Top 29er rim choices?

[stephenmarklay]

We have a few threads for road rims but I want to upgrade the wheels on my 29er and wondered what tubeless setup to go with. What are the top rim choices for 29ers these days?

[oldpotatoe]

We have a few threads for road rims but I want to upgrade the wheels on my 29er and wondered what tubeless setup to go with. What are the top rim choices for 29ers these days?

Some good choices here. Have built more than a few Blunts.

http://www.velocityusa.com/product/rim_applications/Mountain

[stephenmarklay]

Some good choices here. Have built more than a few Blunts.

http://www.velocityusa.com/product/rim_applications/Mountain

Nice, that rim in blue would look sweet on my Light blue Salsa!

[oldpotatoe]

Nice, that rim in blue would look sweet on my Light blue Salsa!

Pm or email..be happy to build them, your hubs or mine.

pchisholm172@gmail.com

[stephenmarklay]

What is a good budget(ish) hub choice?

[peanutgallery]

If you're doing tubeless, the new Stans Mark 3 series of rims is pretty good and stans has the inner diameter of the rim down so tubeless ready setups work perfectly

They are a little wider than in the past and they quality has improved a bit. Currently using crests for everything without a hitch. If you want a little extra insurance, go with the arch

The blunts are good too

[stephenmarklay]

If you're doing tubeless, the new Stans Mark 3 series of rims is pretty good and stans has the inner diameter of the rim down so tubeless ready setups work perfectly

They are a little wider than in the past and they quality has improved a bit. Currently using crests for everything without a hitch. If you want a little extra insurance, go with the arch

The blunts are good too

The Crest looks very light compared to say the blunt. I have always been a bit shy on stans as I have heard about durability problems. My local wheel builder uses them on all of his bikes however and likes them.

[old fat man]

The Blunts are a nice rim profile but they are heavy and friends have bent them up badly in short time. Stans were too flexible for my liking, though newer options may be better. If you can stretch your budget, carbon rims from Nextie or Light Bike are a great option. Super strong and light. I've been thrashing these for 2 seasons without issue, including tire pressures in the low teens on rocky New England trails

http://www.nextie.net/mountain-asymmetric-NXT29AS33

Regarding hubs, if you don't need Boost or even 142 thru axle, there are good deals to be had on King or DT or White Industry hubs that can't be upgraded but serve beautifully for 135mm rear and 100mm QR fronts

[bmeryman]

I'll second the Crest MK3 as a good option. I just built a new set of race wheels using them and found them more enjoyable to build with than the old version (it's been a while though, so perhaps I've just improved a little bit). Haven't had a chance to bounce them off any rocks yet.

For the majority of my disc 29er builds I prefer the WTB KOM in whatever width you prefer. i21 for gravel, i23 or i25 for XC/All Mountain. They're nice to build with and nice to set up tubeless. I find that they're a good balance of durability and weight.

[sales guy]

WTB just sent me some Frequency rims for a NAHBS build. I have built them up before when they first came out. Nice rim then. Nice rim now. I do like the bead blasted finish of the new ones now though. Pretty strong rim. Build up super straight and they are Tubeless ready bead wise.

http://www.wtb.com/collections/rims

Velocity makes some good ones too. I used to use theirs back in the day for all mountain wheel builds when I worked for a component manufacturer. Their K525 helped me make the first sub 1500 gram disc wheelset. I showed them off to mags and dealers at Interbike in 2001. It was a stupid light rim. Their Synergy rims are really nice. They came in an offset shape. So I was using them for offset rear and then for offset fronts for Disc wheels. Worked super well. Showed them back in 2001 too. Then of course everyone was copying them. And they came in colors and with or without the sidewalls machined. Really nice.

[KonaSS]

The first question should be what sort of riding do you do? With mtb, you can't just ask what wheels size, need to know how you will use, your weight, have you been hard on wheels in the past, what are you using now?

Crest may be a good option, but not if you huck your bike off things or weigh 250. Need to narrow down what you are looking for.

[stephenmarklay]

The Blunts are a nice rim profile but they are heavy and friends have bent them up badly in short time. Stans were too flexible for my liking, though newer options may be better. If you can stretch your budget, carbon rims from Nextie or Light Bike are a great option. Super strong and light. I've been thrashing these for 2 seasons without issue, including tire pressures in the low teens on rocky New England trails

http://www.nextie.net/mountain-asymmetric-NXT29AS33

Regarding hubs, if you don't need Boost or even 142 thru axle, there are good deals to be had on King or DT or White Industry hubs that can't be upgraded but serve beautifully for 135mm rear and 100mm QR fronts

Yes I only have 135 so this is good news. Can you point to some of these deals?

[stephenmarklay]

The first question should be what sort of riding do you do? With mtb, you can't just ask what wheels size, need to know how you will use, your weight, have you been hard on wheels in the past, what are you using now?

Crest may be a good option, but not if you huck your bike off things or weigh 250. Need to narrow down what you are looking for.

Good point. Weight around 160-165, and pretty mild XC riding with some rock sections that bounce me around a bit on my hard tail salsa.
My salsa el mariachi came with non tubeless cheapo sun rims. They however did not bend.

[pcxmbfj]

If you're into experimenting and can build on the cheap try a set of 650B with 25mm rims and 2.3 to 3.0 tires on your 29er if you have a 142 rear axle.
Shows the potential of 27.5/29 plus bikes.

[Tony]

The Blunts are a nice rim profile but they are heavy and friends have bent them up badly in short time. Stans were too flexible for my liking, though newer options may be better. If you can stretch your budget, carbon rims from Nextie or Light Bike are a great option. Super strong and light. I've been thrashing these for 2 seasons without issue, including tire pressures in the low teens on rocky New England trails

http://www.nextie.net/mountain-asymmetric-NXT29AS33

Regarding hubs, if you don't need Boost or even 142 thru axle, there are good deals to be had on King or DT or White Industry hubs that can't be upgraded but serve beautifully for 135mm rear and 100mm QR fronts

I have also bent mine badly in a short time, maybe running too low tire pressure? I have had to raise my tire pressure over 25 psi using 2.4 tires on a Mojo hdr 650b to prevent further damage. If you have the money NOX Composites rims a nice. Using Light bikes rims now, like them.

[old fat man]

Yes I only have 135 so this is good news. Can you point to some of these deals?

Those Enve AM 29er wheels in the classifieds would be SWEET, but I guess shipping to the west coast was challenging for Wino. As for deals, look on ebay, or post a WTB here. 135 6 bolt King hubs are a dime a dozen, but less and less desired because they can't be switched to 142 and can't run 11 speed road cassettes.

[bluesea]

Other than the (narrow) Dyad, are there any other options for non-tubeless?

[sandyrs]

Other than the (narrow) Dyad, are there any other options for non-tubeless?

You can run many tubeless-compatible rims with tubes with no issue.

[bluesea]

You can run many tubeless-compatible rims with tubes with no issue.

Don't want to hijack this thread, but I'd want significantly easier tire repair than with the Stan's Crest and Rapid, which for me are a PIA.

[stephenmarklay]

If you're into experimenting and can build on the cheap try a set of 650B with 25mm rims and 2.3 to 3.0 tires on your 29er if you have a 142 rear axle.
Shows the potential of 27.5/29 plus bikes.

I am think the clearance on my bike is about 2.4 on the rear and that would change the geo. Salsa does not endorse it. They do have new models that do.

[gdw]

I've had good luck with WTB Frequency Teams and Pacenti TL28s. Both were easy to build up and allow most of the tubeless tires I've tried to be installed with just a floor pump.

[oldpotatoe]

You can run many tubeless-compatible rims with tubes with no issue.

Or a rim brake rim with disc brakes. 29er=700c

[KonaSS]

I have had good luck with Stans. Not everyone has. Their Crest Mk3 looks good to me.

Also like the WTB i23 or i25, the Easton Arc 24, or Kinlin TL-23.

[bluesea]

Or a rim brake rim with disc brakes. 29er=700c


Good call. The H Plus Sons Archetype w/anodized brake track wouldn't look too out of place on a disc hub.

[hummus_aquinas]

I like WTB i series rims. Nice and stiff and light enough. the i-beam feature is pretty cool.

[DRZRM]

I also like the WTB i line, about to pick up some ASYM i29 for my 29er to replace a Stan's that is cracked. Hey I have a set of new WTB Frequency Team i23 I'd sell cheap to help offset the ASYMs. PM if you are interested.

[pcxmbfj]

I am think the clearance on my bike is about 2.4 on the rear and that would change the geo. Salsa does not endorse it. They do have new models that do.

When I bought my 2015 Turner Sultan to replace my 2012 I threw 2.3 650's on and have not replaced them and don't intend to.
Geo doesn't change that much.

[Fatty]

Easton Arc rims have received some good press lately.

Have a set inbound.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/easton-arc-mtb-rim/rp-prod136865

[RudAwkning]

Wtb makes good stuff. Running Frequency i25s on my Retrotec SS. KOM i23s on my Ellis. And Scraper i40s on my Woodsmoke. KOM i25s are going on my new Steve Rex project. Have had bad luck with Stan's Crest. They dented really easily. Haven't used Blunts but my friend has dinged his up pretty easily.

[ofcounsel]

I have also bent mine badly in a short time, maybe running too low tire pressure? I have had to raise my tire pressure over 25 psi using 2.4 tires on a Mojo hdr 650b to prevent further damage. If you have the money NOX Composites rims a nice. Using Light bikes rims now, like them.

I have a couple thousand MTB miles on my Nox Composites Teocalli rims now. They've held up well. I'm a "big" guy at 240lbs all suited/camelbaked up.