On the other hand for the mountain bikes: I find the new Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels have to be one of the most amazing looking sets of wheels I have ever seen. From reviews I've read about them they are also an excellent cross country racing wheel. If only! Of course they'd never work with the lefty so they're pretty much out of the picture but still, they are amazing.
For the 29'er I've heard good things about the Mavic CrossMax 29'er wheel set. Not the greatest one out there but a very solid wheel set that would be a big step up from the laserdisc rims laced to no-name hubs that came with the Exile. On the other hand the Velocity Blunt rims laced to your basic deore hub would probably be a pretty affordable and considerable upgrade as well.
EDIT:
I wrote this post quickly this morning just so I'd have it up and wanted to add some things. (There is nothing more fun about day dreaming about bike porn). So, for the 29'er wheels, I like the Edge Composites as built up by Guitar Ted. This build for instance, at just over two grand but weighing in at under 1400 grams, the tubeless version along with DT 240 hubs is tight! Riding a set of 29'er wheels that are over 300 grams lighter then my current road wheels (basic shimano ultegra level rims and hubs) would be a whole new experience. They also look real nice...
5 comments:
Forgive me if I seem outta line here, but carbon fiber MTB rims have got to be the sketchiest carbon product ever to hit the market.
"Rim" and "catastrophic failure" together just don't sound good to me (this, admittedly, from a guy who has ridden both a carbon fork and carbon bars on his mountain bike, though not very often).
To each his own, of course...
I would agree with you on that really. Though, in all reality I made this up as a general "in my dreams" list of goods...
Ok, so actually I wasn't consistant at all, and really this is probably the only pair I'd never even consider buying. You know what they say, if you can't afford to replace it if it breaks then you shouldn't be riding it...
The Other two 29'er sets are certainly more reasonable and actually within my range. The Zipps, probably not gonna the happen. The Cobalts... Not as pricey as the Zipps but definitely as dream worthy.
In all reality though, if any of my crap were to break I'd be working hard to come up with replacements
"You know what they say, if you can't afford to replace it if it breaks then you shouldn't be riding it..."
Or, with a bit of reworking, if you can't afford the dental surgery if it breaks then you shouldn't be riding it... ;)
Not much on high-tech wheels, I like the old-fashioned tried-and-true 32h, 3x, double-butted spokes laced to aluminum rims set-up, partly because I can build/repair 'em myself, but mostly because of strenght/reliability. HAVING SAID THAT, those Cobalts are cool-as-hell looking.
Crank Brothers is coming out with a lefty Cobalt:
http://www.velonews.com/photo/90414
Ah great! Another thing I now REALLY want to spend my money on! Though that blue might look kinda funny with my red Scalpel. Wonder if they could make an alternate version and call it Maroon or something...
That would be tight!
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