[punkassean]

people like to be dramatic...
Its a vanilla DH trail rim.

Zed,

Does that imply that the Vanilla DH is an incapable shock?

I know two people who have run them for a long time with good results, in fact Carlin has had the same one for a year now and it has been abused hard (Moreno gap, Utah red bull course, Alaska trip, Whistler, Williams lake etc.) without complaint.

I don't think they have the superior damping of many other shocks but they seem reliable enough anyway...

 

[punkassean]

Alright. I understand why people are so upset about these rims then. I did not think that anyone would use them for serious DH actually. Thought it was more of a rough trailride/freeride ust-rim?

Im 155 lbs and most of the time, there will be no abuse. But some times there will be, when having fun in the streets etc. and when visiting Verbier, the Atlas Mountains, Åre (swedish place) etc.

I have had EX823's for a solid year now and they are holding up wonderfully to what I consider a fair amount of abuse. I have used them a few times a week for everything from jumping, medium drops, trail riding etc. I haven't needed to do anything but a slight truing/tensioning very occasionally (twice). I do however run D521's on my full DH bike, but I would feel pretty comfortable running 823's it's just that I built my DH wheels before they existed. If you are fairly light and ride fairly smooth over anything less than the rockiest terrain EX823's should hold up as well as most other rims. It's when you are racing and pinning it trying to save every nanosecond that you are going to damage rims IMO. Since I don't race, I haven't had issues...

 

[Mike B.]

There is a great debate on the eyelets versus no eyelets but I firmly believe in no eyelets. The crimping of the eyelets can have a negative impact on strength. Grinding the welds will also be debated for years to come but the pro grinding arguement is to eliminate stress risers and for better aesthetics.

<spam>I think you guys are going to like what you see from us at Interbike. With all the success of the ZTR355 XC rim and the success at the Olympics and on the WC circuit this year for the yet to be unveiled ZTR Olympic XC rim, we'll be displaying the ZTR Freeride rim. There is still some testing to be done but 32mm wide, unbelievably stiff and lighter than what most people are riding right now with a few special features thrown in just for fun.</spam>

 

[DH Dad]

berkshire_rider:
Anyway. I just wanted to know what experience DH Dad has now, that he didnt have before he bought his EX823's. Some people say that these rims are fine and that they have ridden lots of miles on them without problems. But some say that they are the worse you can get.

They aren't the worst you can get but the 521 is stronger. Old 321 with Stans works better tubeless than the 823 but it sounds as though the new version of the 321 isn't as strong from this thread. Still riding my x823 but if they break I'm replacing them with either the 2005 version of the UST rim or a 521

 

[James | Go-Ride]

I know this has been said time and time again, but here is the breakdown on how rim designs are going to work out in the real world.

Soft aluminum vs hard aluminum: Some rims, like the LaserDisc from WTB a few years back, have a similar profile to burly rims like the Arrow, but because they use a softer aluminum they don't hold up as long. There is a reason manufacturers do this: to keep you from getting a pinch flat in your race run. In theory, using the softer material will keep your tube from flatting if you hit something really hard. Some people think this is why the Doublewide and Singlewide rims get trashed so easily, I think it's a combination of the material and total lack of any triangulation in the design.

Rims with vertical sidewalls: This design (aka Mavic 521/EX721, Atomic) is more resistant to flat spots, but will get small dings in the sidewall if you hit it hard while the bike isn't totally perpendicular to the ground. That's why a lot of people say that the Trailpimp sucks for racing; generally racers are off the brakes in corners and it's hard to keep track of your rear wheel if you're hauling arse in a turn, so you hit stuff hard and the rim gets dented.

Pyramid cross-section rims: These rims (Arrow DHX, Mag30, Sun MTX) almost never get dents in the sidewall, partially due to the design, but also partially because most rims shaped like this are burly and thick. The most well-known exception to that generalization is the Mavic EX729 (D321). It is easier to flatspot these rims because they don't have a stiff, vertical sidewall, but since most of them are heavy-duty by nature they don't dent.

As far as the Mavic thing goes, I will say that for the most part, Mavic rims are straight and round out of the box, which makes them very easy to build. When you can easily build a straight, round wheel without messing with individual spoke tensions in the initial build, the wheel is going to last longer because it doesn't start it's life with weird tensions right off the bat.

 

[zedro]

Zed,

Does that imply that the Vanilla DH is an incapable shock?

I know two people who have run them for a long time with good results, in fact Carlin has had the same one for a year now and it has been abused hard (Moreno gap, Utah red bull course, Alaska trip, Whistler, Williams lake etc.) without complaint.

I don't think they have the superior damping of many other shocks but they seem reliable enough anyway...

what the hell are you talking about?

i mean vanilla, as in plain ol' trail riding not at extreams....when did we start talking about shocks?

anyways, my DHX kicks ass...

 

[kidwoo]

what the hell are you talking about?

i mean vanilla, as in plain ol' trail riding not at extreams....when did we start talking about shocks?

anyways, my DHX kicks ass...

I had to read your post a few times before I realized you were talking about vanilla the flavor and not vanilla the damper too. But then again I just bought a vanilla DH so I'd expect to misunderstand you when you put "vanilla" and "DH" together. Anyway, you're not the only one punk ass ean.

 

[zedro]

I had to read your post a few times before I realized you were talking about vanilla the flavor and not vanilla the damper too. But then again I just bought a vanilla DH so I'd expect to misunderstand you when you put "vanilla" and "DH" together. Anyway, you're not the only one punk ass ean.

shoulda said 'plain vanilla DH trail rim'

 

[Curb Hucker]

crap.

you bought one of the OEM vanilla DHs for your DHR?