I'm in the market for some new wheels,
I ride welsh trails most of the time so need something strong and light, was thinking along the lines of hope pro2/xm321s or maybe mavic crosslands -
anybody got any comments or ideas?

I'd reccomend going to the Merlin website and buying the most expensive wheels you can afford in the knowledge that they will be well built and last ages



I've had some XT hubs laced to Mavic XC disc rimns rumming true for over 2 years now

717s on XTs i'd reckon.....might have been great, how heavy are you? Im a bit 'festively plump at' the moment

717s could be good but i run 2.3s and think they might roll too much on the rims
I'm 12'9 and tend to ride hard - kept buckling rims so went for SAS tornado wheelset but these are a bit of a slog uphill

717s, that';s what I have on mine


They're fine with 2.3 Contis on


I got mine built with the best DB spokes they had too

I've been very happy with them

2.3 Contis are OKish on 717s but most other 2.3s come out a bit pointy.

True, contis seem a little narrow compared with other 2.3s

i run conti vertis on my crossmax SL with no problems, are the 717's and crossmax rims similar widths?

As above Conti 2.3 are fine on 717's

I have 717's on King hubs but am always buckling the rear when I go Wales, I am looking to change to 321, 819 or DT 5.1d (stronger than XC specific but still only 500g) soon

**XM321 on Hope hubs recommended**

Got around to looking at my last Merlin wheel and have to report very very badly tensioned so weak on alot of the spokes on the cassette side they'd kinked towards the rim, very strange.

All sorted though!!


Sure just a 1 off though!!

Done a bit of research and reckon pro2
hubs with sun singletrack rims (lighter
than 321s) are the way to go-
anybody run the sun rims?

I'm running Sun DS-1 XC rims on my SS. I have the rear laced up with Sapim's strong spokes and have had no problems at all, now when you consider that I weigh over 100 kilos, and that rim is an XC rim, that's not bad going at all.

Go for Crossmax SL's. Not only are the the best you can get, mine take a real pounding around South Wales with no problems, they also look the bomb!!! :-)

Go for Crossmax SL's. Not only are the the best you can get, mine take a real pounding around South Wales with no problems, they also look the bomb!!! :-)
Look at the Pedal On website £400 pair

Bought a pair of XC717 on LX hubs from Merlin last November. Sadly they went slightly out of true on first gentle road ride then badly out of true on first serious off road ride. I'm 12 Stone and don't do jumps or drop offs so a tad disappointed. Hope to get them sorted by LBS for around a tenner each.

The front hub doesn't feel to good either, too tight I suspect.

Guess I should have sent them back to Merlin at the time but just couldn't be a*sed.