Anyone have much time on Spank Spike Evo 35AL or Race 28 Evo rims?

This doesn't address your question directly, but I've been testing a complete Oozy EVO 26 wheelset on my all mtn bike, done a bit of everything from shorter DH racing to several hour shuttle runs. I purposely haven't touched them since putting them on my bike and the rims are good as new, spokes are fully tensioned and the rear wheel is maybe 1mm out of true. At 1650g a pair for the production ones I've no doubt the more burly DH options you are looking at will hold up well.

Just wrapped up a piece on the Spank rim factory actually, you should see it online some time next week and the full review of the wheels shortly to follow.

I don't have any direct experience with the Spank rims yet, however with the experiences I've had running their bars and stems the last 2 years on all my bikes I went for it and got the Spike 28 Evo Race wheelset for my 2.5 Wetscreams and other narrower tires based on conditions as well as the Spike 35 Evo to lace to my current hubset for my everyday thrashing.

General Lee said:

This doesn't address your question directly, but I've been testing a complete Oozy EVO 26 wheelset on my all mtn bike, done a bit of everything from shorter DH racing to several hour shuttle runs. I purposely haven't touched them since putting them on my bike and the rims are good as new, spokes are fully tensioned and the rear wheel is maybe 1mm out of true. At 1650g a pair for the production ones I've no doubt the more burly DH options you are looking at will hold up well.

Just wrapped up a piece on the Spank rim factory actually, you should see it online some time next week and the full review of the wheels shortly to follow.

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The article done by Spank about the rim widths, and the upsides and downsides of wider and narrower rims was really good. Can you post a link or PM me a link when your article comes out?

BmxConvert said:

I don't have any direct experience with the Spank rims yet, however with the experiences I've had running their bars and stems the last 2 years on all my bikes I went for it and got the Spike 28 Evo Race wheelset for my 2.5 Wetscreams and other narrower tires based on conditions as well as the Spike 35 Evo to lace to my current hubset for my everyday thrashing.



The article done by Spank about the rim widths, and the upsides and downsides of wider and narrower rims was really good. Can you post a link or PM me a link when your article comes out?

Click to expand...

That article on rim widths was by Mike Dutton, Spank's brand manager. The man knows his way around wheels that's for sure.

The factory tour and wheel review will be done in two parts on Vital, so you really can't miss it.

I am running the Spike Race28 wheelset since August 2012.
Before that I have been running a Nukeproof Generator XL/Mavic 721 wheel in the back and a Hope Pro 2 / Mavic EN521 combination up front.

Apart from saving some weight overall which is always nice, the biggest advantages of the Spank rims for me is, that they offer greater resistance to dents. 721 are great rims, but the Spanks seem to hold up just better.

With the Spank rims, I have done three races last season plus some off season hucking and so far, these wheels are turning out to be really strong.

Another point about the rims is the bead blast finish. I have been running a very old X9 derailleur and a even more worn out chain. The Ex721 soon had blank spots on the drive side from the chain slapping against the rim riding through rough terrain. The Spank rims however do not show any signs of carnage yet. It is just optics, and nothing directly functional, but anyway it's worth noting.

BmxConvert said:

The article done by Spank about the rim widths, and the upsides and downsides of wider and narrower rims was really good.

Click to expand...

General Lee said:

That article on rim widths was by Mike Dutton, Spank's brand manager. The man knows his way around wheels that's for sure.

Click to expand...

Can you share a link to this? Where was this posted?

General Lee said:

That article on rim widths was by Mike Dutton, Spank's brand manager. The man knows his way around wheels that's for sure.

The factory tour and wheel review will be done in two parts on Vital, so you really can't miss it.

Click to expand...

I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Mike this year at Interbike. He has been very helpful in answering all of my never ending questions and helping track down the parts I've been looking for.

EVRAC said:

Can you share a link to this? Where was this posted?

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It was emailed to me. I'll try to get it up here or find a proper link. It was for one of the magazines although I don't recall if it had been printed yet.

Here we go, apparently is was Bicycle Dealer Magazine: Rim width article It starts on page 10.

I've had the 35s laced to the stock Scott/Formula hubs on my Voltage for the last year, and I've been pretty happy with them.

I run them with tubes (until I get a new set of UST compatible tires), around 30-35lbs and they've suffered through everything I've thrown at them. Rear has a small dent from running too low of a pressure on a DH run and I landed off a drop onto a rock.

They seem reasonably light at 590ish grams for a fairly wide rim, and have held up well to my hackish, spray-and-pray style of riding.

I put a Race28 wheelset on my new Norco Aurum, which will be my race bike for 2013 now that I've relegated my Voltage to 6" trail bike duty. Wheelset seems very well built and finish appeared top notch. The Spoon hubs seem well built, and they are also whisper quiet (if you care about that).

I've only had 3 days of running them in the bike park and a couple local shuttle days, so I can't comment on long term durability yet. I will, however, be buying another set as backups. For the price I paid for the first set, and their claimed sub-2000 gram weight, it seems like a no-brainer.

If the Race28s hold up well enough, I may buy another set to replace the 35s on my Voltage as a lighter wheelset option.

I had a Spike 35 EVO on the back of my Jedi. With a couple layers of tape, it mounted up tubeless w/ no issues, and after a season of use the wheel was still straight and true. One of the tougher rims I've tried.

I've been using Subrosa rims on my DH bike for 2 years now. I'm pretty happy with their strength/width/weight. I wish they were a little wider (maybe I'll go with the Spike next despite 50ish grams more weight) and a little more dent resistant (though the rim I dented beyond repair was SMASHED into a rock with questionable tire pressure). So, until something carbon catches my eye I'm sticking with Subrosas and Spikes. I have them tubeless with Gorilla tape and schrader valves cut from Stan's strips. Reasonably easy to mount tubeless and no leaking or burping.

i've been using spank spike evo 35al rims for about 6 months now. had them built with hope pro2 hubs and dtswiss competition spokes.

love the width. i think it adds to tire performance as i use these rims. i've used these on dh tracks, pump tracks, dj tracks, and general trail riding. i weigh about 185 lbs and so far, these rims have held up fine. wheels are still true to this day. i have nothing to complain about in terms of performance.

these rims are also beautiful - spankin beautiful! i have the blue ones.

I'm really interested in the Spike EVO 35 as well. The only other DH worthy rim with a 29mm inner width is the Mavic 729 but its heavier (599g vs 675g).

Pick up a set! Seriously. I've got the Spike Evo 35's as my usual thrash tire and the Spike 28 Evo wheelset mounted up with a set of WetScreams for nasty winters. Both are killer rims. The setup as tubeless very very easily. I just wrapped them once with a layer of WTB TCS(Stans) tape, poked a hole for valve stems and then added 1.5oz of sealant. They were completely seated at 25psi with a hand pump.
I had a similar experience with my Oozy Evo wheelset with the tubeless setup. I'm stuck on Spank rims because they work so well and are far more durable than many other rims I've run.

Claimed weights are accurate too. The Oozy wheelset WITH the rim strips installed were still 15g under the claimed weight

Just laced up my race 28 evo rims. 1830 grams total wheelset weight! Hopefully the can take the abuse because that weight is nuts. Unfortunately I won't get to find out for a while due to injury. It's over a pound from the 823's.

I have had a great experience with the subrosa 30, I usually replace the rear rim at least once a season. This spank rim is still good to go. Small dings compared to massive gouges that other rims would show. The seam is still mint.

I just unlaced my Subrosas and replaced them with carbon rims. They're still perfect except scratches so if someone wants some cheap Subrosas PM me.