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Looking for advice on 29er wheels
Hi all,
I'm looking to buy myself a new 29er wheelset. Budget is anywhere up to $800. I only ride XC trails and won't do any crazy DH trails with it.
The bike is a Specialized Epic Comp Carbon and the stock wheelsets weigh a bit more than 2kg, so I'm looking for something lighter.
What's a good wheelset out there ?
I have contacted Greg at TWE since his wheels seems to get pretty good reviews and his warranty seems to be good.
Are carbon wheelsets worth it ?? As it will almost cost half of my bike's cost.
Cheers.
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I was chasing a tubeless set for my Anthem about 4 months ago and got a good deal from LBS on some American Classics race 29er set which are supposed to be 1620 gram for the pair but I have never weighed them.I noticed a huge difference changing the wheels to lighter and wider wheels and going tubeless.The bike is lighter ,accelerates faster and has vastly improved grip. I love the American Classic wheels I have and would buy them again. I have no experience with carbon wheels sorry .
There is carbon, and there is carbon.
One thing is for sure - gram for gram the carbon wheel will be MUCH stiffer than the ally version.
I ride ENVE wheels. A few races ago, I borrowed a bike and for a number of reasons just rode the Stans Crest rims that were on the bike. I didnt bother changing them over to my ENVEs. I figured they are the same weight so whats the point. I made sure my tyres and tyre pressuresd were the same as ever though.
At 10km into the race (Kowalski Classic, so very singetraack heavy) I was CONVINCED that my rear tyre was going down due to the feel of drift / flex at the back end of the bike.
YOu know how this story goes - there was nothing wrong with the tyre, no shortage of air. It was just the flex of the back wheel.
Carbon wheels wont bend or dink though. In some carbon rims, the sidewalls are thin, and you 'rim it' on a bump, you might get a crack. Might. Its pretty rare, and I have never done it on my ENVE's. I have seen some of Gregs carbon wheels and they look good.
If you aimed for 1500grms, you'd get a good, strong wheel that would change the feel of your bike completely.
I have recently acquired a set of Crest rims laced to TWE hubs for a fait bit less than your $800 budget. Very happy with them so far and if you wanted something a little more robust you could go for Arch rims. Replacement spokes etc are very easy to source.
The carbon wheels that came on my epic are great. They are a model down from the S-Works and are the ones that don't have a rim bead.
What are Gregs carbon 29er wheels worth?
Might be an option for me when I shed a few kgs off my spare tyre.
American Classic All Mountain 29er.
I have no experience with carbon rims, but these AM wheels are a revelation to me. The 24mm internal width makes a world of difference in cornering. My last set of XTR wheels needed constant truing, but these haven't budged since I put them on 6 months ago. And I ride some quite rough stuff mixed in with Awaba sweetness.
My weight is 72kg.
I own the same bike and purchased a set of alloy wheels from TWE about 12 months ago, cost about $650 and weighed in at around 1750 to 1800 grams.
So from personal experience I can tell you a set of light stiff wheels significantly improves handling, IMO it's worth the money.
One thing to note my free hub packed it in after three months of riding, however, Greg replaced it without any hassle, no problems since.
I bought a set of Crest rims laced to TWE hubs from Greg a few months ago for my Specialized Rumor and dropped nearly 700 grams from the stock boat anchors. They weigh in a tad over 1500 grams and cost me $670. Very happy with them and Gregs service. I do xc/light trail and they are perfect. Couldn't recommend him more highly.
Thanks for the feedback, looks like the TWE wheels are the way to go.
Hawkeye the TWE carbon wheels start from $1300ish if I'm not wrong.
... had a look on his site and I think pricing starts at $1200.
Might be worth a call
Im happy with my stans arch wheelset they are lighter than my previous jetblack wheels
Hi Guys,
I'm looking for a cheap 29er 2nd hand front wheel with disc mounting ability. Anyone who has a spare after upgrading to carbon or whatever please let me know at [email protected]
Will pay fair price.
Thanks.
I can't go past the hope hoops crest, arch or flow with hope hubs from wiggle for $500 delivered. You have your choice of the three and they are laced in the hope factory to hope pro 2 evo hubs. The hope hubs last forever and can be converted to pretty much any axle size.
I don't know if the crest's are light enough for you but then again I don't get the desire for really light wheels unless you are an elite racer looking to win races. Id rather have a nice stiff wheel that I know won't give way than worry about having a super light wheelset. But then again I have plenty of other places I can loose weight (not on my bike) to worry about before I look to shed weight from my bike
So I've decided to go with TWE and just picked them up tonight.
After removing my old Specialized tyres I'm struggling to mount the tires on the new wheels. I can't seem to get them to seal.
I also can't put on the tyres back to my old stock wheelset.
Are my tyres too stretched out and have to throw them out if I want to run tubeless ??
Argh !!! frustrating
I'm running the same Specialized tyres from my old wheel set - Ground control 2.3 & 2.1 and they went straight on my TWE wheels and sealed up without any problems at all. Don't understand why you are having trouble.
I'm pretty sure these are a ZTR rim anyway so good choice!
Are they 2 bliss tubeless ready?
I've had this issue with old used tyres, not much you can do about it really unless you want to keep playing around with it and you might get it to seal. Rubber will perish over time so Id suggest that may have happened to you.
Get new tyres it's not that bad, they will feel awesome.
Just be aware that WTB TCS tyres don't fit on some stans rims so if I am correct about the TWE rimes being supplied by stans you will have the same issue. Check with TWE before shelling out on new tires, I know I wish I had read the stans site before I did!
Gregs wheels are great, and yes his rims are 'Stans' - so a great set of wheels for sure.
If anyony was tempted to go the carbon route, and is hankering to spend some money, I am selling some Enve 29er wheels, on DT240 hubs.
I'll put it up in the for sale section as soon as I get round to taking photos, but figure readers of this thread can get the 'heads up'. $1500
Anyway - emrry xmas all - I'm off to Rotorua for the festive season...
OP, are you using a compressor with your baggy tyres? I'd imagine not, in which case the ghetto compressor option below generally works a treat.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-t...
Spesh 2bliss are generally very easy to work with as far as tubeless tyres go. Stan's rims on the other hand are notorious for being insanely tight with some tyres, especially from Schwalbe which seem to vary in tolerance between batches.