New wheels for my Epic 29

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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2002maniac
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by 2002maniac

There's a thread over on mtbr discussing cheap ($350 shipped or so) carbon rims that can be bought direct from the manufacturer. Quality looks good from the pics that have been shared, but I'm still too scared to order a set. Maybe after there are some more detailed long term reviews I'll go for it. ENVE, roval, etc. is just way out of my budget :(

by Weenie


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andrewryangibson
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by andrewryangibson

Easton doesn't honor it's warranty

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Drea
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by Drea

2002maniac wrote:There's a thread over on mtbr discussing cheap ($350 shipped or so) carbon rims that can be bought direct from the manufacturer. Quality looks good from the pics that have been shared, but I'm still too scared to order a set. Maybe after there are some more detailed long term reviews I'll go for it. ENVE, roval, etc. is just way out of my budget :(

I've orded a set. I'll let you know how I like them. Enve was out of stock.

Varaxis
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Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 4:07 pm

by Varaxis

Enve rims ride oddly. It "feels" less stiff than a Stan's Flow, but offers great tracking that typically comes with stiff wheelsets. For those used to stiff alloy wheels, Enve's lack the feedback may get some getting used to. Some call it compliance, I call it dead, when I kind of like some stiff and lively feel. While stiffness and compliance are hard to measure by feel, by the "seat of your pants", you can estimate it through comparison. Some inexperienced people find that a stiff, uncompliant wheel, with lots of feedback to be "very stiff", but it may not be as stiff as a stiff and compliant wheel in lab tests, and may not like them in the end. Too much feedback can lead to extra fatigue, so it's not ideal for everyone. The Enves cover lots of ground with, hold up to abuse, and track very well, holding the line you pick, riding skinnies between deep multiple ruts or "surfing" the ruts, and making your tires feel a little better. I ran beefier tires on my i9 enduro wheelset and I'm running micro knobbies full time on my Enve wheelset, riding the same trails. The Enve + faster tires can make for some more sketchy situations, due to how much faster they roll and how much more careful you need to be at controlling that speed, but the faster times you get and how fresh you feel when you are with friends (who may begin to despise you) says all lot of good about the wheels. Crests, for comparison, feel *extremely* flimsy. I'd never ride the Crests again and can't understand why they're recommended so much.

Overall, they perform exceptionally well, but they simply lack the feel that gives you the initial impression that they are amazing. It's that carbon damping effect, I guess. Sometimes having that feedback and not too much compliance is desirable, when you actually have the senses to make use of feedback to react to the ground. Great if you're going for all out performance and have the cash, but hard to write great things about them at first, besides that they hold up to more abuse than one would typically credit a carbon XC part to withstand. On the other hand, when riding in a group, if you're like me and my buddies, you literally will be riding circles around your friends. The more you ride them, the more you appreciate them. I initially wasn't stunned by their performance, but it wasn't quite a fair test, as I cut so much weight down and got my bike so much faster, that my riding skills were a little lagged when it came to carrying more speed and spinning up faster and needing to adjust braking better (basically being a bit nervous).

Briscoelab
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by Briscoelab

My wife is running some Enve carbon wheels on her Specailized S-works HT and loves them. King hubs, CX-ray spokes, 28hole.

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She's rough on parts and loves King hubs, so we went with these on her build over the Rovals.


I have an Epic S-works 29er and went with the carbon Roval SL wheel set. I weigh 175lbs and haven't had any issues with them yet. I like the slightly wider rim on the Rovals (my only complaint about the Enve). They aren't as stiff as the Enve setup though. Tough call, both are great wheels. The Rovals are cheaper, a bit lighter, and have a wider rim. I think anyone would be thrilled with either.

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pumpkins
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by pumpkins

Would chinese rim be at the same weight wif roval control sl?
anybody have exact weight of roval in size 29 and also 26 for reference, n chinese rims also eould be helpfull,
want to research for my built

DanW
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by DanW

If you are prepared to spend Enve type money then surely AX have to be worth a look to get a rim that is actually light and wide (Enve is neither really). No experience myself but I'd definitely be giving them serious consideration.

Another WW has them on an Epic and the look awesome http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=121932&p=1037477#p1037477

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the_marsbar
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by the_marsbar

The wheels on that bike use the tubular rim, not the new clincher rim.

I haven't seen anyone with the wheels built using the new rims. Maybe Alexandra Engen used them last season (or maybe she used the tubular version as well)?

DanW
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by DanW

The wheels on that bike use the tubular rim, not the new clincher rim.


True, but assuming the clincher rides as well as the tubular then the AX 29 clincher is lighter (150g per pair), a touch wider and cheaper (Eur 200 per pair) than Enve 29 clincher.

If I had the money I think I'd be looking that direction rather than Enve. Also currently riding 26 doesn't give me any reason to switch out the Podium MMX rims for my weight and riding. 29 could start getting expensive to overcome the associated weight increase and stiffness decrease vs 26 :D


Wederkinck
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by Wederkinck

Drea wrote:Enve it is.


Good choice! I'm running Hope evo 2 on Crest rims. I liked them, but then I tried some Roval carbon wheels last year... I need a bigger cycling budget!

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