Which chiner 29er carbon wheelset / rims you tried? How are they?

[stockae92]

Who has chiner  carbon wheelset / rims you tried? How are they holding up?

I am looking for a set for XC and general trail riding for carbon HT.

Just XC, no drop offs ...

[carbonazza]

My first wheels were from light-bicycle.com
They are hookless, 32 spokes, 30mm wide on the outside.
The bladed spokes and nipples are from the Chinese brand Pilar.
With a Lefty and Hope Pro Evo 2 hubs.
They weight about 1550g.

The rear went out of true once after a big hit, by the noise I though it cracked.
Then I broke a couple of spokes twice on the rear too, both with an unlucky flying branch.

They have thousands of km of XC riding, except some scratches here and there, they still look perfect.

I just built one new wheelset with rims+spokes+nipples+hubs from Peter.
My brother bought him the same but built. And they look gorgeous.

Again 30mm, but this time without holes on the inside of the rims.
This time with CX-ray spokes and nipples from Sapim. And DT swiss 240 hubs.
I haven't ridden them yet though

[xcbarny]

Chinertown needs a wheels sub-forum!

I have the same rims as carbonazza, so LB 30mm outside, 24mm inside, hookless. Built them myself with Chris King hubs and CX-ray spokes. They've been solid, no real issues. Seal up Tubeless easily enough.

I like how the wide rims work with narrow tires (2.1 Schwalbes), which allows me to save weight.

[SportingGoods]

I also own carbon wheels (27.5+, 35mm internal) and they are really solid. They stay true, more then aluminum would.
That said, I highly recommend hookless. To me, hooks just create a weakness in the rim. Prefer hookless.

[Carbon_Dude]

I have a set of 35mm wide, bead hook, 3K carbon, CX-Ray Aero spokes, Bitex 401R hubs, ~1560g.  They are a very nice set of wheels.  They stay true, nice and stiff, and I have only had one problem that was my fault.  I melted the front wheel when it was on my old bike rack, the wheel was close to the exhaust and I got stuck in traffic.  I replaced the rim, rebuilt the wheel myself (but had the LBS true the wheel).  I would highly recommend a set of carbon wheels from Peter.  If you do get a set, I recommend getting the DT Swiss 350 hubs.

[SportingGoods]

As much as I agree with Carbon_Dude (DTS 350 are really recommended), I also recommend the cheaper Novatec (D711/712). I have really abused my wheels (Carbon rims from CS + Novatec hubs + Sapim race spoke) and there is nothing that I would want to change about it.

If I had extra money, I would still have selected DT Swiss hubs (240s ), but you would not go wrong with Novatec. The only downside is probably the resell value (DT Swiss is easier to resell).

[bxcc]

Set 1 - Nextie 27.5 35mm outer / 29mm inner older hooked design, Hope Pro2 EVO 40t hubs, DT Comp spokes, DT ProLock brass nipples. 32 hole 3 cross. 3 seasons and well over 1,500 miles on them, many many rock strikes and even the occasional tree strike. Zero issues.

Set 2 - XMCarbonspeed 29 50mm outer / 43mm inner, Hope Pro4 Boost hubs, DT Aerolite spokes, DT ProLock brass nipples. 32 hole 3 cross. 400ish miles of semi rough riding. Still going strong without any issues.

Set 3 - XMCarbonspeed 29 35mm outer / 30mm inner, Hope Pro4 Boost hubs, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, Sapim double square aluminum self-locking nipples. 28 hole 2 cross. Going on the wifes Tallboy 3 and the rims haven't arrived yet.

Set 4 - Same as set 1 except they are on I9 hubs and belong to my brother. Under 1000 miles and zero issues.

[bxcc]

Obviously I am a fan of Hope hubs. Relatively affordable, come in a few bling colors, and normally all spokes will be the same length. I have DT 350 hubs on my WW062 Single speed with the upgraded 54t star ratchet and I am a huge fan of those too.

[carbonazza]

Hope hubs... normally all spokes will be the same length

Interesting, I didn't know that.
The recent DT240 I built, have the same spoke length too, except the front non-disc side that is 2mm longer.

I love Hope's gear too. They are not cheap but very good. And I'm naively believing their "couple of engineers starting from nothing" marketing story.
In addition, you get a competent email response within a day for any support question: http://www.hopetech.com/warranty-and-service/
Although I was very interested, I dropped rotorbike.com gear for my future road bike as they didn't reply to multiple requests.

[bxcc]

Interesting, I didn't know that.
The recent DT240 I built, have the same spoke length too, except the front non-disc side that is 2mm longer.

I love Hope's gear too. They are not cheap but very good. And I'm naively believing their "couple of engineers starting from nothing" marketing story.
In addition, you get a competent email response within a day for any support question: http://www.hopetech.com/warranty-and-service/
Although I was very interested, I dropped rotorbike.com gear for my future road bike as they didn't reply to multiple requests.

The last two builds were anyway. One was the 50mm asymmetrical rims from Peter and the other rims were the standard 35mm wide 29er rims also from Peter. The wheel builder at my LBS told me to keep it within 1mm and it will be fine. When I was getting the parts together for my wife's new wheels, I was also looking at the I9 hubs. If I recall correctly, those were like the 240s' as only 3 sides are the same.

[Carbon_Dude]

Comparing the free hub between Hope Pro and DT Swiss:

Pawl design
DT Swiss = Star Ratchet (either 18 teeth or 36 teeth depending on hub model, 54T upgrade available)
Hope Pro = 4 Spring Pawls

Points of simultaneous engagement
DT Swiss = 18 points, 36 points, 54 points
Hope Pro = 4 points

Engagement angle
DT Swiss = 20 deg (18T), 10 deg (36T), 6.7 deg (54T)
Hope Pro = 8.2 deg

Weight
DT Swiss = 230g (240S), 270g (350S)
Hope Pro 4 = 300g

Noise
DT Swiss = Quiet
Hope Pro = Loud

I've always been a fan of DT Swiss hubs.  They are a lightweight, quiet, simple design.  Having every point of the star ratchet engage at the same time allows the load to be spread across a greater area which helps to make a long lasting design.  I've heard Hope Pro and I9 hubs on the trail, the louder the free hub the more friction there is in the pawl design, reducing efficiency.  Some people like a noisy free hub, I'm not one of them.  I'd rather have a quiet ride.

[bxcc]

Carbon_dude,
I agree with most of that. I haven't had any experience with the DT line until I got the wheels for my SS which uses a 350 center lock straight pull hub. I couldn't take the 18 points so I got the 54t ratchet. I think I'm slowly converting to a DT 350 with 54t upgrade fan boy. Bang for the buck they are tough to beat. If you want bling and noise, then Hope takes the bang for buck prize. I just got some new M1800's wheels for my daughters bike. They are from 2013 but are new and were $200 shipped. Worst case scenario is that I got some 350 hubs for $200 bucks!

[Carbon_Dude]

I forgot they have the 54T upgrade.  For those that want a very small angle of engagement, that works out to 6.7 deg.

[Viperdriver]

Light bicycle. I have two sets. They're amazing, you can't go wrong with any of them. I bought one set built up with hope hubs and did one myself with DT Swiss. I wouldn't even consider any other brand rim.

[tripleDot]

Some people like a noisy free hub, I'm not one of them.  I'd rather have a quiet ride.

For a very long time I too did not like free hubs with rattling sounds.  Never had them until I didn't have much of a choice and got a pair of, surprisingly, DT Swiss hubs with rattling sounds.  I have to admit that I actually missed the rattling whenever I got into my silent fixie and older Jamis mtb.