How to bulletproof a hardtail "tail"- will DT Swiss rims and E-Wilds do it?

[Ryder77]

After 6 months of riding and getting progressively more adventurous I have cracked the rear rim (a WTB Scraper internal 35) whilst running tubeless Maxxis Rekon 2.8's at around 22 psi, on my 2018 Commencal Meta Power hardtail.

My plan to bulletproof the rear of the bike is:
DT Swiss HX 581 rim
Michelin E-Wild 2.8 rear tyre

Is there anything else I can do aside from upgrading to FS?

Would inserts help, if so which type? Or is the E-Wild a tough (and heavy) enough tyre by itself?

Any other tips for making the hardtail more resilient appreciated too.

 

[Gary]

just running more pressure would probably (have) suffice(d)

 

[Zimmerframe]

The 2.8 e-wild rear seems really tough. Even just handling the thing before you put it on it's pretty rigid ! Reading @Tim29 's comments regarding toughness, they seem to be holding up well to the abuse he's been putting them through.

I found with my hardtail that I was running as low a pressure as possible to give me "some" rear suspension, which felt necessary as I got faster .. which then resulted in more "rimmings" and Burps, so I had to increase the pressure as @Gary says. The downside of that was my crap riding didn't compensate for the harder tyre as I continued to get faster.

 

[Gary]

Zims, your legs are your suspension on the back of a hardtail.
So STAND UP!


If you're running your rear tyre so soft you're dinging rims and burping it won't have sufficient support for hard cornering.
I'm a little over 200lb and pretty much never run less than 40psi in the rear of any hardtail (but I only run 2.3 tyres and I value cornering stability over grip)

@Ryder77 The WTB Scraper isn't a particularly weak rim. - Where (and how) did you crack it?
The DT Swiss HX 581 rim is probably a bit stronger due to more material and a less flat profile (and possibly the grade of aluminium used) but if you're cracking the edges of your rim from running too low pressures and smashing into rocks etc. that'll happen on almost every rim.

Thicker casing tyres like DH tyres or Ebike specific tyres like the E-wilds do offer a lot more support than a single ply or EXO casing and will allow you to run lower pressures without dinging rims. And Inserts are obviously going to help to some extent too.
Be careful though. E-Hardtails are pretty dead feling as it is. Adding a a lot of weight to the rear rim/tyre is only going to make that worse.

 

[R120]

I run a DT Swiss H1900 and 2.6 Magic Mary Super Gravity casing on the back of my hardtail and have no dings or punctures in over 12 months, I have had to replace the wheel bearings twice though.

I am nto a big fan of the MM's as they are too draggy for my liking, and have the E-Wilds on my FS which I really like - when the MM's are done I will be putting gate E-Wilds on.

 

[Tim29]

After 6 months of riding and getting progressively more adventurous I have cracked the rear rim (a WTB Scraper internal 35) whilst running tubeless Maxxis Rekon 2.8's at around 22 psi, on my 2018 Commencal Meta Power hardtail.

My plan to bulletproof the rear of the bike is:
DT Swiss HX 581 rim
Michelin E-Wild 2.8 rear tyre

Is there anything else I can do aside from upgrading to FS?

Would inserts help, if so which type? Or is the E-Wild a tough (and heavy) enough tyre by itself?

Any other tips for making the hardtail more resilient appreciated too.

I run the cushcore in rear so i can get bellow 40psi and not damage wheel as easily. I’m still a mass murderer of rear hoops but the new Ebike spec tires and cores have more then doubled my rear hoop life. My vision just isn’t what it used to be and i hit a lot of stuff 2-4” tall heavy on bike and pink!!

 

[Ryder77]

just running more pressure would probably (have) suffice(d)

Started MTBing 6 months ago and I may have misunderstood suitable tyre pressures. What is a ballpark minimum... I'm 80kg on the bike?

 

[Ryder77]

Zims, your legs are your suspension on the back of a hardtail.
So STAND UP!


If you're running your rear tyre so soft you're dinging rims and burping it won't have sufficient support for hard cornering.
I'm a little over 200lb and pretty much never run less than 40psi in the rear of any hardtail (but I only run 2.3 tyres and I value cornering stability over grip)

@Ryder77 The WTB Scraper isn't a particularly weak rim. - Where (and how) did you crack it?
The DT Swiss HX 581 rim is probably a bit stronger due to more material and a less flat profile (and possibly the grade of aluminium used) but if you're cracking the edges of your rim from running too low pressures and smashing into rocks etc. that'll happen on almost every rim.

Thicker casing tyres like DH tyres or Ebike specific tyres like the E-wilds do offer a lot more support than a single ply or EXO casing and will allow you to run lower pressures without dinging rims. And Inserts are obviously going to help to some extent too.
Be careful though. E-Hardtails are pretty dead feling as it is. Adding a a lot of weight to the rear rim/tyre is only going to make that worse.

Crack is on the side of the rim, and there are 6 or 7 other dings on the rim too. I think it happened landing a jump and the rear tyre landed plum on a root or rock... didn't notice it though till finished the climb after that run and saw the tyre was v low on pressure and sealant was leaking.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Ryder77]

I run a DT Swiss H1900 and 2.6 Magic Mary Super Gravity casing on the back of my hardtail and have no dings or punctures in over 12 months, I have had to replace the wheel bearings twice though.

I am nto a big fan of the MM's as they are too draggy for my liking, and have the E-Wilds on my FS which I really like - when the MM's are done I will be putting gate E-Wilds on.

Great, going to go with the e-wilds.

 

[Ryder77]

I run the cushcore in rear so i can get bellow 40psi and not damage wheel as easily. I’m still a mass murderer of rear hoops but the new Ebike spec tires and cores have more then doubled my rear hoop life. My vision just isn’t what it used to be and i hit a lot of stuff 2-4” tall heavy on bike and pink!!

Thanks... just read your tyre showdown thread. After reading your comments there I am going to go with an E-Wild front on rear with a liner and see how that works out.

 

[Gary]

If you're jumping you really want higher pressures. At your weight. I'd say around 32-35psi as a minimum with a 2.5 tyre. Anything above a 2.5 isn't great if jumping and jibbing about is your thing.
Lots of dings = too low tyre pressure.
It's hardly rocket science.

 

[Zimmerframe]

It's hardly rocket science.

Well obviously, what use would a tyre be, at any pressure, on a rocket ?