Recently I had the opportunity to build a REALLY light set of gravel wheels – 1095g to be exact.
See pics below. Nice, no?
In this post I’ll show you what’s possible for your own super light MTB wheelset – for XC or trail riding.
Superlight carbon MTB wheels
Lighter wheels offer astounding benefits to the mountain bike rider – faster acceleration, better handling and braking. The nature of technical offroad riding is often stop-start and constant cornering.
My carbon rim partners, Nextie, launched their Vista series of rims at the beginning of 2023, which offer incredibly low weight, but without sacrificing durability. Let’s look at XC and trail-bike wheelset options using these rims.
For the sake of this article I’ll focus on sets assembled with H-Works straight-pull hubs for a couple of reasons – straight-pull hubs are lighter than classic flanged hubs, and the most popular (DT Swiss) are very hard to come by in SA at the moment.
These hubs use the proven star-ratchet mechanism (planetary drive gear), pioneered by DT Swiss, in their hubs, so we’re not re-inventing the wheel here, so to speak.
XC wheels – Nextie Vista Alpha + H-Works SP = +/-1190g
Pair these 255g, 25mm ID, asymmetrical carbon rims with a set of H-Works straight-pull hubs, and lightweight bladed spokes and you have a XC or marathon MTB wheelset weighing in under 1200g before tape, while still using brass nipples.
These rims work well with tyres 2.0 – 2.3″ wide.
This configuration is superb for gravel riders too, where we can use 24-spoke hubs and rims and go sub-1100g.
Estimated pricing at time of writing (July 2023) is approx. ZAR 25 900.00
Trail wheels – Nextie Vista Omega + H-Works SP = +/- 1250g
Pair these 285g, 25mm ID, asymmetrical carbon rims with a set of H-Works straight-pull hubs, and lightweight bladed spokes and you have a trailbike MTB wheelset weighing in around 1250g before tape, while still using brass nipples. This configuration is well-suited to all-round MTB riding, from XCO and marathons with tyres up to 2.4″ wide. Estimated pricing at time of writing (July 2023) is approx. ZAR 25 900.00
Substituting the hubs above with Hope, i9 or DT Swiss will have cost implications, but don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your requirements, or fill in the quote request form here.
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