The Budget Beater – Dartmoor Raider rim review
I’ve had to build a few 26er wheels lately – for customers with some budget constraints. Sourcing modern (wider) rims in South Africa is a bit of a challenge but I managed to find a bit of a gem in Dartmoor Raider rims. These are imported by Get Stoked Distribution who are in Cape Town. Their service is awesome and I was able to get the rims delivered to Johannesburg in less than 24 hours.
These rims, designed for dirt jumping, downhill, #enduro and freeride, are strong, light enough and look good to boot.
Locally, one can buy these for around R600 (at time of writing this article).
I built a set of DJ wheels with Dartmoor’s Revolt hubs and replaced a damaged rim for another rider’s trail bike.
The rims were easy to lace – I could insert the nipples through the rim with my fingers, without having to use any tools. That saves time.
The rims were also straight as an arrow, right out of the box, providing a great start to the build.
The only downside I experienced as a wheel builder was some imperfection around the joint, making the rims seem out of true radially.
Due to the rim’s inherent stiffness, they tensioned up straight and true and didn’t start to buckle as I increased the tension. This can happen with rims that are less stiff, making finishing the wheel more tedious.
I’d definitely like to build more wheels using these rims – and would recommend them to anyone looking to replace a damaged 26-inch rim or someone looking to take advantage of the benefits of wider rims.
Pros:
- Excellent value
- Quality look and feel
- Acceptable weight for a “gravity” intended rim (550g)
Cons:
- The rims have a bit of unevenness at the joint area, making radial truing a bit difficult
- The stickers look a bit cheap
Overall:
I give these rims a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. Great value, good quality and excellent stiffness and strength. And they look cool.
