Best budget emtb Wheelset (comfort priority)?

[Implor]

Not Happy with the Giant Reign E+ 1 stock Wheelset. Create a harsh ride and are to stiff for my tast.

any suggestions for a complaint wheel that’s sub 350 euro (rear) or 600/set?

 

[Slapbassmunky]

That's a slightly strange request to be fair. A reign is designed to take abuse, and so it's got appropriate wheels for the job. I'm not sure you'll find any wheelset that's strong enough to match the bike and be more 'compliant'. After all, any well built wheel is going to be pretty darn stiff especially at 30mm internal width. Your choice of tyres and pressures will have a much greater impact on ride feel.

 

[#lazy]

Tbh in my lifetime of riding I’ve never thought the wheels on my bike aren’t good enough apart ftom the size !

 

[Chuggz]

I have the same wheels and think they are not stiff at all.
A good carbon or dt Swiss wheel set is way stiffer (and better)

 

[Implor]

That's a slightly strange request to be fair. A reign is designed to take abuse, and so it's got appropriate wheels for the job. I'm not sure you'll find any wheelset that's strong enough to match the bike and be more 'compliant'. After all, any well built wheel is going to be pretty darn stiff especially at 30mm internal width. Your choice of tyres and pressures will have a much greater impact on ride feel.

Well it depends a lot on your weight. A pair of wheels might feel stiff if your are 75kg and "perfect" if you are 95kg.
Giant need to make sure the wheels spec on a bike can handle the full max system weight of 150kg.

You do want some raidial compliance on a wheel and that is what I'm missing.

 

[Doomanic]

Have you tried running an insert and lower pressures?

 

[Implor]

Tbh in my lifetime of riding I’ve never thought the wheels on my bike aren’t good enough apart ftom the size !

It's the small things. Especially when you can compare between two bikes. My other bike has very complaint wheels and I do prefer it when going fast thru chunk. Anything not absorbed by the Tires/wheels/suspension is going to be noticed by the rider.

 

[Implor]

Have you tried running an insert and lower pressures?

Lower pressure yes. Going lower then 23 psi is risking a pinch flat. Running 25psi in the rear.

Not added an insert yet. Got one on the shelf. I do not think cush core will add a lot of feeling (except work as a volume reducer). something like PTN Pepi's Tire Noodle might change the ramp up feeling.

In the end nothing will change that you have a stiff wheel.

 

[Slapbassmunky]

Well it depends a lot on your weight. A pair of wheels might feel stiff if your are 75kg and "perfect" if you are 95kg.
Giant need to make sure the wheels spec on a bike can handle the full max system weight of 150kg.

You do want some raidial compliance on a wheel and that is what I'm missing.

Ok, well I get the max system weight thing. I weigh 88kg and I'd imagine the stock wheels aren't that harsh. Can you tell us what spoke setup they have? OEM's usually come with machine built stuff using plain gauge spokes, and usually not built very tight. If you buy a 'nice' set of wheels looking for compliance you might be disappointed.

I've built many sets of wheels, and even the XC ones are very stiff when tensioned correctly. Rim width has a pretty large effect on stiffness but you'll need to stay fairly wide to give your tyres the correct profile. Using some of the lightweight super thin butted spokes will net you some marginal compliance but are prone to damage when used in anger.

 

[MountainBoy]

Not Happy with the Giant Reign E+ 1 stock Wheelset. Create a harsh ride and are to stiff for my tast.

any suggestions for a complaint wheel that’s sub 350 euro (rear) or 600/set?

It seems misguided that you are complaining about the stiffness of a wheelset used on a full suspension bike with 160-170 mm of suspension travel and using relatively high-volume tires that are 2.5" to 2.6" wide. Maybe you are misusing the term "radial compliance"? That is the direction the suspension is designed to absorb forces from. Is 160 mm of travel not enough to achieve that? Between all that suspension travel and the air volume of the tires, radial wheel stiffness should not be a comfort issue. A stiffer wheel can be a comfort issue on a non-suspension bike with low volume tires but in this case, a stiffer wheel should increase comfort. I know that sounds counter-intuitive so let me explain. Before we begin, it's necessary to understand that wheel stiffness is contemplating differences of deflection measured in fractions of a mm or, in extreme cases, perhaps a couple of mm.

Are you familiar with the term suspension "stiction"? All suspensions have some stiction which can be minimized by good design and proper maintenance but never eliminated. A stiff wheelset can actually help reduce stiction by transferring smaller movements more forcefully. In other words, a wheel that is less stiff will cause the suspension to have more stiction. For this reason, it seems misguided to try to solve harshness with a softer wheel.

I would explore other reasons why your wheels feel too stiff for your preferences before thinking the solution is wheels that are not as radially stiff. For example, running too little static sag in the suspension (ride height too high) can increase stiction and make the ride harsh over cobblestones and the like. The increase in stiction from running too little sag is because the fork tubes have less overlap. Less overlap applies higher fore/aft forces (to the sliding points of contact) which increases friction and binding (stiction). Running more static sag increases the amount of overlap in the fork tubes and reduces pressure on the sliding surfaces. Simple geometry of leverage. Of course, static sag should be adjusted properly, not set significantly outside of the proper range simply to decrease stiction, that's what higher quality (and generally heavier) forks can do. I mention this in case your static sag is too little (too much ride height).

If that is not the case, adding volume spacers could help reduce stiction. More volume spacers mean you can run lower suspension pressures. Lower pressures reduce stiction.

These ideas are not exhaustive, you should check all details of your suspension for proper settings and compliance. Stiff wheels on a full suspension bike are good and should help solve comfort issues, not cause them! That's what the suspension and high-volume tire is for!