This is the sort of stuff Mike Curiak rides on his 29er. With tubes. Just sayin’.
I’m a big fan of Stan’s as well. Go tubeless!
As a serial 29er owner I can give slight help. Reba and bb7s both a big yes. If stepping up to hydros avid elixers are nice and avid brakes are the easiest hydros to bleed in my experience. Xt hubs to whatever Salsa, velocity, Mavic, or even wtb rims are a sure hard to beat wheelset without spending a lot of dough. I have basically stopped using anything but Cane Creek headsets. Bar and stem anything from the big names should be fine. I am personally partial to Ritchey and Fsa and run Thomson seat posts on everything. I love Brooks saddles , but really only use WTB saddles on all the off road bikes and my polo bike.
I agree with some of the previous Shimano bashing. My geared 29er has X9 trigger shifters, front and rear derailleurs and I could not be happier. SRAM like Shimano is starting to come out with 2x10 Mtn groups even down to x7 level. I bought a FSA afterburner compact mtn crank (40/29) and it works great for the trails around me. When I had a triple I never used the 22 granny. The 32 was used for the trails and the big ring was used for the pavement before and after the trail ride.
my 29er experience is mostly irrelevant, since its steel, cheap, single speed, and not cool.
but the velocity blunt rims aren’t half bad.
Thanks for all the input & advice everyone, this is seriously awesome. I get that tubeless seems to be the way of the future but to be honest I just don’t know if I’m ready to take the plunge. I’d need to carry a spare tube(s) and patch kit regardless so it’s not going to really save any weight from the overall system (though saving weight on the wheel is of course huge), and from reading the info on Stan’s site I’m not overwhelmingly convinced. But of course I’m totally ignorant about this stuff, so feel free to school away if the mood strikes.
Karate Monkey?
(I personally think the KM is cool but my tastes are obviously questionable)
[quote=surfcat]Would these be pretty kickass as far as a wheelset goes? $445 shipped, includes tires & tubes. I believe the LaceMine29 reputation is pretty OK too? http://bigwheeldeals.blogspot.com/2010/06/burly-with-capital-b.html
[/quote]
Mike C built my wheelset I have on my single speed 29er. I emailed with him numerous times about my riding, local terrain, and my size. He recommend some options on the build and built me a beefy wheelset that I have yet to need to true many years later. I am 6’6" and 270 so he ended up building me Dt Swiss freeride hubs (440) 36 h three cross to Kris Holm unicycle rims. They have a cassette rear hub, but I have always used them as on a rigid single speed
I had Harris build me a wheelset for my Xtracycle and despite all kinds of loads, riding conditions, etc. and definitely little to no effort on my part to do anything but use the heck out of that bike, they have yet to go out of true or even really show any signs of wear. In the 2.5yrs or so I’ve had them they’ve probably got at least 3-4k miles on them, not a lot but still. Those were built with Rhyno Lites laced to a Shimano dynamo in front and an XT hub in the rear, both disc compatible in the event I someday went to a Big Dummy prior to them wearing out.
What I’m trying to say is that the benefit of a well-built wheelset versus some machine made crap (a certain CR-18/105 wheelset available from VO comes to mind) is really evident in many ways. Better performance, less maintenance, more peace of mind.
Oh fuck yes.
ride a bike into the wilderness.
let us know how it goes.
There’s a ride between New Cuyama and the Santa Ynez Valley called “The Corridor Ride” because it follows a fireroad between the Dick Smith and San Rafael Wilderness areas (where bikes are verboten). It’s about 70mi and ascends to around 6500ft, seems pretty rad.
I think this photo from Hunter Cycles shows part of the ride:
Damn, sorry about linking up a 717 wheelset. I could’ve swore those were 719s.
XT hubs are a good value. DTs or CKs are great, but will blow up your budget.
[quote=surfcat]Thanks for all the input & advice everyone, this is seriously awesome. I get that tubeless seems to be the way of the future but to be honest I just don’t know if I’m ready to take the plunge. I’d need to carry a spare tube(s) and patch kit regardless so it’s not going to really save any weight from the overall system (though saving weight on the wheel is of course huge), and from reading the info on Stan’s site I’m not overwhelmingly convinced. But of course I’m totally ignorant about this stuff, so feel free to school away if the mood strikes.
Karate Monkey?
(I personally think the KM is cool but my tastes are obviously questionable)[/quote]
noticed the blunt isn’t tubeless, probably why it’s so cheap.
i’m rolling on an iro model 19. i think they’re discontinued now but it’s not a bad bike and on closeout it was mad cheap.
A) FWIW, If you’re not dead set on steel, the on one Scandal is an amazing bike. They ripped off Easton’s scandium alloy and the frame is shockingly light and rides far better than any other mtb I’ve ever ridden, even fully rigid with a steel fork. Also, the current exchange rate causes it to be much cheaper than any comparable frame. I’d equate it to the Niner Air9 that a shop owner let me take out for a day on trails.
B) The REEBA 29er fork is awesome and remote lockout is cool as hell. As much as I’ve been enjoying riding full rigid, I kinda wish mine had enough steer tube to use it on my Scandal.
C) I’ve always been a proponent of friction shifting, but on a mountain bike where super quick shifts are important, indexed shifting is absolutely the way to go.
I run Stans Arch rims to Hope hubs and couldn’t be happier. You are silly if you don’t go with Stans.
I placed orders for the 20" Bandersnatch in “Metal Flake Brimstone” (LOL!) and the 100mm Reba SL 29 fork. Talk to me more about wheelsets and why I’d be a fool to go with anything other than tubeless.
Aside from an 8s Alivio shifter, I’ve never had any issues with Shimano mountain stuff. I’ve got all XT on my Stumpjumper and I don’t think about it at all when I ride. I know people have their personal preferences, and my next bike will get SRAM to try out (love the road stuff, and everyone raves about the mountain stuff, so I may as well) but I don’t think you’ll be doing your bike a disservice if you use the Shimano stuff you already have.
Also, I wish we had something like this here:
[quote=surfcat]There’s a ride between New Cuyama and the Santa Ynez Valley called “The Corridor Ride” because it follows a fireroad between the Dick Smith and San Rafael Wilderness areas (where bikes are verboten). It’s about 70mi and ascends to around 6500ft, seems pretty rad.
I think this photo from Hunter Cycles shows part of the ride:
[/quote]BWW actually does have Mavic 719s with XT hubs for $240. You just have to tweak their UI to get what you want. Here:
Actually, $260 when configured with XT 6-bolt hubs and standard DT double-butted spokes. If you’re set on clinchers, I’d go that route. If you’re going tubeless, get some Stans. Wheelsets are going to be expensive. If it were me, I’d build my own with some XT hubs off ebay.
What’s everyone’s feeling on 6 bolt vs/centerlock? Just curious.
fuck centerlock
My only experience with discs are Avid 6 bolt and XTR center lock. The Center lock has a beefy spider that stays true. The Avid discs are more prone to warp but its not much of an issue. Both seem to stop the same.
Running BB7’s I had to trim the tab on the inboard pad to clear the spider.