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Lightest Tubeless Rims You Feel Safe Using?

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
Okay looking into doing some custom wheels maybe go Hope hubs and super light tubeless rims. But what are you guys using and feeling safe on? I have heard the 521 or 321 Mavics converted do decent? Is that a viable option? I would like something sub 600GM.......
 
Aug 23, 2011
241
0
I just did up some ZTRs on Pro II's..yet to ride them, ended up using 258's with 12mm nipples which were too short so had to get some 16mm.
 

climbingbubba

Monkey
May 24, 2007
354
0
Been abusing some Flows on my AM/FR bike for 2 years without a single issue. Seems a lot of people have been liking them. Also the Industry nine Enduro rims are supposed to be a good rim for tubeless as well

I have ex500 on my newest bike. The guys at the local shop swear by them on their DH bikes but they said they replace 1 rim a season or so.
 
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norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
ZTR Flow front. Also try to look up older 823s/d 3.1s if I;m not wrong. They were 590g.
 

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
i'm using bonty dusters on my trail bike and wouldn't hesitate to use them on the dh bike as well. same size spec as flows but UST spec with the strip and they have eyelets. been rock solid in the rocks with single ply 2bliss tires, i wouldn't worry about them with dual ply's...
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,029
Ottawa, Canada
What about WTB Laser TCS AM? or their new Frequency line? I have a pair of the WTB Laser TCS Trails hanging on my wall right now, waiting to be built. From what I'd read, they were solid, true UST bead hook, and have eyelets. 21mm inner width. oh, and they were inexpensive: $70Cdn. 470 grams if my memory serves me well.
 

Beef Supreme

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2010
1,434
73
Hiding from the stupid
What about WTB Laser TCS AM? or their new Frequency line? I have a pair of the WTB Laser TCS Trails hanging on my wall right now, waiting to be built. From what I'd read, they were solid, true UST bead hook, and have eyelets. 21mm inner width. oh, and they were inexpensive: $70Cdn. 470 grams if my memory serves me well.
I recently built up a pair and I wasn't very impressed with how they built up.
 

offtheedge

Monkey
Aug 26, 2005
955
0
LB
the old 823s are super solid and fairly light. The mavic rims are gonna be hard to beat for UST and weight. It's just finding them in rim only form that is work.
 

TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
the old 823s are super solid and fairly light. The mavic rims are gonna be hard to beat for UST and weight. It's just finding them in rim only form that is work.
By fairly light you mean the heaviest rim mavic makes once you factor in the brass nipple inserts right???? Those things are TANKS



+1 on the flows, I've got them on my blur LT. I ended up doing a week at northstar on them, rode the ENTIRE mountain, and basically beat the living hell out of them, no problems thus far
 

Ian Collins

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,428
0
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
By fairly light you mean the heaviest rim mavic makes once you factor in the brass nipple inserts right???? Those things are TANKS



+1 on the flows, I've got them on my blur LT. I ended up doing a week at northstar on them, rode the ENTIRE mountain, and basically beat the living hell out of them, no problems thus far
823s are alot stronger than flow's....and as far as weight is concerned...the lack of rim strips offsets the majority of the weight increase from the nipples.....
 

offtheedge

Monkey
Aug 26, 2005
955
0
LB
By fairly light you mean the heaviest rim mavic makes once you factor in the brass nipple inserts right???? Those things are TANKS
The caveat being, "feel safe on" for Dh riding. At 640g they aren't going to win any contest, but I beat a set 4 years that hardy had a dent. Agreed they aren't as light as many, but longevity has to factor in.

That being said, yes the Flows are a top choice with their own set of downsides.
 

-BB-

I broke all the rules, but somehow still became mo
Sep 6, 2001
4,254
28
Livin it up in the O.C.
My buddy has been having a lot of luck with these:
http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=725

Velocity P35

Colors: Black, Silver, White, Electric Red, Antifreeze Green
Drillings: 32, 36

26"
BSD: 559
ERD: 536
Weight: 535g

They have a 35mm width, so they work well with larger size tires, they are pretty light and they have a Tubeless setup that has been working flawlessly for him.

Plus they come in flannel/plaid or a nice faux-wood finish. ;)
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
built up some TCS FR rims (540g) for my trail bike, they built nicely and i would run them on a DH bike too, without question. 23mm internal width.
 

TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
My buddy has been having a lot of luck with these:
http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=725

Velocity P35

Colors: Black, Silver, White, Electric Red, Antifreeze Green
Drillings: 32, 36

26"
BSD: 559
ERD: 536
Weight: 535g

They have a 35mm width, so they work well with larger size tires, they are pretty light and they have a Tubeless setup that has been working flawlessly for him.

Plus they come in flannel/plaid or a nice faux-wood finish. ;)
Nononononono!!! NO

Worste quality rims EVER. I've built a bunch of wheels with the deep Vs and B43s for work. First they are pinned, but the second issue is my real gripe, there is ALWAYS metal shavings inside the rim, without fail you are in there with pliers pulling out bits of AL. The B43 as well has a funny issue, they build the rim with a few MM gap at the top of the rim, with them almost touching at the bottom. The spoke tension actually closes the gap....
 

frorider

Monkey
Jul 21, 2004
971
20
cali
The "old 823s" are lighter than current, but essentially impossible to find. And not as strong.

OTOH it's misleading to talk about Flows needing rimstrips. They don't. They use yellow tape, which weighs nothing.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
822
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
I use Flows on my race wheels and Spank Subrosas on my practice wheels, both with 2 layers of duct tape over the spoke holes to be tubeless. Both seem strong enough as I've never bent one but I'd like a little more width and stiffness. I'm eyeing the E13 rims as well as Enve and Easton's upcoming carbon DH rims.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
The "old 823s" are lighter than current, but essentially impossible to find. And not as strong.

OTOH it's misleading to talk about Flows needing rimstrips. They don't. They use yellow tape, which weighs nothing.
Ask your distro. Our still has Some. Have 2 wheels on them and they are still uber bombproof. Even on dt revo spokes
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
By fairly light you mean the heaviest rim mavic makes once you factor in the brass nipple inserts right???? Those things are TANKS



+1 on the flows, I've got them on my blur LT. I ended up doing a week at northstar on them, rode the ENTIRE mountain, and basically beat the living hell out of them, no problems thus far
Read his post. He means the old ones. They were 60g lighter. Not super light but it makes a differance.
 

TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
Read his post. He means the old ones. They were 60g lighter. Not super light but it makes a differance.
No I read his post correctly. They have a brass threaded eyelet that threads into the rim with the nipple, as there is no hole on the inside of the rim for spokes/ nipples being UST. Mavic does not factor the 32 brass threaded eyelets into the weight of the rim. Meaning no matter what generation 823 you have there is still a bunch of wait to add on that mavic doesn't factor into the claimed weight
 

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
The inserts do make the build a little more involved, but the additional wait should not be too much...
 
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Guard

Monkey
Apr 21, 2004
486
0
Wilkes "By God" County
I have 823s & Flows. The 823s will take anything you through out them...no dents even after 3 years but they are quite a bit heavier than the Flows. I've been running the Flows on less rough courses. The flows seal just as good as the 823s once you get the tire to actually blow out (using stans yellow tape)....need a compressor. Definitely like both rims but if I had to pick one I'd go with the 823s.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
No I read his post correctly. They have a brass threaded eyelet that threads into the rim with the nipple, as there is no hole on the inside of the rim for spokes/ nipples being UST. Mavic does not factor the 32 brass threaded eyelets into the weight of the rim. Meaning no matter what generation 823 you have there is still a bunch of wait to add on that mavic doesn't factor into the claimed weight
Claimed or not weight wennies has real weight of them at 590g. Thats not the heaviest modern rim by any chance. I also remember weighting the whole wheel and the front was 948g. Not that bad considering how strong the rim is.
 
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jvnixon

Turbo Monkey
May 14, 2006
2,325
0
SickLines.com


823's with nipple inserts

you can see more weights if you're curious
http://www.sicklines.com/weights/rims/

The earlier 823's like frorider mentioned were a bit different in weight / durability and would be quite hard to track down.

Stans Flows have worked well overall for me. I would not hesitate to use them but they're not as robust as some heavier rim options. On the front you shouldn't have much issue in my experience. On the rear, its' life depends on your style / psi / terrain / technique, etc.
 
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Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
I cracked my rear Flow at every eyelet on my DH bike. I thought they had been over tightened, but it seems like they were tensioned correctly. Im back on DT ex500s. They have lasted me 3 years on my AM bike.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
822
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
Someone needs to make a sub 600g, 26-27mm internal rim with reasonable sidewall dent resistance. Less than $200. Carbon has to be proven many times more durable before its price can be justified.
Why NoTubes hasn't seen and filled this niche is beyond me. They must be aware of how many DHers use the Flow and how it's not quite wide, stiff, and strong enough. Imagine the Flow with 120g and 4mm added to it.
 
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climbingbubba

Monkey
May 24, 2007
354
0
Someone needs to make a sub 600g, 26-27mm internal rim with reasonable sidewall dent resistance. Less than $200. Carbon has to be proven many times more durable before its price can be justified.
Why NoTubes hasn't seen and filled this niche is beyond me. They must be aware of how many DHers use the Flow and how it's not quite wide, stiff, and strong enough. Imagine the Flow with 120g and 4mm added to it.
I agree that No tubes should make something like that. I thought they were prototyping a DH rim. I had seen a few posts here about one.

There also seems to be plenty of 600ish gram rims on the market. The Alex Supra D is supposed to be a wicked strong rim and fairly wide.

I think the gap in the DH rim market is in the 525-560ish gram range. If people can use 470 gram rims for DH then adding 60 grams or so should be plenty to make them bomb proof.
 

TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
Claimed or not weight wennies has real weight of them at 590g. Thats not the heaviest modern rim by any chance. I also remember weighting the whole wheel and the front was 948g. Not that bad considering how strong the rim is.
yea, 590 WITHOUT the nipple inserts, as jvnixon posted that's 716Gs WITH the inserts.

That's compared to 675G on a 729, and 660G on some MTX 33's. It would be both lighter and stronger to convert a 729 to tubeless. UST rims are STUPID heavy compared to other rims the same width, both in the fact that there is no drilling on the inside wall of the rim and the fact that you have 125Gs of brass nipple insert things.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
yea, 590 WITHOUT the nipple inserts, as jvnixon posted that's 716Gs WITH the inserts.

That's compared to 675G on a 729, and 660G on some MTX 33's. It would be both lighter and stronger to convert a 729 to tubeless. UST rims are STUPID heavy compared to other rims the same width, both in the fact that there is no drilling on the inside wall of the rim and the fact that you have 125Gs of brass nipple insert things.
The 716g is for the NEW 823, which weight 665g claimed, not 590g claimed. So the inserts are 50g which means the old rim is 640g not 716g. That makes it lighter than the 729 and it goes without the tape so the differance is even bigger. Also 823s are actually much harder to dent than 729s. Both old and new ones.
 
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no skid marks

Monkey
Jan 15, 2006
2,511
29
ACT Australia
I'm a big fan of 823s, have been since they came out. I run an old style front, and usually a new style rear, but am currently running a AtomLab PimipLite rear(as I got a cheap whole wheel when I needed a hub), and it's proven to be really strong. It's been sporting a nice crack and flat spot for months now, but the fricken thing just won't give up. Not sure of weight, but from memory, pretty dang good.
I wouldn't run the Spanks, maybe a s a front race rim only. We got a bunch for the rental DH bikes here and they don't last very long. MTX 33s are way better(still dent easy, but are strong against flat spots, and staying true). DT 500s seem to fall between these two.
Heard only good things about the Alex SuperDs, and everyone I've seen looked good, but never tried them.
Rims should be as tough as 823s IMO.
 
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supercow

Monkey
Feb 18, 2009
969
128
Got ZTR flows on my AM bike and Deemax on my Dh bike. I'd feel "safe" using the ZTR on my DH bike for most of the places i ride, however I feel safest just using the deemax.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
The only thing is that deemax are stupid expensive and being prebuilt wheels they can be annoying if something happens. They are also not that light. 2150g is not really great considering new easton dh wheels are 1850g and supposely they have a 1600g carbon dh wheelset for the next year.