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Want to build some new wheels, looking for rim suggestions.

CraigS

Monkey
Oct 13, 2012
123
11
upstate ny (518)
I currently have Mavic 729's laced to Hadleys which are 4 years old. Still true and in good shape but I think its time to
update.
Will still use the Hadleys as they have been maintained and problem free.
The rims I'm considering are Mavic 823 and possibly Stans new Flow ex.
Looking to reduce some rotational weight but not give up durability. (I know, kind of an oxymoron)

My racing days are behind me, I guess I'm considered a weekend warrior now.
180lbs geared up and they will be mounted to a Demo8.

Suggestions?
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
i'm on the carbon rims from http://www.light-bicycle.com/
and they are great
strong
stiff
light
and hold on strong.

cant see myself going back to aluminium rims.....
Pic's or it didn't happen


As for aluminum rims, I've always had good luck with Sun Ringle rims. They aren't too soft (DT swiss) so they don't dent too easily. And they aren't too hard (Mavic) so they don't pinch flat very often.
 

Routier07

Monkey
Mar 14, 2009
259
0
The new WTB Frequency i23s are a decent rim. I built up a set for a friend and they're still straight as an arrow, he isn't the smoothest rider around either....
 

boylagz

Monkey
Jul 12, 2011
558
61
SF bay area
Im on 823s and Hadleys (problem-free, bomber, kinda heavy), I dont think you will save a lot of weight from 729s to 823s. Main thing is the hubs, Hadleys are heavy, vs. Hopes or DT's (at least 100g difference each end). If you wanna go with a lighter set and still be 'dh' worthy, My suggestion would be Hope or DT 240 hubs to 721 rims. Good luck.
 

saruti

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,167
73
Israel
I ride them for several months now.
Here trails are littered with rocks. And these rims Excellent survive.
I ride with a rear wheel 35 PSI and 26 PSI front.
I did a run with the rear tire no air after I've got a hole in the tire from a sharp rock, and what happened to the rim is a small Dent in the fibers. fixed with some super glue.
The wheels are still straight
What's nice is that they give their rims warranty. And in the event of a problem or broken, they send you a free rim. And charge you only for shipping.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
821
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
I've been using the Flow EX for a few months now on my 7" bike and it really does feel stiffer and wider than the Flow. I think it's a legit DH rim for any reasonably smooth rider. If you want a little more beef the Spank Subrosa has been problem free on my DH bike for 2 seasons. If you want the width of your current 729s but lighter the Spank Spike. Unfortunately there's no carbon rims in the width range of true DH rims. Hopefully Light-bikes will make one soon.
 

Tomasz

Monkey
Jul 18, 2012
339
0
Whistla
I ride them for several months now.
Here trails are littered with rocks. And these rims Excellent survive.
I ride with a rear wheel 35 PSI and 26 PSI front.
I did a run with the rear tire no air after I've got a hole in the tire from a sharp rock, and what happened to the rim is a small Dent in the fibers. fixed with some super glue.
The wheels are still straight
What's nice is that they give their rims warranty. And in the event of a problem or broken, they send you a free rim. And charge you only for shipping.
Which bike do you have these rims on, and where are you riding?
 

saruti

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,167
73
Israel
2 different bikes
a set on my MKII trail bike
and a set on my 2011 DHR . the set on the DH bike is stronger 420g per rim
the set on the AM bike is 380g per rim
 

ScarredOne

Monkey
Sep 18, 2001
185
0
Mavic 819. I ran this on the rear of my DHR all over British Columbia this past summer as part of a wheel I hastily built myself. ZTR Flow (non EX) on the front. Both worked excellent, and are super light as well.

I have no reservations about running 819 on any of my bikes. I've been running them without a problem for almost two years on my 7" bike as well. My 823s now just sit as backups.
 

ScarredOne

Monkey
Sep 18, 2001
185
0
Mavic 819. I ran this on the rear of my DHR all over British Columbia this past summer as part of a wheel I hastily built myself. ZTR Flow (non EX) on the front. Both worked excellent, and are super light as well.

I have no reservations about running 819 on any of my bikes. I've been running them without a problem for almost two years on my 7" bike as well. My 823s now just sit as backups.
 

saruti

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,167
73
Israel
if you check PSI before every ride. and keep the rear 35 and above (tubeless) you wont get any failures
 

VMARTINEZ

Monkey
May 23, 2005
303
18
Most of those guys are running absurdly low PSI, so it's a bit tough to tell what's the rims fault and what's not.
I have read the post on MTBR and someone tried to warranty the rim and never heard back from the company.
Others have posted how to repair the rims. Sounds like its been pain in the butt.

If you don't want issues with carbon rims just order Enve's or Reynolds.
But they are not cheap.
VM
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I dont think you will save a lot of weight from 729s to 823s. Main thing is the hubs, Hadleys are heavy, vs. Hopes or DT's (at least 100g difference each end). If you wanna go with a lighter set and still be 'dh' worthy, My suggestion would be Hope or DT 240 hubs to 721 rims. Good luck.
It's like 40 grams total lighter to run 823s. Well within tire/tube variations.

Craig: here's what you get with that.

A really stiff rim that's not likely to get dinged very easily......at all

A much sharper edge against your tire sidewall meaning more flats than your 729s

A narrower rim that lets tires bigger than about a 2.5 old maxxis flop over laterally a lot easier in turns and generally just not support the tire as much.


I understand why everyone's so gaga about 823s, and I've had them on at least one bike for the last 6-7 years or so. But I run them tubeless. Because running them with tubes sucks. My full blown dh bike has mavic 729s and always will for the foreseeable future. I've not had a single flat tire in about 3 years running tubes. That's not dh tubes, that's those thinner specialized ones they call like a 2.5-3.0 or something. But it's the rims that make the difference. I've got three seasons on the same rear rim and it looks like absolute hell. But zero flats and the thing is still completely round and truable. I was switching around tires between bikes, threw a tube in on my 7" play bike with the 823s and flatted the first day out.

The 729 is their best dh rim by a long shot for any sizeable tires. If you can run smaller tires, then yeah those 719s are awesome too.......but they're really narrow and flop your tires even worse.

You know the 729s, why would you WANT to try something else? Every time I've built a dh wheel with another rim (more like brand) I end up building another 729 up the same season because I killed it.
 

saruti

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,167
73
Israel
VMARTINEZ
I Do not know who the riders who broke rims, And why did not get another under warranty...
I'm supposed to get a new rim now instead the one I dented while riding with no air.
And I can still ride on it.
my friends are now ordering this carbon wide rims too. for trail and DH.
with the price of one enve .......... you know....
they are really great.
 

VMARTINEZ

Monkey
May 23, 2005
303
18
VMARTINEZ
I Do not know who the riders who broke rims, And why did not get another under warranty...
I'm supposed to get a new rim now instead the one I dented while riding with no air.
And I can still ride on it.
my friends are now ordering this carbon wide rims too. for trail and DH.
with the price of one enve .......... you know....
they are really great.
With 32 pages on the wheels and tires's and 110 pages on the 29er parts pages it's hard to find the failures and warranty issues in the MTBR forum.
That being said the Enve's are pricey.
But if you find the post from Krispy from Go-Ride on the Light rims he says he has built a bunch of Enve's and they go together with no issues. He built a set of Light's for him self and found a few little thing. One being the spoke holes drilled straight and not in line with the hub. This cause some spoke tension issues.
But If Krispy put's his seal of approval on them that good enough for me.
VMARTINEZ
 

daisycutter

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2006
1,651
124
New York City
With 32 pages on the wheels and tires's and 110 pages on the 29er parts pages it's hard to find the failures and warranty issues in the MTBR forum.
That being said the Enve's are pricey.
But if you find the post from Krispy from Go-Ride on the Light rims he says he has built a bunch of Enve's and they go together with no issues. He built a set of Light's for him self and found a few little thing. One being the spoke holes drilled straight and not in line with the hub. This cause some spoke tension issues.
But If Krispy put's his seal of approval on them that good enough for me.
VMARTINEZ
Krispy is 135lbs he is not taxing those rims hard unless he is huck ing like the old days.
 

boylagz

Monkey
Jul 12, 2011
558
61
SF bay area
@woo, interesting on the 729's. Have you run the 721's too? How is it compared to the 29's? How much narrower is it to warrant any weight saved vs. going with the 729s or 823s... Gracias.
 

Rhubarb

Monkey
Jan 11, 2009
462
238
Thats very interesting info Woo. Might explain why I pinch flat alot more with 721s. My Outlaws are alot better and one pinch in a blue moon from an unlucky strike, both running same tires. The 721s are far more regular and I do run more pressure when on these rims. Makes sense.
 

daisycutter

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2006
1,651
124
New York City
@woo, interesting on the 729's. Have you run the 721's too? How is it compared to the 29's? How much narrower is it to warrant any weight saved vs. going with the 729s or 823s... Gracias.
The 729s are sweet rims. They are heavier then 721s and do not dent very easy. I use 721s for races and 729s and 823s for straight. I like the 729s just a bit better then 823s because they give a better tire profile for 2.50 tires.
 

Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
Ive got some new HOPE/ex500 wheels for sale if interested. 1950g with steel freehub. PM me if interested.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
@woo, interesting on the 729's. Have you run the 721's too?
Definitely. That's what's on the wheels on both my dirtjumper and my slopestyle suspension thing. They're bomber as hell. I had some dh wheels with them on one of my big bikes but I really really disliked how narrow they were.....just too much lateral squish. Lots of people run those things and swear by them. I just think they're too narrow for the size tires I run (which aren't even really that big, 'new' 2.4 maxxis/'old' 2.5 maxxis, some 2.3 kendas every once in a while). A narrower rim is also going to want to bite into more of the smashed part of a tube when it gets pinched too. Something else to keep in mind.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
821
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
@woo, interesting on the 729's. Have you run the 721's too? How is it compared to the 29's? How much narrower is it to warrant any weight saved vs. going with the 729s or 823s... Gracias.
In Mavic language the last 2 digits are the internal width in millimeters. I wouldn't go under 24mm for a DH rim and I consider 26-29 ideal.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
821
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
Besides the 729 Mavic rims have always been narrow compared to the competition but now that there's a genuine industry wide move toward wider rims it's weird that they're still lagging behind. Enve too. All that testing by The Syndicate and no one has asked for a wider rim than 22mm?
 

Huck Banzai

Turbo Monkey
May 8, 2005
2,523
23
Transitory
Besides the 729 Mavic rims have always been narrow compared to the competition but now that there's a genuine industry wide move toward wider rims it's weird that they're still lagging behind. Enve too. All that testing by The Syndicate and no one has asked for a wider rim than 22mm?
729's Narrow? The only rims wider I ever see are old school (DoubleWide, DoubleTrack, Arrow, Spank)

But all this talk has me ready to build my next set on 729's - esp the anti pinch flat qualifitizatibility. I love 823's tubeless, but low pressure in the rear likes to roll/burp so HMMM!!!!
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
My one and only time on 729's
View attachment 112576View attachment 112577
That was from one day at mountain creek, Front rim had to be replaced as well.
I have like 15 of those in my rear rim. Still round. Still true. And exactly what I'm talking about. That's what those rims do when you knock the shlt out of them. They don't crack across the profile or around the nipples. You didn't need to replace anything. Build them with good straight guage spokes, keep them tight, and you'll never get a flat spot. That's all they'll ever do.