best value 29er carbon wheels

[nicklej]

What kind of riding have you been doing on those Bitranz wheels? I'd be concerned about 1100g wheels let along 890g wheels where I live. Plenty of sharp rocks here.

I don't drive so do a fair amount of mileage. Maybe 12000 miles a year. Maybe 9k of that is tarmac/gravel and the other 3k is done in the UK on the South Downs Way which is local to me. I'm 82kg fit build but they've been great so far. Totally unsure about the 900g ones, I know they're a big gamble but money always comes back!

[nicklej]

My wheels arrived today and they are 896g. This might be my last post 😅

[frewster]

I hope not! That's crazy light. How does the finish on the rims look? Keep us updated...

[nicklej]

I hope not! That's crazy light. How does the finish on the rims look? Keep us updated...

They do look good and spokes are all equally tensioned. I'll mount them up this week and report back!

[frewster]

I posted about this some in the road bike Serenade thread, but since these are MTB wheels I figure I should post her as well.

I received my wheels from Serenade last week. They are their TME9038 shallow rims with CX Ray spokes and Koozer 450 hubs for a) high engagement of 3° b) more importantly, the color. There was a hiccup with spoke length for three of the spokes, but Serenade refunded me the cost of three replacement spokes which I easily installed one at a time. Their service has been great. Fit and finish is very good overall, and spoke tension is fairly even. I've only had one ride on them so far, but they're a big upgrade over the stock wheelset I had been running. 510g lighter, overall. Could be 200g lighter than that with lighter hubs, but I really wanted to try out high engagement hubs so it was a worthwhile tradeoff. Riding these today I realized how flexible and lose the stock alloy wheels had been. The Serenades felt quite stiff in comparison but not uncomfortable. They feel more planted in corners, especially berms, but I do have to be a little more careful with my lines because they bounce off rocks more than the old wheels. I am happy to say that they are very quiet and there were zero spoke pings during my ride.

Shipping took about 3-4 weeks and the build took a little longer as they didn't have the heavier/stronger weight version of these rims in stock and they had to be built. Overall I am quite happy with these. Even though the price is lower than some of the more established wheel brands they feel very high quality. I'll provide updated periodically once I have more miles on them.

[Chamomile]

TME9038

460g AM version? Or custom weight?

[frewster]

460g AM version? Or custom weight?

Their 460g AM version. These are my first carbon wheels and the 320g XC option had me concerned about durability. I asked if they could make them in a middle weight of around 370g and was told these are the only options but perhaps if I'd pushed harder they could've done it. I figure if I ever do get a lighter set of wheels these can be my bike park/DH set and the lighter ones can be for more XC/trail riding.

[Chamomile]

concerned about durability

Yeah, been there. My first random wheelset from aliX with similar rim specs and weight (about 450-460g) served me quite well in big mountains: a month in a bike park, half on local trails (still big mountains) and another half (or slightly more) on rocky hills. But I ran inserts. Now realized, that it was probably overkill and my next options will be around 420-430g. I'm 70kg naked weight, so if you're not fat big, they're gonna serve you well on harsh terrain (with inserts at least).

And, good to hear that they offer different hubs. It's a bit difficult to find a supplier who does that. I guess I'll go with them next time. So far I chose DFS and their THR hubs. From my understanding, they can build whatever weight you want for a certain rim geo. Although, my wheels will be delivered later on, so no feedback yet.

[frewster]

What profile and weight did you go with? I considered DFS but passed them up since they have very limited info on MTB wheelsets. I actually have a set from BTLOS on the way that should come in around 1400g.

[Chamomile]

I picked 39-27a 430g (see the pic) for my mid-travel enduro (carbonda 1002), 28H and tapeless. If I remember correctly, you can't go tapeless if the height is 20mm or below. The hubs are M1 (305-330g) from THR, about which they got no clue. BUT, you can find contacts on the THR website and annoy an actual manufacturer (well, I believe so) with your questions on wechat. So far, the THR guys told me that a freehub, a ratchet, bearings, and end cups of M1 are interchangeable with dt swiss. How real is this statement? No idea.

I also asked them if their hubs can survive a bikepark. I showed a video from a random dude on black trails and said "I WANT RIDE THIS!!11". They said it was okayish, but ideally would advise their topnotch fancy M2. Since I'm not super heavy, I will stay with M1. But the full run will not be earlier than next summer. Anyway, I will test them first on some local trails or in smaller bikeparks if there're any open in the mid season in Europe.

Yeah, the DFS full pricing (with shipping to EU and taxes included) was 599$ equipped with sapim cx-ray and pillar brass nipples. M2 hubs are +200$, which is beyond my understanding, since I can get equally a pair of DT350 or maybe even cheaper.

EDIT
I think DFS have quite some MTB options, check all the pics in there:
https://dfscarbonwheels.myshopify.com/products/280g-29er-carbon-mtb-rims-xc-tubeless-carbon-rim-ud-3k-12k-3k-twill-matte-glossy-29in-clincher-hookless-new-asymmetric

[frewster]

Thanks for the info, Chamomile! I look forward to seeing how they turn out.

I actually received the lighter weight BTLOS hubs yesterday. They're the 370g AM layup. I was a little concerned and showed Amy some videos from the local bike park but she seemed confident they'll be fine. Hubs are made by Hworks and seem very high quality. The grease under all of the end caps is a nice touch to help keep dust and water out of the bearings. They even came with serialized quality certificates that have roundness and trueness recorded, which is a nice touch. I'll try them out once I get a second cassette to easily swap between wheelsets. I already have brake discs ready. They were $770 shipped, so $195 more than the Serenades even though the Serenades have Sapim CX Ray spokes vs the Pillar 1420s on the BTLOS wheels. Finish is very good. I love the paintless look and The decals came out very nicely. BTLOS was kind enough to throw in a 54T ratchet upgrade for free and they even included the original 36T ratchet as a spare.

Also road the Serenades again today, this time on a very rocky black diamond trail which you can see here:

Still no issues with the wheels or hubs. I heard one ping from a spoke the entire way down which isn't bad at all. I love how direct the steering feels compared with my old alloys. Even for a compliment on the orange hubs! Will continue testing them and plan on taking them to a lift serviced bike park soon. 

[bxcc]

I have a set of these in my AliExpress cart. @pavlo.k, they seem to check all of your boxes. Under $500, boost or non boost axles, and around 1400g. Anyone have any experience with Urkesport?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808412235877.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.4a1538dakPsQqU&mp=1&pdp_npi=5%40dis%21USD%21USD%20583.73%21USD%20408.61%21%21USD%20408.61%21%21%21%402103010b17537057600794921ec17b%2112000045891113077%21ct%21US%21722722606%21%211%210&_gl=1*momh7f*_gcl_au*OTc1NTEzODUyLjE3NTMxOTY4NjA.*_ga*MTU5NTkzMTg5OS4xNzUzNzA0MTAz*_ga_VED1YSGNC7*czE3NTM3MDQxNDkkbzEkZzEkdDE3NTM3MDU3NjEkajYwJGwwJGgw&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

If I don't grab a set of these to try, I'll probably get some rims from Apex Carbon and build them to Onyx Vesper hubs.

[pavlo.k]

I have a set of these in my AliExpress cart. @pavlo.k, they seem to check all of your boxes. Under $500, boost or non boost axles, and around 1400g. Anyone have any experience with Urkesport?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808412235877.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.4a1538dakPsQqU&mp=1&pdp_npi=5%40dis%21USD%21USD%20583.73%21USD%20408.61%21%21USD%20408.61%21%21%21%402103010b17537057600794921ec17b%2112000045891113077%21ct%21US%21722722606%21%211%210&_gl=1*momh7f*_gcl_au*OTc1NTEzODUyLjE3NTMxOTY4NjA.*_ga*MTU5NTkzMTg5OS4xNzUzNzA0MTAz*_ga_VED1YSGNC7*czE3NTM3MDQxNDkkbzEkZzEkdDE3NTM3MDU3NjEkajYwJGwwJGgw&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

If I don't grab a set of these to try, I'll probably get some rims from Apex Carbon and build them to Onyx Vesper hubs.

Thanks. These look quite interesting.
I actually bought a wheelset a while back. Got a very good deal for a set of rovals locally. I'm quite inpatient when ordering parts from china in the middle of the season so though it's worth paying extra and get the wheels the next day

[Marcelofs]

https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/1005008770175946.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.6ee42ecbWta5LQ&algo_pvid=794a1e16-8af9-49dc-857c-cab2ec4373cb&algo_exp_id=794a1e16-8af9-49dc-857c-cab2ec4373cb-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%226%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%7D&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21BRL%213646.94%213085.88%21%21%21610.98%21516.99%21%402101c71a17543187696415438e196f%2112000047510072661%21sea%21BR%210%21ABX&curPageLogUid=9KG2UBRkOaTA&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

has anyone tried this 1130g bitranz wheelset? Thinking about ordering the ultralight one, since im 65kg i think it should be fine...

[nicklej]

https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/1005008770175946.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.6ee42ecbWta5LQ&algo_pvid=794a1e16-8af9-49dc-857c-cab2ec4373cb&algo_exp_id=794a1e16-8af9-49dc-857c-cab2ec4373cb-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%226%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%7D&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21BRL%213646.94%213085.88%21%21%21610.98%21516.99%21%402101c71a17543187696415438e196f%2112000047510072661%21sea%21BR%210%21ABX&curPageLogUid=9KG2UBRkOaTA&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

has anyone tried this 1130g bitranz wheelset? Thinking about ordering the ultralight one, since im 65kg i think it should be fine...

I have some from Bitranz which I am using again. They are not these same wheels but were 1100g. 30x30mm rims, been bombproof so far. I weigh 80kg and even on the ultralight wheels i have from alix (900g) they have been fine although I am now selling those since I don't have a need for them.

Thanks
Jake