Rims - help me pick a set

[Particle]

OK so I've been meaning to change my rear wheel from 24" to 26" for a while now and I'm finally gonna do it. Would love to buy a Hadley and build up a whole new wheel but it's just too expensive. So I'm going to keep my Ringle Abbah DH and just get a new rim and spokes.

Here's the dilemma: I currently have Intense Mag 30 rims which are sweet and strong as hell. It'd be easy and nice to just lace up a new 26" rear rim and be done with it. But I'd like to kinda make the AS-X a bit more trail worthy...eventually slap a 66 Light ETA or 66 RC2X on there. So switching to some lighter 2.5 tires and lighter rims might go a long way in that direction. Is it worth it to re-lace both hubs and try something new like a Mavic rim or DT Swiss or something? And if so, what's a great rim that can handle abuse, be reasonably priced, and lighten up my rotational weight?

[kidwoo]

mavic 721, just as strong as a mag 30 but lighter. Little narrower though.

DT rims are butter

Like the soft maluable butter,

not the smooth "mmm gimme some more o' dat" butter.

[marshalolson]

d823 - the rim used on deemax's

325's are sweet too. stong as hell and cheap

[Mr. Altagirl]

I'm running Mavic 729's on both my AS-X and DH bike. Love them! Fairly light, handle the abuse really well. Go-Ride only has two left as of this morning and apparently Mavic will be at least a month before they get anymore out. Think fast as I heard people talking yesterday about calling shops around town looking for them.

(Go Hadley......you won't regret it)

I hope to have a 66 Light on my AS-X soon as well. Wanna buy a suped-up Sherman Breakout (1.5" steer tube already, I'll throw in the headset, stem and bars as a package deal since I'll have to change everything if I go down to a 1 1/8" steer tube)?

[Mr. Altagirl]

mavic 721, just as strong as a mag 30 but lighter. Little narrower though.

DT rims are butter

Like the soft maluable butter,

not the smooth "mmm gimme some more o' dat" butter.

I just cut all the spokes out on my two 721's that came on my DH bike, hated them. They made the tire profile too narrow for me and they would't hold the ghetto tubless at all. The front was pretty banged up but my rear one was new and I still couldn't get it to hold. Ended up throwing the rim strip into my cassette at about 25 mph at Angel Fire, super sweet. Particle is light enough that they may work for him though.

[kidwoo]

d823 -

True ...plus you have the option to try tubeless if you ever want to go that route.

Just keep in mind that since it's a tubeless rim, you have to deal with the little spoke eyelet inserts to buld it.


I've used 729s (old 321s) on my dh bikes for years. They're nice and burly but a little heavy for anything I personally would want to do a lot of climbing on. . All my dh wheels are build with 2.0 straight gauge spokes though, so that's an avenue through which you could cut some weight.

But I definitely agree with mralta about the tire profile with the 721s. I've used them on my dh bike, freeride bike and dirtjumper. I didn't like what they did to bigger tires but for the lighter bike or smaller tires, they're bomber. Lots of my friends who use 2.5 or smaller tires on their dh bikes dig'em.

[Particle]

cool, thanks yall. 823's are a bit too spendy.

thinking 721's or even 325's could be good. I don't think the width will be too big an issue...although I do like my 2.7's for DH But I could probably handle the compromise and just run 2.5's and be more than fine.

[marshalolson]

i was pretty non-stoked on 521 (aka 721's) when they were on a ss xc bike. not that strong, tire didn't seat all that well IMO, and fairly narrow profile. no good w/ 2.7's for sure.

[Mr. Altagirl]

I'm so unhappy with the two 721's I have, you can have them both. One is pretty banged up and the "new" one has two races on it.

[kidwoo]

I'm so unhappy with the two 721's I have, you can have them both. One is pretty banged up and the "new" one has two races on it.

I'll pay shipping.

Plus beer.

Seriously.

I've got a set of those things that are over 5 years old that have been on 4 different bikes. There's no question about the tire profile being narrow but I will very happily take those pieces of shit off your hands.

was pretty non-stoked on 521 (aka 721's) when they were on a ss xc bike. not that strong, tire didn't seat all that well IMO, and fairly narrow profile. no good w/ 2.7's for sure.

Not that strong???? How did you build them?

[Particle]

Hrmmm...gonna swing by Go-Ride tonight and see what they have/recommend. But I'd take a free pair of rims!

Gonna pass on the Manitou though MrAG. I'm sticking with ole reliable Zokes from here on out.

[irul&ublo]

Get some spinners. They're dope.

[kidwoo]

Hrmmm...gonna swing by Go-Ride tonight and see what they have/recommend.

Tell scott kidwoo says Hi.

[Particle]

Opted to try the 721's...they are just so much lighter than the 729's and if kidwoo isn't destroying them, I figure they're worth a try.

Mr. AG after all, can single-handedly cause Shivers to explode

...and it's a good thing they didn't have any 66's in stock b/c they had some sale signs up and I woulda been seriously temped if they'd been sitting there looking at me all sexy like. Anyway I'm super stoked to have a lighter rotational weight and a 26" rear!

Now, any suggestions on a DH-worthy but light-ish tire set? Max 2.5 width. New guy at Go-Ride (Joss) said he was stoked with a Nevegal front and 60a Minion rear as a burly trail setup...hmm.

[marshalolson]

Not that strong???? How did you build them?

3x to white industry 32h w/ dt dbl butts

they seem pretty prone to flatspots/dings (like as bad as rhyno lites)

[Particle]

they seem pretty prone to flatspots/dings (like as bad as rhyno lites)

Yeah...I've ridden Rhyno Lites for years and have only dinged them badly once or twice. For the most part they've been bomber for me. :shrug:

[trouble]

I think you'll like the 721's. I have the 729's and while they are a bit lighter than mag 30's they are still pretty heavy for any type of climbing. Mavic is the only way to go for rims

as far as tires, the way I understand nevegals is they are good in wet weather, but crap in dry.

If I wanted light dh tires, I'd probably go with 2.35 minion F's on front and rear. the minion F is an awesome cornering tire (minion r is a bit uninspiring), and the 2.35 should be a good size for the 721. you may even be able to get a light casing for them. I was running the 2.7 fronts on both ends during dry times up here last summer and liked them pretty well, only regret was I went with the supertacky on the front instead of both 60a's, they just wear too fast.

also I guess there is a lighter casing version of michelin comp24 out now too, that might be worth looking into.

Opted to try the 721's...they are just so much lighter than the 729's and if kidwoo isn't destroying them, I figure they're worth a try.

Mr. AG after all, can single-handedly cause Shivers to explode

...and it's a good thing they didn't have any 66's in stock b/c they had some sale signs up and I woulda been seriously temped if they'd been sitting there looking at me all sexy like. Anyway I'm super stoked to have a lighter rotational weight and a 26" rear!

Now, any suggestions on a DH-worthy but light-ish tire set? Max 2.5 width. New guy at Go-Ride (Joss) said he was stoked with a Nevegal front and 60a Minion rear as a burly trail setup...hmm.

[Z]

Opted to try the 721's...they are just so much lighter than the 729's and if kidwoo isn't destroying them, I figure they're worth a try.

Mr. AG after all, can single-handedly cause Shivers to explode

...and it's a good thing they didn't have any 66's in stock b/c they had some sale signs up and I woulda been seriously temped if they'd been sitting there looking at me all sexy like. Anyway I'm super stoked to have a lighter rotational weight and a 26" rear!

Now, any suggestions on a DH-worthy but light-ish tire set? Max 2.5 width. New guy at Go-Ride (Joss) said he was stoked with a Nevegal front and 60a Minion rear as a burly trail setup...hmm.

Kujo 2.65s. Maybe not lightish, but not too wide and the sidewalls are oh so nice....

[kidwoo]

3x to white industry 32h w/ dt dbl butts

they seem pretty prone to flatspots/dings (like as bad as rhyno lites)

I've had/still have several wheels built with these things and they've lasted longer than any other rim, including the 729/321s that I actually prefer on my dh bike.

Given mine are for dj/dh type riding......I build all my wheels with 2.0 straight gauges and keep them very tight. Maybe that's the difference?? But we just have very different histories with these things I guess.

For what it's worth, the only wheel I own with DB spokes is the front wheel on my xc bike. I know the theories but straight gauge builds a stronger wheel. It's either rock hard or fails miserably. In the 6 years I've been riding dh, I've only killed one rear wheel I've built.

[kidwoo]

From what I remember the riding around slc is similar (dusty) to here. I can't stand nevegals for that. No open channel to hold the dirt.

Minion f is still my holy grail tire. All the maxxis 2.5s are really like 2.3-2.4 so they'd be a good match.

[Mr. Altagirl]

Minion front (2.5) / High Roller rear (2.5 or 2.35), perfect for 99.9% of the riding around here. The 2.5" will be very narrow on the 721's so keep that in mind if you go with 2.35's, especially on the front.

[Arty50]

From what I remember the riding around slc is similar (dusty) to here. I can't stand nevegals for that. No open channel to hold the dirt.

I'll be able to do a Nevegal/Minion comparison shortly, but I've been extremely happy with my Nevegals both in Moab and here. Maybe it's because I have 2.35s. The 2.5s seem to have larger voids inbetween the lugs. Dunno. All I know is I like them a lot.

[bagtagley]

I've run both the Nevegals and the Minions/Highrollers and I currently prefer the Nevegals. I think part of it is the fact that 2.5 Nevegals are noticeably bigger than 2.5 Maxxis, and I've learned that a fatter tire makes a difference in this talc and loose dirt.

The Maxxis also fall apart much more quickly in the conditions here...though I haven't tried the 3C compound yet.

[Particle]

Yep I'm going as big as feasibly possible while still losing significant rolling weight over my 2.7 Minion/Highroller setup currently. 2.5 Nevegal / Minion / Highroller all sound nice. I think price is gonna be the deciding factor...they're all pretty spendy tires.

[bagtagley]

Yep I'm going as big as feasibly possible while still losing significant rolling weight over my 2.7 Minion/Highroller setup currently. 2.5 Nevegal / Minion / Highroller all sound nice. I think price is gonna be the deciding factor...they're all pretty spendy tires.

Incidentally, I'm really liking the tire profile with 2.5 Nevegals on 721s. I was really skeptical about such a narrow rim, but I've been pretty impressed with the performance.