i have to build a new wheel for my compo. it'll have a z1 wedge on the front.

i'm getting either a diatech or deore front disc hub and already have two rims for it.

d521 silver, good nick, used as a front rim
halo combat, four months use, heavily hammered but looks alright, used as a rear rim.

which rim should i use in the front? i'm getting a planet x goliath/bmf for the rear.

Personally i'd use the D521, but i'm nearly half your weight and don't ride the same way...

How well did the Halo's stand up to abuse?

if you can tighten them up right they stay true(ish), the stories of rims cracking i'm assuming stem from running low tyre pressures (which i don't do), the rear hub is okay but the freehub lets it down. mines died after four months use. if you don't tighten the spokes up real tight the rims bend a bit on mpacts and the nipples loosen off. soyou'll never have springy wheels, they've got to be rock hard and harsh feeling. the white rims are a bugger to clean and getdirty at the first sign of muck, the brke walls are very coarse, helps with better v type brakes. for the money they are all right, but i will betesting the planet x goliath/bmf rim next to destruction, hehehe!

I'd go with the Mavic, by all accounts the 321/521's are bomb proof. On the subject of nipples, get DT locking ones. They come pre-treated with a thread lock which stops em losening ( although no problems truing with a key ).

Surprised your not going better quality/more hardcore on the hub though.

Dom.

it's the front wheel so oesn't really matter, it'll have the suspension fork and tyre to take the impacts out of it, whereas the reargets only the tyre and ontop of that it gets my heavy ass landing on it. surprisinlgy, with a joytech hub and d521 silver on the front now i trued it properly and it hasn't budged!!!
its just that the d521 silver isn't like the d521 cd or d321 in that they aren't as strong. (common misconception.

i might go for the d521 just to make the front end lighter

the d521 silver is identical in stength to all other d521s, CD, ceramic. They are surface treatments only, and surface failiures are rare in rims. They are for braking benefit only. With disc brakes, there is no benefit except maybe looks.

The d321 on the other hand, is much stronger, and much heavier.

yes, but anodising does seem to lead to a higher failure rate in rims due to cracking, mavic cd rims seem more prone to going around the eyelets.

the d521 just doesn't work for the heavier rider when used in the rear. the d321 is a wide bugger though, but if you're going to pay for one of those you might as well pay for pimp value and go azonic butcher, atomlabs, bmf, as they look sexier!!
try riding street with d521 in the rear and you buckle it every day until it gets fatigued. even my halo combat rims, even though a bit soft, stay truer than d521's. but then they are sightly heavier. d521 are good strength to weight ratio but they arelight, so.....

I think the 321CD looks pretty good myself :p, however not sure the 521 is 'that' weak, my 519 is going strong with no issues and itsn't a big a rim as the 21.

However I'd disagree a little, ok the rear is suspensionless but I'd actually say I'd put more through the front than the rear for various reasons - not least of which is if you stack ( well every time I have ) it's the front which has taken the impact. If I land crossed up then the front takes the side on pressure not the rear.

IMHO...

Dom.

just you wait! as you make the progression from xc to street/jumping you'll notice which bits of kit on your bike just aren't up to the job. for a beginner anyway. now if ou're a pro and have smooth lines all the time then the gear will last longer. although if you're a pro and you're names chris akrigg then you still smash stuff every day!!

The rear rim is certainly more likely to get bent than the front, partly because it bears more of your weight, partly because the dish is worse, (even eith disc braks i think) and because forks take a lot of the sting out of bad landings etc.

I've flatspotted several rear rims, and sent them out of true too, but not done much to my front wheels.

i've got a joytech hub on the front at the moment with a mavic d521 silver rim that i've built in myself and there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it visually, but there is a small niggle whilst using my promax v's. the brake, when the lever is held firmly half way on, seems to pulse (only way i can describe it!) i keep cleaning the rims and pads to see if theres some contamination but can't figure it out. but i will be using that rim with an avid mech disc.

If the wheel is perfectly true, the rim may have slightly dedeflected sidewalls, ie they have been spread apart or both pushed one way by an impact at some point.

well, shouldn't matter if i'm running a disc brake. but when i put myface down there, taking care not to catch my big ears in the spokes, and view the spinning wheel i don't see any deformaties. however my v's do rock back and forth a bit too much. maybe its that movement, but surely on braking they would go back and stay back?

Hi tim,

I'm running two sets of wheels on two bikes.

26" - D521 on Xt disc hubs - the rims stress cracked after 2 months and had to be replace. Mavic didn't want to know so it was at my cost. Second set of rims have been ok so maybe first set was bad batch?

24" - Halo Combat on Xt disc hubs - all was well for first 6 months, but nipples have started pulling through rim wall. Still useable but I'm keeping close eye on them.

I don't know what to suggest, but I ride London street on the 24" wheels, and do some really large drops and staircase gaps, I'm surprised the rims haven't buckled yet!! Overall pretty happy with them as my friend trashed his P3's wheels real quick on our street sessions.

But I think I would try something else in future like Atomlab Trailpimp or Sun Rhynos.

the d521 silver i'm going to use is in really good nick, but i have found that with combat rims if you get really good spoke key (spokey) you can tighten them so they virtually never go out of true and the nipple loosening problem goes away. i suffered with loose nipples in my rear wheel for ages. and i know not to run that one at low pressure as i've seen loads of combat rim walls buckled in they're that soft. look on www.nsmb.com for the reviews on sun mammoths, they do not rate them at all!
atomlabs is too new in our market yet, and since the wheel i need is a front one, i can get away with the mavic nd save weight for better control up front (getting s single crown fork too).

decided to get a diatech disc hub as they are only £20. and i found no problems with my last one, i'm planning to tke my camera round with me always (compact size) and the next time i see a steamroller i'm gonna chuck the rear diatech in the path of it and take some photos to stick on the yahoo club yorkthrash (ps. clubs are shortly to turn into groups - much faster page selections!)

tim get rid of all halo/diatech stuff its rubbish espessaly halos mines now fu*ked its pulled at the join its about 1.5 mm and the spockes r also pulling through at the nippels.

get a duble wide like me u won't regret it:D

priss

yeah Halo's are way too soft for longterm use, they are a little cheaper than buying exotic Yank rims, but long term you pay more as you'll need to rebuild your wheels after a few months.

and Halo's sticker always peel off in 1 week!

halo's stickers? i haven't seen any on my rims?
i'll only have the diatech hub and d521 silver in the front to worry about, the rear will be planet x goliath/bmf and i think that should suffice for anything.
and i'll see whether the wedge really is a 2001 z1 drop off with intenal rebound soon. monday i get to play with it, after sticking some firm springs in first.
i never asked what spokes and nipples i'm getting and probably won't know from looking at them.
the only possible problem with building the wheels will be getting the rear in the correct position. why do DHer's put it central anyway?

Many DHers build wheels so that they have no dish. This means that the horizontal distance from the nipples to the hub flanges on each side is equal. This allows spoke tensions to be equal, producing a stronger wheel.

You can tell what make spokes are if they are Sapim or DT, the two best makes, cos DT have a weird little DT logo on the spoke hear, and Sapim stamp "SAP" into the spoke near the elbow. I don't think the cheapskate brands bother.

I guess it's to stop shops selling cheap skate spokes pretending that they are (and charging for) DT or Sapim.