The world of mountain bikes has changed. For decades, the wheel diameter was the only constant. That's over now. That's why, in addition to 15 classic 26-inch wheelsets, we also tested eight wheels from the 29-inch class. Of course, we also want to know how the different diameters change weight, stiffness and comfort. That's why American Classic, Crank Brothers, Spank, Tune and Veltec are each represented in both categories with a model of the same design. The manufacturers continue to take very different paths: the 26-inch wheels from Reynolds and Ritchey come with elegant carbon rims. And while the competition relies entirely on sealed industrial bearings, the hubs of the Shimano XT and XTR system wheels still revolve around open cone bearings. How does the supposedly dusty technology compare?
Pleasing: The high standard of the wheels in this test is really fun. The components fit together well and the results are great. The only slip-up in the test is hopefully just a slip-up.
Tip: don't spend too much money. There are parts on the bike with which you can significantly improve performance. The exception is weight, where it is worth investing: the potential of lightweight bikes compared to heavy ones is huge.
Impellers - multi-layered things
In the test, we evaluate spoke tension, concentricity, stiffness, inertia and weight. Together with concentricity and stiffness, spoke tension, for example, allows us to draw excellent conclusions about the durability, load capacity and quality of the wheel. That is why we have compiled all the spoke tension diagrams of the test candidates in the image gallery below. Wheels that show a consistent picture here are on the right track. However, the level of the values is also important. We expect durability problems with spoke tensions below 500 newtons. The ideal range is between 900 and 1200 newtons. We have not measured dangerously high values. Rather too low: on one wheel we even found two spokes without tension.
All wheels in the test:
26 inch: ACLASS VED 2, AMERICAN CLASSIC MTB RACE, CRANK BROTHERS Cobalt 3, DT SWISS M1700 Tricon, FRM Urano XC Team, MAVIC Crossmax SLR, POISON Novatec/ZTR, REYNOLDS MTN AM, RITCHEY WCS Carbon Disc, SHIMANO XT, SHIMANO XTR, SPANK Vomax, SUN RINGLÉ Black Flag Pro, TUNE Olympic Gold II Light, VELTEC AM One
29 inch: AMERICAN CLASSIC MTB Race, CRANK BROTHERS Cobalt 3, MAVIC C29ssmax, SPANK Vomax 29, SRAM Rise 40, STAN'S NOTUBES Crest, TUNE Olympic Gold II, VELTEC AM One
The entire 2012 wheel test from BIKE 4/2012 is available below as a PDF download.
