Now that plus sized wheels have been mainstream for a couple of years I’m curious about people’s experiences with them. I’d like to build a new muni wheel but I’m unsure on rim width. Open to suggestions .
It will be a 27.5 wheel and I’m planning on running a ~3” tyre on it. Maybe up to 3.25” (Duro Crux), not 100% sure yet.
My rim requirements:
Double wall
No cutouts
Either 32 or 36 holes are fine
Eyelets preferred but not required
So far I’m considering these options, in ascending order of width.
Plus-sized tyres are awesome for muni! (2.8in-3.25in, i.e. 71mm-82mm) They aren’t strictly better though, just different.
Regarding width I’d go for something between i40 and i50 (i.e. 40mm-50mm internal width).
Regarding weight: The Nimbus Dominator and the Mad41 Reinforced are heavy. Do you want to build a steamroller? I mean, maybe you want that, just asking.
The KH Freeride is about i50 and definitely on the light side for that width (680g) - an awesome rim which shall provide you with the maximum of axial/sideways stability.
With the WTB KOM Light i45 you can trade off 5mm in width against 50g in weight. That’s fair. Nice rim, looks like a top candidate.
You can also consider the KOM Light i40 on the rather narrow side. But if you like rather low tyre pressures or you corner hard and drop deep, scrap that.
I wouldn’t worry about eyelets. Hope that helps. Lots of nice plus-sized tyres for 27.5in (584mm) rims.
I care more about width than weight, but you’re right, the Dominator 2 and Mad4One are pretty heavy. The Mad4One does come in a lighter version, but it has cutouts, which I’d rather not deal with.
To be honest even before you posted I was beginning to lean towards either the WTB (i45) or the KH. I have similar WTB rims on my bike which I’m happy with, and KH is obviously a known quantity in the unicycling world.
Probably can’t go wrong with either, although the WTB might give me more options with narrower tyres than the KH…
Also looks decent. I would probably take that one over the Mad4One as it’s the same width but a bit lighter.
I think I’m still leaning towards the 50-55mm range. But, I have no experience with rims or tyres of this size, so I’m kinda guessing as to what I would like.
I’m open to it. My main emphasis at the moment is figuring out what width to go for, but if you have any good carbon recommendations then I’m all ears.
I was going to tell “What about carbon rims?” but you’ve been faster than I. @lightbulbjim, you should look at LightBicycle carbon rims. There’s already a few unicyclists who use some of theirs. I’m waiting the BrakeFast to lace one with a Schlumpf. They are cheap - for carbon rims-, light and strong.
Yep, I’ve poked around LightBicycle and their rims look good. In particular this one looks nice. Not sure exactly how the hookless thing works though: does that require special tyres?
You don’t need special tyres. They’re made so you can use any usual tyre.
45mm inner width should be great. The rim you’ve linked has the following specs:
That’s probably what you’re looking for: a 3.25" will fit if you want to go that big, and a 3" will be perfect!
I second the LightBicycle recommendation, 45 mm would be ideal for your use case. Just considering the strength, 32h would be totally fine for hard muni as long as the wheel is properly built. Double butted spokes also help with durability since they are not so rigid as cheaper straight gauge spokes.
The 35mm internal width rims are not especially optimised for plus tires, but today they are the most versatile. Most of them allow you to fit 2.8" or 3" tires, with the possibility of going back to more traditional tire sizes.
I bought an AM935 lightbicycle rim on which I mounted a 3" tire and so far I don’t regret it yet. Its 27.5" equivalent is the AM735, much more expensive than the already mentioned i45 lightbicycle rim.
Thanks for the feedback all. Double butted spokes are happening whatever rim I choose
I discovered, annoyingly, that my local UDC is out of stock of 32 hole hubs. That means importing from UDC US, with lots of extra shipping. Pandemic problems I guess.
Anyway, this is what it boils down to:
WTB KOM Light + 32H hub = $273 AUD shipped
Light Bicycle Recon + 36H hub = $401 AUD shipped
Those are both i45 rims. I’m dropping the KH rim from the list as it’s even more expensive than the carbon option (also need to import it from UDC US at the moment, shipping $$$). I haven’t included spokes etc as those costs are somewhat fixed.
After sleeping on it I’m leaning towards the KOM Light for pragmatic reasons. But I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, so all of you carbon aficionados still have a chance to change my mind
Yeah, that was my concern. This is all a bit of a gamble since I’ve never actually ridden a plus tyre…
Which is actually another point in favour of 32 spokes. If I decide I want a bit of a narrower rim then there are more options in 32 hole MTB rims than 36 hole unicycle rims.
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I mean, maybe you want that, just asking.
