Quantcast

Looking for a good 4x wheelset

Alex966

Monkey
May 6, 2005
346
0
Charlotte, NC
I wasn't sure the best place to put this thread, so I put it in the closest related forum.

I'm getting into 4X racing this spring/summer and have been thinking about either outfitting my GT Ruckus 1.0 with a good build or just buying a more 4X specific frame/bike. But my first and biggest concern is the wheelset. I don't have one for 4X, but at the same time I'm not sure what would be pretty good for this kind of racing. I'm coming from racing DH, and have a bulky set of Bombshell's that I'm dreading using on a 4x bike. So I was thinking maybe Rhyno Lites or some cheap Mavics.

Your thoughts, opinions and advice would be much appreciated!

-Patrick
 

rollertoaster

Monkey
Aug 7, 2007
730
179
Douglassville , PA
I Scored a set of 321's with double butted spokes on wtb lazer disc lites late last season. Paid $175 shipped from eBay and the weigh 17-1800g (I forget exactly). If you can find a set I strongly reccomend them
 

Alex966

Monkey
May 6, 2005
346
0
Charlotte, NC
Thanks guys for the input so far, I'll start checkin' out some of those options. Fortunately I have a friend who works for AtomLab, so I may be able to get some help getting my hands on one of their wheelsets. I'm a light weight guy too, so the pimplites could work very well for me.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Thanks guys for the input so far, I'll start checkin' out some of those options. Fortunately I have a friend who works for AtomLab, so I may be able to get some help getting my hands on one of their wheelsets. I'm a light weight guy too, so the pimplites could work very well for me.
fyi im a heavyweight, and i run pimplites, just throwing that out there.
 

rollertoaster

Monkey
Aug 7, 2007
730
179
Douglassville , PA
Atomlabs or outlaws seem overkill for 4x. I'm not the smoothest rider and I'm over 200lbs. I guess I just don't have much bad luck with destroying wheels. That and if I have to replace the occassion rim it's not a big deal.
 

b1k3_r1d3r

Monkey
Jul 6, 2005
121
0
stans ztr arches on hopes with super comps. built those up are super strong and have been hammering them for over a year and still true and circular. Oh and they almost weigh 1600g
 

Alex966

Monkey
May 6, 2005
346
0
Charlotte, NC
lol yeah unfortunately, I'm on a budget this time around. In late spring/early summer I should be able to fork up about $500-600 on a nicer wheelset, and maybe if I'm fortunate I'll be get to indulge a bit get something around the $900 mark. My only issue is, why does just about every rim have to be classified as either a cross-country rim or DH rim. It's like it's one extreme or the other. At least with all the online resources.
 

greengreer

Monkey
Apr 27, 2008
173
0
NC
Easton Havoc's - A hair over 1900g and wide enough to give the tire a good profile, plenty strong if you aren't too heavy.
If you want to score some pimplites on the cheap, check out www.atomlabdeals.com
Great deals, and good folks to deal with.
Oh and some spam for ya, if you are interested I've got a set of '09 Havocs I'm about to put up for sale, PM me. Mmmm Spamwhich
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
I would save up what you can and blow most of it on a nice rear hub. Good engagement is going to be essential for those corners. Front hub doesn't really matter, hub weight isn't that important, and you should be able to find a decent freeride rim that's in between an XC and DH rim. The rhyno lite, Arrow FRX, and Sun MTX whatever width all immediately come to mind. You shouldn't need super wide rims nor super strong ones. Middle of the road should be better than XC but not as durable as DH. You shouldn't be hitting the same rocky sections in 4x as you would in DH.
 

Alex966

Monkey
May 6, 2005
346
0
Charlotte, NC
I would save up what you can and blow most of it on a nice rear hub. Good engagement is going to be essential for those corners. Front hub doesn't really matter, hub weight isn't that important, and you should be able to find a decent freeride rim that's in between an XC and DH rim. The rhyno lite, Arrow FRX, and Sun MTX whatever width all immediately come to mind. You shouldn't need super wide rims nor super strong ones. Middle of the road should be better than XC but not as durable as DH. You shouldn't be hitting the same rocky sections in 4x as you would in DH.
Word! That sounds real good. I wasn't really thinking about it that way, that can save me a lot of money then not having to worry bout the front wheel much. I'll probably spend the money on a Hadley or Hope rear hub, I've ran a Hadley rear on my '07 Sunday and I loved it. I've heard good things about the Hope hubs, and the Saint hub has gotten praise I know. We'll see.

Thanks guys for your help, this really puts me in a better decision making position.

-Patrick
 

quickneonrt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2003
1,611
0
Staten Island NY
Hopes have horrible engagement they are about as good as a cheap Shimano or quando rear hub. Hadley,Chris King, Dt Swiss, True Precision Stealth hub those are all quality hubs. A less expensive but probably the lightest front hub is the new Atomlab Pimplite hub.
Also a strong and light weight rim is the WTB Laserdisc FR or AM. The Laserdisc series are welded and very inexpensive. They are under rated because the are not flashy or boutique. They are also about half the price of a 721. Look them up on universalcycles.com
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Hopes have horrible engagement they are about as good as a cheap Shimano or quando rear hub. Hadley,Chris King, Dt Swiss, True Precision Stealth hub those are all quality hubs. A less expensive but probably the lightest front hub is the new Atomlab Pimplite hub.
Also a strong and light weight rim is the WTB Laserdisc FR or AM. The Laserdisc series are welded and very inexpensive. They are under rated because the are not flashy or boutique. They are also about half the price of a 721. Look them up on universalcycles.com
True Precisions are known for blowing up, and Hopes at least have weight going for them. However, the engagement certainly leaves something to be desired.

Another cheap option might be the Sun Singletrack for rims, or even a Rhyno Lite XL if you think you can get away with it. They're both a pretty decent weight and strength.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
Hopes have horrible engagement they are about as good as a cheap Shimano or quando rear hub. Hadley,Chris King, Dt Swiss, True Precision Stealth hub those are all quality hubs. A less expensive but probably the lightest front hub is the new Atomlab Pimplite hub.
Also a strong and light weight rim is the WTB Laserdisc FR or AM. The Laserdisc series are welded and very inexpensive. They are under rated because the are not flashy or boutique. They are also about half the price of a 721. Look them up on universalcycles.com
tis true. The hopes are good hubs, but only have 24pt engagement...same as an outlaw. I would pick up an outlaw (Azonic recoil hub) instead, since you'll save money with the same engagement. 24pt is better than low end shimano.

Saint is 36, so is the newer DT swiss, hadley is 72, chris king is like infinity, and industry nine is over 9000. I would say anything 36 and over will be noticeable, but 72 vs. 108 will not. I ride outlaws, and they aren't problematic, but they aren't SUPER faster either.
 

Alex966

Monkey
May 6, 2005
346
0
Charlotte, NC
Well I was thinking 300 or less. Preferably less, cause now after I did my budget last night, I can't afford that lol. But "F" it I'm gonna spend that money come March 11th when I get some more cash flow. Unfortunately, I know the Hadley costs about $280 for just the rear hub, well at least that's what I remember paying at Beyond Bikes. At this point I don't care about what I put on the front as long as it isn't 100lbs like the Bombshells I'm running. lol

I priced out the Stans ZTR Arch at $85 and the Sun Rhyno Lite XL at $52 on Prowheelbuilder.com. I just looked up the Hadley rear on Go-ride.com and they've got them for $270. Lace them up with some DT Swiss Champions, and I'm looking at about roughly $350-360, with the Rhyno lite xl.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
You might want to check out chainreactioncycles, they have cheap built wheels using hope hubs. Again, engagement isn't superb, but for ~300$, you cannot get a better brand new set of wheels.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
355
Roanoke, VA
You can't beat Mavic xc 821's for slalom wheels. Stiff as crap, light as crap, and if you run a tube in them, nearly impossible to roll tires on.
 

Tayrob

Monkey
Jan 3, 2008
105
0
I'm running Sun Ringle Chargers right now and all I have to say is don't.
The rims(Equlizer 25's?)are soooo flexy under somewhat hard cornering.

WTB FR wheelset,maybe?
30mm wide rim,butted spokes,and a pretty decent weight.
I plan on lacing up some FR rims to XT hubs to replace my terrible Chargers soon.
 
I'm running Sun Ringle Chargers right now and all I have to say is don't.
The rims(Equlizer 25's?)are soooo flexy under somewhat hard cornering.

WTB FR wheelset,maybe?
30mm wide rim,butted spokes,and a pretty decent weight.
I plan on lacing up some FR rims to XT hubs to replace my terrible Chargers soon.
I disagree, but to each his own. Have you checked your spoke tension lately?
 

quickneonrt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2003
1,611
0
Staten Island NY
Chargers are heavier and not as stiff as the new Atomlab Superlites.
Chris King hubs are a worm drive so it is pretty much a direct drive.
I-9s are 108 point engagement
Hadley are 72 point
Faster the engagement the better for 4x.
 

Tayrob

Monkey
Jan 3, 2008
105
0
Spoke tension is good.
They're just flexy rims.You can grab a bunch of spokes and squeeze them and watch the rim flex.
 

quickneonrt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2003
1,611
0
Staten Island NY
I'm running Sun Ringle Chargers right now and all I have to say is don't.
The rims(Equlizer 25's?)are soooo flexy under somewhat hard cornering.

WTB FR wheelset,maybe?
30mm wide rim,butted spokes,and a pretty decent weight.
I plan on lacing up some FR rims to XT hubs to replace my terrible Chargers soon.
The new XT wheelset is also very nice.
As for WTB rims the Laserdisc series is great , welded strong and light. The FR is strong enough for dh basically similar to a 721 but less expensive. For 4x you could run the AM rim.
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
Yeah, what about this wheelset:

(image via sicklines)

Apparently the rims are really good and though. As far as the engagement goes, I don't really know. But they are super servicable, long lasting and reliable hubs.
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
I'm running Sun Ringle Chargers right now and all I have to say is don't.
The rims(Equlizer 25's?)are soooo flexy under somewhat hard cornering.

WTB FR wheelset,maybe?
30mm wide rim,butted spokes,and a pretty decent weight.
I plan on lacing up some FR rims to XT hubs to replace my terrible Chargers soon.
I have the Charger wheelset. The hubs are not bad thought. Jumping Flea and Dirty Flea. Don't know, again, the engagement for those. I've been riding them for 3 years and they have proven to be very reliable, no problems so far.
 
Last edited:

quickneonrt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2003
1,611
0
Staten Island NY
Yeah, what about this wheelset:

(image via sicklines)

Apparently the rims are really good and though. As far as the engagement goes, I don't really know. But they are super servicable, long lasting and reliable hubs.
Those are what I was talking about the XT 776 have a 20mm front hub. The XT 778 has a 15mm front hub.
Positive.......can run tubeless, 36 point engagement, price, solid hubs
Negative....centerlock only
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
355
Roanoke, VA
Is Mavic making you custom rims?? WTF is a xc821?
i refuse to use their new nomenclature. Too many sku's already in my head. the call them EX821's these days, iirc. The XC weight tubeless rim. That thing is stiffer and stronger than most people realize...
 

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
819 I think is what you are refering to, and I do agree.

The only tubeless 21mm rim is on the crossmax sx and for some reason they dont sell the rim only....
 

yetihenry

Monkey
Aug 9, 2009
241
1
Whistler, BC
xm819 is a decent weight, until you add the ust nipples which mavic dont include in the weight.

I ran 5.1d, now the ex500, no real need to worry about denting so they are fine. For me it would be them of stans flows.
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
i refuse to use their new nomenclature. Too many sku's already in my head. the call them EX821's these days, iirc. The XC weight tubeless rim. That thing is stiffer and stronger than most people realize...
Can't see them nowhere, the ex821's that is.

What about the EN 521? Looks like a solid choice.