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Running a set of hope enduro wheels in the narrower width at the moment, I'm sure I feel the wheels flex at points when thrown into rock gardens or pushed hard. I know there will be flex in my frame (airdrop edit) and would the narrow rim width make the tyre less stable?
Would like them stiffer, lbs has tried and tensioned so that shouldn't be the problem?
Are there many real stiff aluminium rims or are we talking carbon rim?
Running a set of Flow Mk3’s built into hope pro4’s and they are noricably stiffer than the DT 1700’s fitted to the bike originally. That’s 29 flavour as well. Fantastic wheels!
hope rims aren't exactly known for being lightweights?
Well it's not a weight thing as such, just a flex thing. I would imagine the wider hope rims to be stiffer.
Don' think I would want/need a full dh rim, that might be a step too far! Imagine dh rims to be stiff
Have you considered what the difference it would make to the ride of you stiffen the wheels? Flex is not necessarily a bad thing, and the forces have to go somewhere
In my head I imagine the back end feeling more stable and not getting twisted, it's like a twitch kind of feeling, almost like the back wheel bends or wants to give out. Maybe it's in my headmyself
I'm not saying there should be no flex and that it' a bad thing. I' just saying in those situations it's not nice to feel it. If that's what it is, could be anything I guess
I just wanted to know how much alloy rims vary in flex. Can I get close to the stiffness of a carbon rim with alloy.
I have had a go on a bike with carbon wheels and it felt very planted and held a line incredibly well. Although different frame etc so not entirely comparable
Are you sure it's not tyre roll rather than wheel flex?
As above, stiffer wheels don't necessarily change a ride for the better. We are seeing the same acknowledgement with the new breed of steel full suspension frames.
I've not ridden carbon rims bit reports are that they are generally stiffer. You could try one the the higher end alu rims from DT Swiss, Mavic or Stans though.
If it's a full sus frame, I'd check pivots as play in there could affect the feel of the wheel. Likewise hub bearings.
Carbon rims are naturally stiffer. Though that does mean that things which result in a salvageable bend or ding on an alloy rim, result in a snapped or cracked rim and write off with carbon. Which is why the big brand carbon wheels are so expensive as they build in crash warranty into the price to give you a new set in case it happens.
In my case cheaper wheels (American Classic. I'm going to continue to name and shame)… cracked and written off, not in a crash, warranty refused.
I'm back to alloy rims and won't tough carbon now unless I was feeling rich enough to drop £2k on a wheelset.
And on that note... DT Swiss, especially the XM/EX/FR rims. Got XM and EX and no noticeable flex. Though I'm not a heavy or aggressive rider. Also Stans Arch had been bombproof on my old 26er.
Yeah I know it could be tyres as well. I'm trying to take into account all variables. Frame is pretty new and bearings/bushes sound.
I'm not seeking someone to say yep go buy carbon and I'm not convinced that' what I want. I know I want less flex though.
So wider rim means more tyre volume so more stable? Should a wider rim be more stiff than it's narrower equivalent?
With certain carbon rim warranties replacement is not necessarily a massive outlay, so forgetting the money side of things, can I achieve what I want with an aluminium rim?
Probably. But lightweight tyres at low pressure will give the effect you describe. Stick another few psi in before you do anything drastic.
I've just gone from a 28 spoked 29er rear wheel to a 32 spoked for the exact same reason, I could feel the back end flexing when I was riding hard.
Previous wheel was a Roval Hub on Alu Roval Rim with straight pull spokes, now running a hope pro 4 with 32 J bend spokes on a stans flow mk3, I feel like I can notice the difference, the flexy feeling when pumping corners and ruts or riding hard has gone.
If you already have a hope hub, why not try a rim upgrade only to start with? Stans Flow Mk3 are quite good and are around £65 a rim, add in wheel build and spokes and you'll be in for £120ish maybe which is cheaper than a whole new wheel.
I've got DT EX511's on my DH bike and they feel rock solid and an improvement over the stock Spesh DH wheels it was running.
I've always found DT rims to be pretty stiff.
What width tyres are you running? If you're running a wider tyre on a narrow rim it may be rolling slightly.
Ive got 3 sets of 27.5 wheels ...
1/ Carbon Set (Giant P-TRX rims) (about £1800 if you were to buy them)
2/ Set from Whyte T-130 i23 WTB rims
3/ £100 (discounted set) from superstar ...
I use 2.4's and 2.5's in various tyres... from Magic Mark/Hans Dampf
What I can say is the £100 wheels feel much stiffer and lighter than the stock Whyte/WTB ones
Obviously the £1800 wheels are better but the cheap discounted ones feel much closer to the carbon ones than the i23's....
RETROSPECTIVELY: I should have done better rims when the deal was on New Year 2016-2017 and I wish I'd gone with some Flow's or Arch's at the time (as it was basically 75% off)
I had to completely slacken and retention the £100 wheels..(5mm of wobble after half a ride). but then they did only cost me £100.... and since doing that they have been really good!
My "summary" .... yeah carbon are better and these really grip the tyres but the wider rims actually are well worth it. I'd rather not pay £1800 for something that can break ... (long story but these came with a bike) ... and sometimes I put on the cheaper wheels simply because I don't want to break a carbon rim I can't afford to replace.
All things considered I'd say if you get a wider rim it will be stiffer and eliminate tyre issues ...
You're not too fussed about weight... so its probably a question of where your price point works.
I'd say good carbon rims with crash replacement vs decent Al rims you can replace if you break..
I always like having a spare set anyway... like I say I chuck on the cheaper rims when I'm riding something I don't want to risk a carbon rim on. Much as I get the fact you want the feel and the feel will obviously give confidence it's also not nice mid air starting worrying about cost of replacement rims! (Does nothing for my confidence/concentration)
Not even thinking about a new wheelset, would be a rim built onto my pro 4s if anything. I just wanted to know if I could go a lot stiffer with aluminium or if it would have to be carbon to make that much of a difference.
Currently running a 2.3 minion dhr on the rear and a 2.35 magic mary up front. They do sit quite round so that will make a difference. I have played around with pressures, currently around 25psi and it's just too hard. Pressure hasn't solved the problem
I understand everyone saying stiffer isn't always better etc but if I want a stiffer/less flexing set of wheels then stiffer is better surely? Could a crash or impact that writes off a carbon rim not write off an aluminium rim?