http://www.singletrackworld.com/2011/04/eastons-record-breaking-26in-and-29er-xc-wheels/

1285gm for the 26". $2500 though!

Will be interesting to see the reviews once people get hold of them.

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Taking the path of least resistance...

Wow Drooling.

for a fraction of 2500 you could do some stans to DT's 190s and sapim spokes...

They're cool but come on, really?

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2011 Trek Paragon 29er | Reba XX 120mm Fork | XX Drivetrain | 160mm White/Carbon Exiler CR Brakes | Thomson 90mm Stem & Post | Easton Monkey Lite Bar | X.9 Hubs to DT Swiss X470's | Schwalbe Rocket Rons

I really have a mixed opinion on these. On one hand my mind says "holy hot damn those are sexy wheels". On the other hand I think my $500 Stan's Podium wheelset is the same weight with bar-none the best bead securing system on the market.
However I have noticed with my, and other racers, the Podium rim is pretty well a throw away item after a year or two. Not that it is a huge issue since the rims are so cheap and you can keep building them into the same spokes and hubs.
Anyways a bit of a tangent there. My compulsive side says buy, my logical side says meh.

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Light. Strong. Cheap. Pick one.

@Benno - I feel similarly to you. Cool but not sure if I'd ever purchase something like that. Not only that but the Alpine or Crest isn't much heavier and doesn't suffer from being quite as 'disposable' as the Podium MMX / Race29er (not that it's unreasonable by any means considering the mass/performance).

I guess I just feel a little more conservative with lots of MTB related stuff as replace-ability is higher up my list than with road gear. Obviously it's just opinions etc but I guess I worry more about rocks/roots than curbs and road rash.

Specialized's 2011 Roval SL Carbon wheels:
1200g for their 26"
DT swiss internals
Stan's-style bead hook
$1500

^^^ that is a lot.

for a weight penalty of 15g more, over this side of the pond I would consider Superleggera XCR Pro Scandium Wheelset - CX Ray Spokes

At current $ <> £ would be about $ 817.56 US dollars.

Yup!

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2011 Trek Paragon 29er | Reba XX 120mm Fork | XX Drivetrain | 160mm White/Carbon Exiler CR Brakes | Thomson 90mm Stem & Post | Easton Monkey Lite Bar | X.9 Hubs to DT Swiss X470's | Schwalbe Rocket Rons

I have Notubes Podium wheels, Notubes Crest wheels, some 1300g tubulars with Dugast 47mm, other 1300g tubulars with 2.2" Tufo XC4's. I just bought some Easton Haven Carbons. They're 1450 grams so 100-200grams heavier than my other wheels. I'm faster in short track, olympic format, marathon and enduro racing. They are so much stiffer, more predictable, comfortable, confidence inspiring and gives the tyre better support. I was very apprehensive but now I'm getting rid of all my other wheels so I'll probably actually end up making money. Worth every penny...except now I wish I'd waited for the EC90XC. Note that the rim weight on them is the same as a Podium MMX, but not a one year race day only disposable item...and they have a decent warranty.

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Grover's Grumblings
Grover's Garage

One year race day only? I have about 5000km's on my podiums in the past 14 months. They'll still be fine until the end of this season, probably 8000+ km's. Though I weigh 135lbs and am really easy on my stuff (and a mechanic).
For me it's all about the bead hook.

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Light. Strong. Cheap. Pick one.

@grover - While I understand what you're saying, it's still just something I couldn't feel happy risking if I had to replace rims out of my own pocket - being pov and all haha. Nothing to do with thinking carbon is fragile etc, just $$$.

You're opening up another can of worms with the Haven's though. An XC style build with Flows would be just above 1500 grams, cost less and still have a better bead.

My background is as a shop, team and neutral race support mechanic. I've built plenty of wheels for myself and others. Without sounding too egotistical I have a pretty good reputation locally. Most of the wheels I've built have been Notubes rims.

I loved my Podium MMX wheelset. They were built to Notubes recommended maximum spoke tension, and the tensions were very even. Tensions were checked after 5 hours and they hadn't moved. I probably checked them twice more through their life and I made maybe 3 1/8th or 1/4 turn adjustments. I'm 160lbs, used them for about 20 races/50 hours. The rear rim pulled through at a couple of spoke holes.

My experience is that on the whole Australian trails, and especially Australian race tracks, are rougher/rockier than Europe. I haven't raced in America. At my weight, riding style and the conditions I race in a Podium MMX rim lasts about a year being used only for racing. I say disposable because they don't have a warranty. It breaks, you're up for another one whether it be normal wear or a defect causing failure.

The EC90XC wheelset has a rim that weighs the same and has a warranty. My Havens are much stiffer than other 1450 gram wheelsets I've ridden so I'm assuming the EC90XC wheelset will be stiffer than a Podium MMX wheelset. I added some sealant to a 490 gram Hutchinson Cobra and pumped it up with a track pump so I'm pretty happy with the UST bead on the Easton wheels.

So you can buy 3 Podium MMX wheelsets for the price of the EC90XC wheelset (Going on RRP). Going purely on that I'd have to get three years of race day use out of them. The difference being I feel they'd withstand being used everyday so I wouldn't need a training wheelset. That takes it down to two years use to get my money's worth. Then you take into account that they're stiffer and most likely make you a faster rider. It's a heap of money to drop on a set of mtb wheels, but I'd be happy in my choice given Easton's expertise with composites.

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Grover's Grumblings
Grover's Garage

Sorry to bump an old thread but did anyone buy these wheels and how were they? They're much cheaper now. I'm looking at a new wheelset.