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Lightest DH wheelset?

N

nycurse

Monkey
Jul 27, 2006
296
0
I have thought about building a very light DH race wheelset. Well I finally took action.

I was wondering if this is possibly the lightest I can go for a DH wheelset. Please help out. I have already ordered rims and hubs.

Wheelbuild

2007 Mavic EX721 32 hole -- 1100 grams
WTB Laser disc Super Duty 150mm -- 284 gams
WTB laser Disc Super Duty 20mm -- 185 grams
DT swiss Revolution spokes X64 -- 270 grams
DT swiss pro loc nipples alloy X64 -- 20 grams

Total -- 1859 grams = 4.09lb

Im not sure if i can go any lighter then this to suit DH racing.

 
Zark

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
Be warned: WTB hubs are problematic. A lot of people blow out the pawls.
 
punkassean

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
Just wait a few more months. Easton DH wheels: 150mm rear, 28 straight-pull spokes, 30mm wide rim, Approx. 2000 grams.
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
i'd go with hope pro II hubs there damn light
Front 20mm is 180grams
Rear 150mm is 295 grams.

You also have damn good reliability with them and a nice selction of colours to choose from
 
ZHendo

ZHendo

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,661
147
PNW
i've heard of a few problems with the wtb hubs too, but they have kick a$$ CS. you could have gone for syncros ds28 rims, they're like 545 grams a piece and very strong. hope pro 2 hubs would have been better.
 
H

Hougham

Monkey
Mar 28, 2007
375
3
al-irl said:
i'd go with hope pro II hubs there damn light
Front 20mm is 180grams
Rear 150mm is 295 grams.

You also have damn good reliability with them and a nice selction of colours to choose from
Click to expand...
I will 2nd that one. The Hope hubs are very good.
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
the tune are nice but i don't think they do a 150mm and there front hub isn't that much lighter than a pro II to warrent the extra cash.
 
punkassean

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
al-irl said:
i'd go with hope pro II hubs there damn light
Front 20mm is 180grams
Rear 150mm is 295 grams.

You also have damn good reliability with them and a nice selction of colours to choose from
Click to expand...
Hope hubs are nice but they have very few engagement points compared to most high-end hubs. I think they have 24 points compared to Hadley or King at 72 and most others at 36. I can't stand riding a bike with less than 36 pt and greatly prefer 72 point or higher.
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
have never had a problem with engagement or lack thereof with any hope hub i've ever owned
 
punkassean

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
al-irl said:
have never had a problem with engagement or lack thereof with any hope hub i've ever owned
Click to expand...
Have you ever owned a hub with lots more engagement? If you are accustomed to 36 pts or less then you probably don't know what you're missing. Once I owned a King hub I've never been able to revert back to anything less than 36.

It's similar to good suspension or anything else really, once you have had the good stuff you don't want to go back. :)
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
i had a king hub for a few months and got rid of it because it required too much work to keep it in tip top condition. It suffered badly from all the muddy conditions i ride in here and as a result had to be cleaned and lightly greased way too often to stop it from dragging.
 
axlvid23

axlvid23

Monkey
Jun 1, 2003
373
0
Littleton
440's and 340's now that you mention it.

you could also order up some Ti spokes if you really wanted to make them as light as possible. probably save about an oz per wheel I'd reckon.
 
punkassean

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
al-irl said:
i had a king hub for a few months and got rid of it because it required too much work to keep it in tip top condition. It suffered badly from all the muddy conditions i ride in here and as a result had to be cleaned and lightly greased way too often to stop it from dragging.
Click to expand...
King hubs do tend to take in a good bit of muck. Luckily I live in California and it's pretty dry. I think Hadley are sealed better than King and require a bit less maintenance. I can see how reliability/ease of maintenance in mucky conditions takes priority over engagement points for a rider in the UK!
 
RD3

RD3

Monkey
Nov 30, 2003
661
14
PA
Tune makes a 150mm, but its hard to get. A sub 1700g dh worthy wheelset is possible.
 
ÆX

ÆX

Turbo Monkey
Sep 8, 2001
4,920
17
NM
nycurse said:
I have thought about building a very light DH race wheelset. Well I finally took action.

I was wondering if this is possibly the lightest I can go for a DH wheelset. Please help out. I have already ordered rims and hubs.

Wheelbuild

2007 Mavic EX721 32 hole -- 1100 grams
WTB Laser disc Super Duty 150mm -- 284 gams
WTB laser Disc Super Duty 20mm -- 185 grams
DT swiss Revolution spokes X64 -- 270 grams
DT swiss pro loc nipples alloy X64 -- 20 grams

Total -- 1859 grams = 4.09lb

Im not sure if i can go any lighter then this to suit DH racing.

IMG]
Click to expand...

i never had anytrouble with my wtb hubs.

super light and strong.
 
Cant Climb

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
punkassean said:
I think Hadley are sealed better than King and require a bit less maintenance. I can see how reliability/ease of maintenance in mucky conditions takes priority over engagement points for a rider in the UK!
Click to expand...
Hadley awful in the mud. I get lamb basted everytime i say this but i've got 4-5 rebuilds to prove it. DT Swiss FR is a good mud hub....
 
L

Lollapalooza

Monkey
Jan 22, 2007
527
0
So...
Tune Hubs, Ti spokes, nipples, ZTR Flow rims, 5g spoke tape, 6g valve stem, and some EX DC Lite tires set up tubeless. That would be the weight of my rear wheel and tire.
 
julian_dh

julian_dh

Monkey
Jan 10, 2005
813
0
al-irl said:
i had a king hub for a few months and got rid of it because it required too much work to keep it in tip top condition. It suffered badly from all the muddy conditions i ride in here and as a result had to be cleaned and lightly greased way too often to stop it from dragging.
Click to expand...
ive had a great experience with my king, its gone 2 seasons on my hardtail, 3 on my downhill bike after it was converted to 150x12 by break therapy. just only a couple months ago did it fully sieze. all it took to get it going was a shot from the compressor the berrings were packed with dirt and grime, light lube and its good too go.

this being its 5th season i think its time for a full rebuild with the proper king lube but it could go on. any other hub would have crapped out along time ago, especially with this kind of neglect.
 
Udi

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
punkassean said:
Have you ever owned a hub with lots more engagement? If you are accustomed to 36 pts or less then you probably don't know what you're missing. Once I owned a King hub I've never been able to revert back to anything less than 36.

It's similar to good suspension or anything else really, once you have had the good stuff you don't want to go back.
Click to expand...
I've definitely got to disagree with that.

My last DH hub was a hadley 108pt, and at that time it was the fastest engaging hub you could buy. It ran well, but like the king required a fair bit of care and effort to keep going in harsh / wet conditions and also weighed a little too much for my liking.

I switched to Pro II's at the start of this season and haven't noticed the slower engagement at all, it was something I was worried about while making the switch - but from the other side of the fence, all I can say is that fast engagement is almost a complete wank. Unless you're riding a super low BB over rocky tracks and regularly throw in half pedal strokes (IMO that's something you never do if you are hitting something at the right pace - fast) then I don't really see any tangible benefit to faster engaging hubs.

It's definitely not a bad thing either, but now i'm running far lighter hubs that seem to require zero maintenance, don't have nonstandard parts/bearings, and cost in the region of half as much as a king/hadley.... so I really doubt i'll be changing back!
 
J

Jonny5

Monkey
Feb 13, 2007
502
0
My wheelset is pretty light. :)

Hope pro 2, Stans flow, DT areo light front and comp rear. 1754gr
Further more, I use the 8 gram valve and plastic tape for a very light stans setup (you save about 160grams in rim tape alone).

So far so good. Much better wheelset than I'll ever need. Love to try those tune hubs though ;)
 
L

Lollapalooza

Monkey
Jan 22, 2007
527
0
You have that really light Norco right? If you don't mind me asking, how much do you weigh? I'm just asking because I'm in the process of planning a bike right now and have a very similar build to that Norco.

Edit: This Norco.
 
xy9ine

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
axlvid23 said:
440's and 340's now that you mention it.

you could also order up some Ti spokes if you really wanted to make them as light as possible. probably save about an oz per wheel I'd reckon.
Click to expand...
the marwis weigh ~125g per wheel; there's a bit of a savings there. fischer carbon hubs are really light - this front is 166g.



my wheelset is 1795g, but i'm running (relatively) weighty rhyno xls:

 
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