In May 2015 I built a set of wheels for my personal bike – Spank Oozy Trail295 rims laced to Hope Pro2 EVO hubs. I then gave them a baptism of fire and their maiden voyage was the infamous Magalies Monster.
Since then, I have done around 5000km on these wheels. Here is the long term wheel review of this set.
The build:
I chose the Spank Oozy Trail295 rims for a few reasons. They have a medium-wide design – 24,5mm internal – which suits the 2.2-2.3″ tyres I use on my Cotic Solaris. They’re suitably light at 490g per rim, and I’d heard that they’re strong. More importantly, they have a really good tubeless bead seat, a technology that Spank call Bead Bite – ridges in the bead seat area which grip the tyre and hold it in place. This makes airing the tyres up and getting them to seat really easy, and prevents the tyres from coming off the rim in case of a sudden loss of pressure.
The choice of hubs was an easy one – Hope Pro2 EVO. This build was completed before the newer Pro4 hubs were released, in case you were wondering. My previous wheels had the same hubs and the bearings ran smooth long past 7500km, so I was well aware of the durability of these hubs. I chose the silver colorway to go with the monochrome, understated look of the bike.
I used black-oxidised, double butted stainless steel spokes and matching black brass nipples. For me, these are the defacto standard. The spokes I chose were WTB as they came from the same supplier as the hubs and rims.
Once I’d applied the prescribed 2 layers of rim tape per rim and installed the valves, I mounted the tyres, originally some tubeless-ready Schwalbe Rocket Rons. A decent quality track pump, not even a really high volume one, seated the tyres easily and quickly with absolutely no struggling. First time. The satisfying POP of the tyre as it seats into the rim walls is a sound I never get tired of. So no compressors, no driving wheels to the local garage and no wasting CO2 cartridges to seat tyres to these rims are needed.
The wheel review:
Over the last 2 and a bit years and 5000-odd kilometers, the wheels have been absolutely faultless. It’s really as simple as that.
I like to do the odd jump and really enjoy technical trails, so these wheels have been punished through the rocks and sideways landings. I did give the rear wheel a slight dish adjustment about a year ago, but other than that, these wheels have had nothing other than the regular clean and sealant top-up.
After using Schwalbe and WTB tyres, I currently run Maxxis tyres – an Aggressor 2.3 in the front and an Ardent 2.25 out back. I find these tyres a bit on the heavy side, but when I case a jump or ding the rims through rocks there are no pinch flats, and the rims are well protected.
On a Breedt’s Nek ride in January, I was running a cheap folding tyre on the back wheel and on the downhill (while passing a handful of BMW and KTM motorcycles) I cased my back wheel on a rock. Hard. One moment I was in the air, popping off rocks and ruts, the next moment I felt tyre sealant running down the back of my neck. I also felt the rim hit the rock very hard. I knew I’d destroyed the tyre. What I was worried about was the integrity of the rim.
Luckily, upon inspection, the impact had only caused a tiny nick on the edge of the rim wall. No deformation, no spoke tension loss. Nothing terminal. Hardly anything cosmetic. Whew. Confidence inspiring stuff!
The conclusion:
After more than 5000km and 2 years of riding, I’m even more convinced of the quality, durability and reliability of these wheels. I would, actually I do, recommend this rim-hub combination to everyone looking for a wheel build.
At the time of writing this post, the cost of this combination, hand-built by me, but with the newer Hope Pro4 hubs, is R8695-00. The hubs come in 6 and the rims in 4 different colour variations. In my opinion, an excellent upgrade to any mountain bike which comes with lesser quality wheels, or to make a colour statement.
