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I have been told by my ace wheel builder that DT swiss XM521,
link here, are the ultimate enduro rim, 35mm wide internal for WT tyres, deep for stiffness, strong rim sidewalls etc etc. Just right for a biffer.
So who has them, how are they holding up, show me if you have any dings or bends in them?
Are they really a cut above all other rims? I need evidence.
I don't doubt any of it, especially as my wheel building guy is unimpeachable, he's the president of wheel builders. So I am sure they are awesome, but I wanna see it, warts and all, if you've dinged them, show it!
no one?
I used to have them on my Solaris when running 650B+. They held up well, didn't ding them at all. Hopefully the chap who bought it will turn up on this thread and give an update as I sold it through the classifieds.
XM521 is quite rare, the XM481 is much more popular. I highly rate the 481s.
I have all the on trend size xm's aside from the 521. Spread between a steel hardtail (481/29 and 551/27.5+), 120mm xc bike (421/29) and 150 and 170 bikes (481/29).
All brilliant.
Clattered them all a good many times and no dramas. Have broken a carbon rim that the dt rims would've shrugged off.
A couple have slight deviations but stayed true and tubeless. Haven't had to pull dents like I used to on 5.1/6.1d rims.
I have a set of wheels with XM521 rims. I fitted 2.6 Maxxis and 2.6 Schwalbe on them and have had no dings in 2 years. I’m a big heavy rider on a hardtail and they have held up brilliantly. I’m riding on mostly rock free dirt trails with plenty of roots.
I also have XM551 (40mm inner) for 2.8 as well and they have also been great.
OK this is all good stuff cheers.
Destroyed a XM481 in a single run at Fort William. But that is a tough course on rims
Unless it needs to be 35mm wide, the EX511 is a tougher choice - thicker extrusion, so more rock-garden friendly. 30mm internal width though.
The XM's are lighter weight 'trail' rims in fairness, they're very tough for their heft but for things like Fort Bill you'd want the EX or FR rated rims, which are porkier but designed for exactly that kind of abuse.
If you're a bit of a heavy hitter I'd be tempted by an XM 521 on the front and an EX 511 on the back.
35mm is too wide for a 2.5 tyre, makes the profile square and makes the sidewall more prone to damage.
I've got two XM481 wheelsets, one set has seen a lot of abuse in 3 years and must be over 800k ft of descending, trips to Italy/Morzine/Scotland/UK Uplifts in there as well. No dings, just a few small wobbles.
XM is their trail rim and 35mm internal is pretty big. I'd be going to ex471 or EX511 if you really need wide rims. I run ex471 rims on my hardtail and my FS bike.
35mm is too wide for a 2.5 tyre,
Unless you are using tyres designed for 35mm https://www.maxxis.com/wide-trail-wt-design
However the EX recc is a good one.