[xy9ine]

i'm pondering these as a replacement for my faithfull rhyno xl's. can anyone compare relative durability (as a dh rim for a smooth, middleweight guy)? i typically get a season out of my rear xl's, the fronts last pretty much indefinately - if the dt's are somewhat comparable, i'll probably give them a try. i've heard numerous reports as to the 6.1's cheese-like consistancy, but not much info on the 5.1's.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

Are the 6.1's the red and the 5.1's the black? Can you even get the 6.1's without a wheel?

 

[Jeremy R]

Here is my opinion of them.
They are silly strong for their weight, but they don't weigh squat.
I have been using them all season.
My front wheel is like new, and rear rim needs replacing now.
I ran them at Snowshoe in the mud with 2.2 tires and too little air,
and dented it up and put a hole in it.
But even with two flatspots and a hole, it is still holding up.
But honestly, I can't believe they hold up like they do.
They give a good tire profile with Michelin 2.5's as well.
I know there are stronger DH rims out for sure, but I have had pretty good luck with them, and their tubeless setup works well.
I would say that they hold up about as well as a Rhyno Light.

 

[PoserNewbie]

From reading through this forum, I believe the general consensus on the DT Swiss rims is that they are a bit soft.

 

[motomike]

I've yet to dent my 5.1s...

 

[xy9ine]

Here is my opinion of them.
They are silly strong for their weight, but they don't weigh squat.
I have been using them all season.
My front wheel is like new, and rear rim needs replacing now.
I ran them at Snowshoe in the mud with 2.2 tires and too little air,
and dented it up and put a hole in it.
But even with two flatspots and a hole, it is still holding up.
But honestly, I can't believe they hold up like they do.
They give a good tire profile with Michelin 2.5's as well.
I know there are stronger DH rims out for sure, but I have had pretty good luck with them, and their tubeless setup works well.
I would say that they hold up about as well as a Rhyno Light.

perfect. i don't expect rims this light to get away without a bit of denting anyways (my rhynos get pretty lumpy by the end of the season). thanks!

 

[RJM]

dt rims are strong imo.

the lighter 4.1d takes to the air 7 abuse w/out issues so the 5.1 is even more.

 

[haromtnbiker]

I've yet to dent my 5.1s...

Your also about 100 pounds!

 

[Jeremy R]

perfect. i don't expect rims this light to get away without a bit of denting anyways (my rhynos get pretty lumpy by the end of the season). thanks!

I also run these rims on my SX, and I ride that bike the most.
So far, I have not even had to tighten a spoke on that bike.
But on my DH bike, I am tightening up the rear wheel after every day of riding just to be safe.
As far as the 6.1 rims, supposedly DT is making a running change on those rims to address the denting issues that people were having.
They were supposed to ready this summer, but I have not heard anything lately.

 

[basikbiker]

i ride a dt 6.1d front wheel on my demo and its perfectly fine, i weigh 175 but as for the rear......its no more

 

[frznnomad]

mike we also need to remember that your 120 lbs and your one of the smoothest riders that i know. lol but i have heard great things about them but they dent extremely easy. so you will get a great wheel but they will be a little banged up after a few rides.

 

[SuboptimusPrime]

Your also about 100 pounds!

and yet he excells at denting rims...if it's holding up to mike, its probably reasonably strong.

 

[OGRipper]

For what it's worth, I am about 200 lbs and built up a set of 4.1d's about two and half or three months ago for my trail bike. I am not happy. Like others have said, they dent easily and are not as stiff as a comparable Mavic rim. Not sure how they compare to the 5.1's but I will never stray from Mavic again.

 

[sanjuro]

I read a "Inside the Pros Bikes" on MBA, and one pro was bragging how soft the 6.1d were, which he liked because they didn't break. I thought that was an interesting compliment.

 

[Dogboy]

I read a "Inside the Pros Bikes" on MBA, and one pro was bragging how soft the 6.1d were, which he liked because they didn't break. I thought that was an interesting compliment.

I too have heard that comment and it was quite a while before it was published in MBA. Seems that some pros like the fact that the rims dent instead of the tire pinching the tube and flatting. Turns out that a tire with air in it is much faster than a flat tire on a dent-free rim. Go figureneaky:

 

[snoopz666]

ive been riding on my dt 5.1s for about 2 months now ans have yet to have any problems, i haven noticed and dents yet and the are very stiff. that could be because theyre on industry nine hubs/spokes though, haha

 

[sayndesyn]

Destroyed a rear 5.1 in under a week running 2.5 tires and about 30 psi. I weigh 175. The front has about 3 flat spots. Although it was pretty rocky, my Mavic's faired much better.

 

[-dustin]

i like my 5.1s...built up extremely fast. don't DH, though.

 

[frznnomad]

good friend of mine is running them with 40 psi in the tires and running downhill tubes. on the first run with them he put a huge dent in the rear wheel. i mean its a rear wheel and he rides extremely hard on the rear wheel, but not 10 mins later we discoverd a huge dent in the front wheel which on a good set of rims shouldnt happen on the first run. i mean dont get me wrong they hold up great i just dont want a rim denting everytime i go out to ride them and dont want to be constantly thinking about them while i ride. ill stick with my mavic's thank you.

 

[TheMontashu]

I like mine, I have to run high preasure because they are a little soft. But i have had faraly good luck with mine

 

[sanjuro]

I too have heard that comment and it was quite a while before it was published in MBA. Seems that some pros like the fact that the rims dent instead of the tire pinching the tube and flatting. Turns out that a tire with air in it is much faster than a flat tire on a dent-free rim. Go figureneaky:

Oh I believe it, but he basically admitted these are disposable rims. Great if you have a stack of wheels in the Factory Truck...

 

[RaID]

I read a "Inside the Pros Bikes" on MBA, and one pro was bragging how soft the 6.1d were, which he liked because they didn't break. I thought that was an interesting compliment.

well thats true from what ive found, mine are flat spotted and dented yet theyre still perfectly straight, even a broken spoken didnt put them off line so i guess from that point of view its good, but when ill replace my rear ill be going the 721 way

 

[biker3]

They are disposable, if you're an older rider who enjoys the ride but isn't so much focused on gaining speed than Id say your set. A younger guy with a little bit less experience and more craziness will destroy these rims. I had the 6.1s at the beginning of the season and they didn't even make it to angel fire. The rear turned into a stop sign and wouldn't hold a tire on the bead. Im 17 and about 165 so go figure. After killing the 6.1 I thought the 5.1 would be cool since it was so light and apparently "more dent resistant" than the 6.1. Well after Angel Fire this was not the case. I was running 40+psi and just destroyed that wheel in one weekend. Again it looked like a stop sign and the tire blew off my bead at 25mph in practice. DT swiss makes incredible hubs, but their privateer rims need SERIOUS work IMO. I know some people have had good luck and they are light, but I won't ever run DT swiss rims again.

On a side note, I never got a single flat tyre running DT swiss, so I guess if that is their goal then that makes the rims somewhat effective.....

 

[On Any Sunday]

Sorry to bring an old thread back but after smashing my rear wheel and denting / tweeking my front wheel, im now on the lookout for a new DH rim.

I do race a bit, and my riding style is through stuff rather than over! And ir run a normal suspension setup.

I have been running my 729 for around a year and have had no probs with them, but now my confidance is getting high, im hitting stuff a lot faster than i used too especially rocks.

So was wondering if any of you lads had any feedback on the new batch of DTswiss 5.1. as a suitable rim

 

[TheMontashu]

if you dont ride smooth (like it sounds) dont get 5.1s

 

[On Any Sunday]

Shall i just stick with mavic (729 or 721), or the new 6.1?

 

[frznnomad]

if your a plow style rider then stick with the mavic's man. just my opinion though.

 

[TheMontashu]

the 6.1s are saposed to be insainly stiff, you might want to check thoes out, but you can never go wrong with 729s

 

[croute]

try the entry level dt 540 which is heavier and don't flat spot ( weight 520gr)
and they much cheaper!!!

 

[On Any Sunday]

Thnaks for the replys

Have DT swiss sorted their rim material out from there first batch? As ive heard that they were like cheese.

Ive also heard that the 5.1 are stiffer than the 6.1 can anyone back this up?

The likes of Hill, Peaty are running 5.1 and seem to be doing ok on them (i know they have a good wheel builder/rim supply) But they still have to run the best to get good results.

Thanks

 

[_*sTiTcHeS*_]

if you made of money, then get the 6.1 because they still dent easily. i thought that was the entire design of them. if you dont want dents, then dont cry to us monkeys and get a set of mavics! couple years of whislter on an sx and my friend has put 4 dents with cracks in his 721s. one dent in his double trac rear on the demo, and in one day with the 6.1 on a vpfree put 6 dents. one day!

 

[c.o.d51]

the 6.1s are saposed to be insainly stiff, you might want to check thoes out, but you can never go wrong with 729s

My 6.1 is about as stiff as a piece of swiss cheese. It has four dents in it, and is cracked all the way around. After two days of real riding. Lame. It's the first rim that I've truly broken... Time to go check out 823's.

 

[Daver]

I have been running the 07 5.1s for about a month or so now and no problems. The sidewalls are no softer than those of my old 721s, and i've dropped a fair bit of weight off the bike too. Next upgrade is revolution spokes and i should have a sub 1800g wheelset.

For the record i had lots of problems with the first generation 6.1s (05 i think) but the ones that came stock on my 06 Sunday were harder to ding.

 

[sriracha]

at prices like $70 for the DT5.1 and $85 for the DT6.1, i wouldn't consider that a disposable product.

sun single tracks are $20 a pop from universalcycles...now that is a disposable rim!

just get 4 singletracks for $80 and keep doing rim swaps, using the same spokes and nipples.

 

[frznnomad]

^^^yeh that is about the lamest thing i have ever heard. 4 singletracks for a whole season is obsered. i can blow threw a front and a rear one in one day of practice. my suggestion is go with a set of 823's or 729's that you know are gonna last you a whole season, and are going to be ubber stiff. this way you have a rim you can beat on and you have no worries. ohh and if you go with the 823's your gaining all the advantages of a tubless setup, and mine have lasted 2 years on my sgs.

 

[Bicyclist]

WTF? I've had my Singletracks for like a year, built with 15/16g spokes and alloy nipples, with hardly any truing/tensioning, and they're fine. I've felt the rim hit stuff (as in the tire is totally pinched) and I haven't flatted, and barely dented. This happens 2-3 times a run for me sometimes.

 

[motomike]

I'm still on the same ragged 5.1 rear rim since last fall. Its got around 10-15 dents and one huge one that you can almost see the tube. With that said, the damm thing is still together and I continue to beat the crap out of it.

edit: very few flats with these rims as well. Something to think about if you race. A dent is better than a flat tire in a race run.

 

[sriracha]

^^^yeh that is about the lamest thing i have ever heard. 4 singletracks for a whole season is obsered. i can blow threw a front and a rear one in one day of practice. my suggestion is go with a set of 823's or 729's that you know are gonna last you a whole season, and are going to be ubber stiff. this way you have a rim you can beat on and you have no worries.

you can pretty much destroy any rim by hitting it hard enough on a sharp rock. i've seen multiple 729's with folded sidewalls, leaving a huge crack right at the crease (one of which was on the first day out). and i've also seen 823's crack at all the eyelets.

sure, singletracks aren't the strongest rim, but i was responding to a comment above about the DT rims being disposable...and to me, a singletrack at $20 is disposable.

 

[On Any Sunday]

I have been running the 07 5.1s for about a month or so now and no problems. The sidewalls are no softer than those of my old 721s, and i've dropped a fair bit of weight off the bike too. Next upgrade is revolution spokes and i should have a sub 1800g wheelset.

Thats what i wanted to hear, are you a fairly heavey rider?

Thanks

 

[Daver]

Thats what i wanted to hear, are you a fairly heavey rider?

Thanks

I'm heavy (120kg) and I race. That said i do spend a lot of time looking after the bike- tensioning and truing wheels, etc.