240’s for the same price as noble with hope or one up.

Anyone riding any of the wheels mentioned? Other thoughts on carbon options?

 

[ravewoofer]

Sorry, I don't have or used those brands, but I do ride some carbon Reynolds rim on my Pivot Mach429 Trail. I would never go back to aluminum rims again! I'm on my 7th season riding this Pivot and the wheelset is original. I had some reservations at first (mainly due to retail replacement cost of the set- $2500), but man oh man, I'm glad I got the carbon wheelset.
I have never ever had more than a few years on aluminum rims. In fact, I would buy nice hubs and build a wheel set around the hubs, knowing that I can reuse the hubs on the next wheel set.

These carbon Reynolds have never let me down! Seven years hard riding New England's rocks and roots, no problem. Still straight and no cracks, splits, etc.

At this point, if a rim went bust, I would definitely replace with Carbon, and no doubt, Reynolds. Who gets seven years out of a wheelset? I never did, until I bought a bike with Reynolds carbon rims!

 

[OGBeno]

If you want some handmade, US wheels look into Astral’s carbon MTB/Enduro wheels…

Serpentine Carbon X

Premium Bicycle wheels and rims for road, mountain, and adventure riding. Alloy and carbon options that can be customized to your needs.

astralcycling.com

 

[1FZj80]

The DT240 are great. I built a set with Enve rims for my MTB and love them. Super light.
You might want to look at Carbon Ti hubs. They are made from 7075 aluminum (like DTS) which makes them super light and amazingly strong. I am currently building a road set with Carbon Ti hubs, Enve rims and Dyneema spokes. The front weighs a crazy light 465gr and the front hub cost $99. The rear hub cost $350 but is equivalent to a DT180 and has a 56T ratchet.

 

[coleAK]

If you want some handmade, US wheels look into Astral’s carbon MTB/Enduro wheels…

Serpentine Carbon X

Premium Bicycle wheels and rims for road, mountain, and adventure riding. Alloy and carbon options that can be customized to your needs.

astralcycling.com

Thanks I hade no idea they you could still buy US made carbon anything.

 

[coleAK]

Sorry, I don't have or used those brands, but I do ride some carbon Reynolds rim on my Pivot Mach429 Trail. I would never go back to aluminum rims again! I'm on my 7th season riding this Pivot and the wheelset is original. I had some reservations at first (mainly due to retail replacement cost of the set- $2500), but man oh man, I'm glad I got the carbon wheelset.
I have never ever had more than a few years on aluminum rims. In fact, I would buy nice hubs and build a wheel set around the hubs, knowing that I can reuse the hubs on the next wheel set.

These carbon Reynolds have never let me down! Seven years hard riding New England's rocks and roots, no problem. Still straight and no cracks, splits, etc.

At this point, if a rim went bust, I would definitely replace with Carbon, and no doubt, Reynolds. Who gets seven years out of a wheelset? I never did, until I bought a bike with Reynolds carbon rims!

My daughter races endouro and ultra distance. She has >3k miles on her Reynolds carbon wheels over the last 4 summers, no issues at all, they haven’t even needed trued or any spokes tightened. I’d get a set if the i9 hydra wasn’t the only hub option, I just can’t handle the loud buzz and feel the engagement is too fast for a longer travel FS bike

 

[1FZj80]

Enve is USA made.
And Berd spokes too...

 

[coleAK]

Enve is USA made.
And Berd spokes too...

I was somewhat considering Berd spokes, cool product but I’ve always had a strong opinion mountain bikes (except for if you are a pro XC racer) should never be weighted, and $500 or so for spokes….

 

[jembourbe]

My daughter races endouro and ultra distance. She has >3k miles on her Reynolds carbon wheels over the last 4 summers, no issues at all, they haven’t even needed trued or any spokes tightened. I’d get a set if the i9 hydra wasn’t the only hub option, I just can’t handle the loud buzz and feel the engagement is too fast for a longer travel FS bike

I built 2 mtb xc wheel sets on the cheapest AliExpress chineseium carbon rims I could find. One set has DT350 hubs & DT Competition straight gauge (2.0) spokes (28 hole). The other has Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs and DT Revolution (2.0/1.5/2.0) spokes (32). Both sets 3-cross, properly tensioned, etc. etc.

I built the Hopes in 2014(!). It was an experiment to see how those Revolutions would hold up to dirt. They are super lightweight. Like your daughter, I've never even had to true them. I replaced bearings twice though. Probably have 12,000 miles of hard trail on them. I'm not heavy, but I ride heavy.

I built the 350s in 2023 and have 1000 miles on them. No problems ...

I guess my point is that the rims themselves make very little difference. For that matter, I don't think the hubs make much of a difference either,* other than engagement point preferences. What you want in a wheel is a good build: proper tension, good dish, round, and true. I think that paying for a premium wheelset should get you these things -- especially if it's built by a machine or by a really really good builder -- although it's no guarantee. On the other hand, you don't have to. A well-built budget wheelset absolutely will stand up to a premium set of hoops in terms of quality. (... if you consider the $700 range "budget").

* Sometime in the next 6 months or so I'm going to put this to the ultimate test and build some carbon xc rims on some Koozers or whatever I can buy for $50-60 for the pair. Probably will have to swap-in some decent bearings tho...

 

[coleAK]

I built 2 mtb xc wheel sets on the cheapest AliExpress chineseium carbon rims I could find. One set has DT350 hubs & DT Competition straight gauge (2.0) spokes (28 hole). The other has Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs and DT Revolution (2.0/1.5/2.0) spokes (32). Both sets 3-cross, properly tensioned, etc. etc.

I built the Hopes in 2014(!). It was an experiment to see how those Revolutions would hold up to dirt. They are super lightweight. Like your daughter, I've never even had to true them. I replaced bearings twice though. Probably have 12,000 miles of hard trail on them. I'm not heavy, but I ride heavy.

I built the 350s in 2023 and have 1000 miles on them. No problems ...

I guess my point is that the rims themselves make very little difference. For that matter, I don't think the hubs make much of a difference either,* other than engagement point preferences. What you want in a wheel is a good build: proper tension, good dish, round, and true. I think that paying for a premium wheelset should get you these things -- especially if it's built by a machine or by a really really good builder -- although it's no guarantee. On the other hand, you don't have to. A well-built budget wheelset absolutely will stand up to a premium set of hoops in terms of quality. (... if you consider the $700 range "budget").

* Sometime in the next 6 months or so I'm going to put this to the ultimate test and build some carbon xc rims on some Koozers or whatever I can buy for $50-60 for the pair. Probably will have to swap-in some decent bearings tho...

That was a similar process I went through with the light bicycle wheels I built for my kona and my wife and son that I built winter of 2017/18. Including shipping from China all three sets of 27.5 rims from LB were ~$400. The LB built up wheels have been flawless.

The only reason I’m considering other options is LB (who apparently is the largest contractor of carbon rims, they make reserve, roval, noble,…) have considerably come up
In price.

I don’t think I’ll have time to build wheels this winter so I’m probably going with a pre built set from Noble, as compared to LB they are ~$1100 vs $975 with with Hope hubs, hand built in BC vs china, and lifetime rim warranty vs 5 years. Both rims are make by LB which I’ve been completely happy with.

 

[coleAK]

Well Nobl did a deal on Black Friday. I got a great deal on a set of TR37 with Hope pro 5 hubs. They just arrived, I’ll update all when the first trails open up my way some time in May…

 

[jembourbe]

Well Nobl did a deal on Black Friday. I got a great deal on a set of TR37 with Hope pro 5 hubs. They just arrived, I’ll update all when the first trails open up my way some time in May…

View attachment 3799095

Looking forward to the Nobl review.

Sry to hijack (but you did ask for comment lol), but I built those ultra budget wheels I talked about in my post from September. I have some revisions to what I posted earlier.

First, the rims do make a difference -- at least insofar as aluminum versus carbon. I built these cheapies initially with aluminum rims. The increased rotational weight of the aluminum rims is devastating to acceleration. I mean like, "Mother****er!" I have removed those rims, thrown them in the recycling bin, and rebuilt with Light Bicycle rims and DT Revolution spokes.

As for the pocket-change Koozer hubs: I feel like an idiot for ever having paid for Chris Kings, i-9s, Hopes (not really expensive), 240s or even DT350s (also not that $$$). The Koozer use standard bearing sizes, so I'm not worried about bearing life: 10 minutes on the workbench and they can be rolling on Koyos. (Ceramic bearings make sense only if the balls AND races are ceramic. Otherwise, the ceramic wears the other surfaces super fast. I guess they'd also make sense if you are a factory sponsored pro with a mechanic who replaces them every 500 miles.)

I think DT240s (and 180s maybe, but I've never owned any) might make a noticeable weight difference. But maybe not, since the weight savings isn't rotational. From a functionality standpoint, I don't think I could tell one hub from another if I were looking ahead and wearing ear protection. (I agree with the Alaskan that near-instant engagement, while the feature of massive amounts of marketing, can be flat out annoying).

Merry Christmas bike lovers!

 

[coleAK]

Looking forward to the Nobl review.

Sry to hijack (but you did ask for comment lol), but I built those ultra budget wheels I talked about in my post from September. I have some revisions to what I posted earlier.

First, the rims do make a difference -- at least insofar as aluminum versus carbon. I built these cheapies initially with aluminum rims. The increased rotational weight of the aluminum rims is devastating to acceleration. I mean like, "Mother****er!" I have removed those rims, thrown them in the recycling bin, and rebuilt with Light Bicycle rims and DT Revolution spokes.

As for the pocket-change Koozer hubs: I feel like an idiot for ever having paid for Chris Kings, i-9s, Hopes (not really expensive), 240s or even DT350s (also not that $$$). The Koozer use standard bearing sizes, so I'm not worried about bearing life: 10 minutes on the workbench and they can be rolling on Koyos. (Ceramic bearings make sense only if the balls AND races are ceramic. Otherwise, the ceramic wears the other surfaces super fast. I guess they'd also make sense if you are a factory sponsored pro with a mechanic who replaces them every 500 miles.)

I think DT240s (and 180s maybe, but I've never owned any) might make a noticeable weight difference. But maybe not, since the weight savings isn't rotational. From a functionality standpoint, I don't think I could tell one hub from another if I were looking ahead and wearing ear protection. (I agree with the Alaskan that near-instant engagement, while the feature of massive amounts of marketing, can be flat out annoying).

Merry Christmas bike lovers!

I’m a firm believer that for full suspension MTBs carbon wheels are massively superior to aluminum and Carbon vs aluminum frames are a wash.

My cheep Chinese rims I have on my Kona (and my son’s trance X and wife’s trance) made a huge difference. The rotational mass difference is very noticeable. I’m also with you on hubs when it comes to MTB. I have said for a while you can’t really noticeably beat DT350s. I’ve had Chris king, DT 240s, Phil wood, i9, and a bunch of Shimano XT/XTR,…. The only reason I went with Hope pro is they were on a deal and $150 less then DT 350. Good to know about the Koozer.

I’m also of the firm believer unless you are a World Cup XC racer you shouldn’t weight mountain bikes. Keep the gram counting to the roadies.

 

[jembourbe]

Yeah, I do like made USA/Barnoldswick UK on principle and will when it makes sense

 

[jlm43]

Little late to the party but thought I’d chime in.
I’ve had 6 sets of rims (6 frames as well) from various generic Chinese carbon vendors with zero issues. My original wheelset was Nextie rims built on Hope Pro2 hubs back in 2013-ish which are now on a buddy’s 650b gravel bike. Nextie’s eBay listings have some killer pricing.

Most of my bikes have Hope or DT 350’s. My only issue with Hope hubs is the noise. The 350’s with a 54t ratchet and fresh grease to keep the noise down is hard to beat.

I made this gram counting spread sheet about 7 or 8 years ago. These are pre-boost hubs. The center lock 350’s seem to balance the weight difference between 240’s and 350’s.

 

[jlm43]

Here’s a set of Nextie’s from their eBay shop. The Rollingstar hubs are based off of the DT ratchet system. Since the patent expired, ratchet based generic hubs are plentiful. Most will take a DT ratchet though if the generic ones chip or break.

NEXTIE 29" Asymmetric Mountain Carbon Bike Wheelset 36mm | eBay

Product Code NXT29XMA36 Wheelset. Wheelset Weight 1750g +/- 5%. Carrying Capacity (One Wheel) 120Kg. Spoke Tension 80 ~ 130Kgf ( ≤130Kgf ). Spokes Pillar Aero PA 1423 (Black). Includings Front & Rear Complete Wheels; 2 x Extra Spokes & Nipples.

www.ebay.com