29er wheelset question

[mtnbike28]

I am looking for a 29er wheelset for racing, I want to switch between my CX and XC bike. I am looking used. I have found: 2013 Crank Bros Colbalt 3 for $450, Stans Arch EX w/ XT hubs brand new for $450, Stans Arch EX with Stans hub? for $420 and Easton EC70 brand new for $280 . I weigh 210 pounds and wondered if anyone has experience with any of these wheels. I am currently riding XT hubs with Mavic TN217 that weight ~2200g - so all these would save me at least 300g.

 

[Plannerman]

I can only speak to the XT hubs. I've been riding various iterations for twenty years with great luck.


Sent via fat thumb

 

[DaveInDenver]

I have a Stan's wheelset built with 3.30 hubs and ZTR Arch EX hubs. I don't recommend them. Spend the extra money on XT hubs, the hubs are not well made. As far as the rims, they work OK and hold true enough. I have about a 50% success rate getting tires to seal without tons of sealant, but I usually don't use true tubeless tires so I don't hold the rims at fault. They almost always hold the bead tight, just not a seal. One thing I do very much dislike about the rims is they are picky about the stems you use, I can only use Stan's stems.

 

[p nut]

I have no experience with Cobalt wheels, but visually speaking, they're not my cup o'tea with the funky spokes.

Old Stan's hubs were decent, I believe. Not sure on the current models. XT's have always been good. Not extremely light, but durable and servicable. I'd go XT and Stans rims. Or you can look around and get a set of CK, i9, DT240's used for $4-500. That's the way I'd go, personally. I have a set of DT240/Crests, but the weight limit is 190, I believe, so not going to work for you.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I should also mention my 3.30 hubs eat free hub bodies. They are aluminum, which is light, but the cassettes dig in badly and so I assume a pretty soft alloy. I run standard M771 cassettes, the mid-range steel 15 & 17 are the worst. I'm right at the 190# limit for Crests which is why I went with Arch rims. My bike is a hard tail and I'm not easy on it, so I guess in the grand scheme I am actually happy with the durability of the Arch rims.

 

[mtndude23]

I've beat the hell out of arch ex rims, they hold up very well. I'd spend a little extra and get hope hubs instead of the xt's or stans. I have the stans right now, they seem rather cheaply made-they do work though. A new set at http://www.probikesupply.com/ will be around $650, but will last many more miles then the used sets you've listed.

 

[mtnbike28]

Thanks for all the input.... I got another set of Arch EX with Stans 3.30 hubs and brand new Icons for a good price. Hopefully I can be easy on the hub body!

 

[Vassago]

I am looking for a 29er wheelset for racing, I want to switch between my CX and XC bike. I am looking used. I have found: 2013 Crank Bros Colbalt 3 for $450, Stans Arch EX w/ XT hubs brand new for $450, Stans Arch EX with Stans hub? for $420 and Easton EC70 brand new for $280 . I weigh 210 pounds and wondered if anyone has experience with any of these wheels. I am currently riding XT hubs with Mavic TN217 that weight ~2200g - so all these would save me at least 300g.

profession wheelbuilder here to chime in. spokes and who builds it are very important. I'd stay away from the crank bros wheels, the Arch EX is a fantastic rim as long as it is laced with even tension and not too high of tension (70Kgf) XT M785 hubs are excellent and the labyrinth seals do a great job of sealing out the muck. The Easton EC70 is carbon, by that price i assume you mean the EA70 set, not bad, but their hob issues on the 2012 models that are discounted online. Good luck.