Hunt, Hope or DT Swiss 29er wheelset

[BillyWhizz2020]

Hey,

I'm looking to upgrade my Levo Roval Traverse rims for something a bit stronger and I have 3 brands in mind:

1. Hope Fortus 30mm.
2. Hunt Enduro 33mm/E-Enduro 37mm.
3. DT Swiss H 1700 30mm spline.

I'm aware there is a wait for Hunt rims but I don't mind waiting if people's experience with them is superior.

Cheers.

 

[Cb750stu]

I've got the Enduro wide 29er wheels had them for 2 years and had a total beating , still running true and bearings are still good but I do service them quite often ? well worth the money imo

 

[lumpy]

Hunt

 

[BillyWhizz2020]

A mate of mine has the Hunt E-Enduro 37mm rim but they look huge and are 500g heavier ? , I take it the Enduro 33mm will be strong enough for the Ebike?

 

[Geedog]

Hello, I went for the dt swiss h1700, they seem great so far. I've had dt wheels before and they were good quality and most of all, reliable. The only negative is I'd prefer the hubs to be black not white. Hunts look better tho. I can't speak for their reliability as never used them. Not keen on the noise from the Hope's.

 

[Aitrui]

I got Dtswiss H1700 set,nearly 3 years old, around 7000km,still running perfect,i refreshed the rachet lubing several times,but did nothing else.

 

[pez_cemetery]

I've had all three and I'd buy all three again but DT Swiss would be top because they are ultra-reliable and exude quality at a price premium. Second would be Hope but only if I wanted a bling colour.

Absolutely avoid the new design Shimano hubs like the plague! Serviced the freehub 3 times, The bearings then went by 1,000 miles, sent to a local wheel builder for a look-see who said the design was atrocious and it wasn't worth the cost of repair.

 

[cep32]

I'm not sure whether DT Swiss had a bad batch or whether it is the riding in Nelson but three out of three of us in the office have been having problems with H1700 wheels breaking spokes very early in ownership. The problem is that the spokes are hard to get hold of. That said, I am choosing to get a new wheel built with the same rim and the non-straightpull version of the hub with Alpine 3 spokes so I still rate DT Swiss.

 

[neiloxford]

I picked up a new mavic e-xa elite 30 wheelset for about £300 which I felt was good value.

Out of the 3 you mention I would go DT Swiss.

 

[Orangie]

Industry nine. Coolest rims on the planet

 

[slippery pete]

Not sure if you're talking about rims or wheels but H1700 are built wheels. If rims, DT HX531 would be a welded equivalent for the H1700 rim and H552 for a sleeved option. I'd take enduro spec rims (minus the EMTB-tax!!) as well if all up weight was sub-130kg. I don't think DT are better or worse than others particularly.

If we're talking wheels...

TL;DR factory wheels bad.

I've got DT H1700 and while they once were round and they roll (and they came on the bike) I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend them.

I'd much rather have J-bend spokes than straight pulls (non-bladed straight pulls with locking nipples - ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!) and the spokes are also proprietary (the butting profile) and only available in a spares kit at double the price per spoke of generally available DT spokes. The spares kit gives you two of each length spoke used across the front/rear set (four lengths) so if you prang a rear rim, half your spare spokes in the over-priced kit are for your perfectly pristine front wheel. So now, per useful spoke we are at 4x the going rate. (yeah, I know they're only a mm different, so I'd get them to work one way or another).

You can't get hold of spokes in any different sizes so you're stuffed substituting in any rim with a different ERD but they don't market spare H1700 rims either. You have to trawl through the DT website working out whether it is worth paying the hybrid tax on the rim of closest equivalence at twice the price of the rim that Aaron Gwin can ride downhills on without a tyre.

If you put dings in wheels, this isn't an easily maintainable combo.

But you can send them off to a service agent.

I guess if you've got an "arrive and drive" approach to eMTB that kinda works.

After all that, they're 28 spoke wheels, hence why each spoke is heavily loaded and needs a hefty 2.3mm cross-section at the hub. The gram counters might have come out with a putative win from that malarkey but 32 J-bend spokes in a standard butting profile (or straight!) would be stronger, cheaper, stiffer and easier to obtain/maintain.

So a 350 hub is a decent thing (when it isn't straight pull). The 24 points of engagement ratchet system is supposed to be beefed up compared to the 36 poe, so that's a decent compromise I suppose.

The rim profile is ok, but you've got a lot of good options for 30mm wide rims these days at non-ridiculous prices.

Spokes should not be proprietary, overpriced and unobtainable.

/I'm done

 

[Gary]

Factory built wheels are not inherently bad at all. And if if you're able to tension/true a wheel yourself you will save a fortuen over handbuilt wheels. (even if buying all the components to build them yourself).

But yeah. only with 32 decent J-bend spokes and built 3X

 

[slippery pete]

Factory built wheels are not inherently bad at all. And if if you're able to tension/true a wheel yourself you will save a fortuen over handbuilt wheels. (even if buying all the components to build them yourself).

But yeah. only with 32 decent J-bend spokes and built 3X

I think I agree with all of that. I've spent 35 years building my own wheels for my various cycling disciplines. Occasionally I land up with factory wheels because they come with a bike or they've convinced me on some other grounds. I'm not a fan of straight pull because I prefer maintainability. I'm not a fan of low spoke counts.

 

[Gary]

You've been around long enough to remember when 32 was a low spoke count for mtb use. Any lower should be reserved for road or XC race use and this also where I'd prefer shite modern hub and rim spoke attachment points and exotic spoke materials and profiles to remain.
Stupid carbon rims threw, a spanner in the works for mtb and the likes of Mavic/DT Swiss keeping trying to re-invent the wheel but never actually improving anything for mtb use over tried and tested old J bend hasn't helped.

 

[Orangie]

I9 has the right idea with system. Super strong,and light weight. Wheel sets come with extra spokes if you need

 

[HumphreytheBear]

My Trek came with Sun Ringle Duroc 35mm - the rear wore out after approx 4000kms- wet , muddy - Hub failed - poor maintenance prob too.

So i replaced with a DT350 - M542 35mm rim and DT heavy spokes - All Good !

Rolls fast , is till round , no pings , creaks or otherwise

Couldn't obtain any parts to build a front rim - it is okay - lost a few spokes , bit of a mild wobble : )

So have ordered a Hope Fortus 35, with pro4 hubs Sapim spokes - complete from online - just waitng for it to arrive - seems to be well travelled at this point .
UK, Naruta , Japan , Melbourne , Sydney , Melbourne Sydney back to Melbourne ....awaiting dispatch .

 

[neiloxford]

These would be a good bet. DT 350 hub, J bend spokes and tough rims.

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[Stretch40]

Hi all great wheels I've got a custom set hope hubs halo rims sapim spokes u could look at halo there very nice or if u r in the UK just riding along or jra make mint wheels and u can custom the decal colours to match your bike good price to ? Just a thought ?