Wide Rim Revolution or Fad?

I put some 35mm Derbys on my E29 after going through the Traverses it came with and then a set of Flows. The Derbys are almost too much. At first I was digging in too much, driving them the same way I would my softer, more compliant Flows. I had to learn to ride them differently. They're mega stiff. Good thing I went to butted spokes to give the rims some room to flex. Now I think they ride great. Very precise, hard charging.

I think carbon rims are pretty necessary if you're riding an aggressive 29er around here; especially if you're over 200lbs. Though whether it's the carbon, the width or the depth that brings the extra stiffness I couldn't tell you. Given where tires are at I'm not sure it's worth going any wider than 35mm, which is already a big jump for most people.

There is for sure some merit in really stiff rims at the end of the spectrum as you described - aggro 29'er ridden by a bigger dude.

The exceptionally wide rims I especially don't understand unless your tires are so damn tall (Magic Marys) that you need some width to keep the tire from falling over.

For everything else you want some level of compliance and forgiveness or you're in for a rough ride. We learned this 20 years ago and those were just aluminum rims, I can't imagine a 40mm carbon rim being good for much, other than pure strength.

I'm running LB 33mm carb0n h00ps on 2.35 MMs. Be weird to see those tires on much narrower rims, although I do have a 29x2.35 MM for the LB 30mm 29er h00ps so I guess when the weather turns I'll mount it up and see how it goes on.

Ed.
I noticed an awesomely awesome difference when I switched the wagon wheeler from Archs to LB 30mm. Such Flixibilitz;)
But for reals the Archs were clapped out at the point of replacement. Probably due to alloy nipples stripping spoke threads and running stupidly low PSI in all tires. The LBs likely for reasons mentioned previous track better are slightly lighter. I haven't noticed them deflecting off the lines I've chosen so far but I also suck at cycling so who knows…

a recent team robot post got me thinking. maybe "supa-wide-rim" proponents are just closet or wannabe fat bike riders: they yearn for higher volume tires to make the trails feel smoother, terrain less slippery and their bikes slow down so they won't crash - but are too image- or self-conscious to embrace full fatties

i've heard it suggested that a super wide rim is mandatory for "aggressive riders" on the shore. but how many pro's on the WC or EWS circuit are running them - and they're right at the nexus of looking for every advantage x promoting their spawnzor's hottest new product

a recent team robot post got me thinking. maybe "supa-wide-rim" proponents are just closet or wannabe fat bike riders: they yearn for higher volume tires to make the trails feel smoother, terrain less slippery and their bikes slow down so they won't crash - but are too image- or self-conscious to embrace full fatties

i've heard it suggested that a super wide rim is mandatory for "aggressive riders" on the shore. but how many pro's on the WC or EWS circuit are running them - and they're right at the nexus of looking for every advantage x promoting their spawnzor's hottest new product

There is no better way of saying it right here. Especially the second paragraph.

To add to that point, the only people I know who don't like the superwide/mega stiff rim trend are fast downhill and enduro racers. You would think they'd be first in line to use them.

With fork engineers deliberately engineering a degree of flex into their products, one does have to wonder the logic of having wide solid wheels. This is now the third time (I think) that wide rims have been in vogue so presumably things will continue to change. I'm tempted to upgrade my wheels and I can't help but think that wide lifeless wheels on a hardtail would be a really bad move. Would probably be awesome on a V10 though.

a recent team robot post got me thinking. maybe "supa-wide-rim" proponents are just closet or wannabe fat bike riders: they yearn for higher volume tires to make the trails feel smoother, terrain less slippery and their bikes slow down so they won't crash - but are too image- or self-conscious to embrace full fatties

i've heard it suggested that a super wide rim is mandatory for "aggressive riders" on the shore. but how many pro's on the WC or EWS circuit are running them - and they're right at the nexus of looking for every advantage x promoting their spawnzor's hottest new product

:clap:

Some of us run normal 26" rims with high pressures and fast suspension and manage to survive.

Today's "traction" is noob speak for lack of ninja skills.

:clap:

Some of us run normal 26' rims with high pressures and fast suspension and manage to survive.

Today's "traction" is noob speak for lack of ninja skills.

Muthafuken werd.

With fork engineers deliberately engineering a degree of flex into their products, one does have to wonder the logic of having wide solid wheels. This is now the third time (I think) that wide rims have been in vogue so presumably things will continue to change. I'm tempted to upgrade my wheels and I can't help but think that wide lifeless wheels on a hardtail would be a really bad move. Would probably be awesome on a V10 though.

I heard an interview somewhere with Nico where he was talking about using the minimum spoke tension possible in his race wheels to give them flex intentionally…

Times change, as do those that generate the trends… but next to zero flex in a wheel does not seem ideal either.

I heard an interview somewhere with Nico where he was talking about using the minimum spoke tension possible in his race wheels to give them flex intentionally…

Times change, as do those that generate the trends… but next to zero flex in a wheel does not seem ideal either.

Yeah, I totally agree… my 2015 Commencal Meta AM V4 frame was actually "de-tuned" from the 2014 version of the Meta AM V3 because it was apparently deemed too stiff… you gotta keep the wheels on the ground to maintain traction and go fast.

DVO tested 3 different stiffnesses for their carbon arch on their Emerald, and gave them to test riders without telling them which was which. Apparently they all chose the least stiff version. USD has a bad rap for being flexy, but I think that's actually a benefit in most cases. There needs to be flex somewhere in the chain. Maybe everywhere? Don't know, but I'll be running the new LB 38mm rims shortly which are bound to be stiff so I'll have an opinion soon on those and will report back. My experience with the 33mm version has been positive. Of course, compared to the 50mm wide now available, I'm not sure if you would classify 38mm as wide or not?

I went carbon for durability, no more wobbly flat spots. 33mm inner doesn't feel any different, maybe holds a straighter line through chunk and stiffer, I'm ok with that. 40mm+ might be a different story.

With fork engineers deliberately engineering a degree of flex into their products, one does have to wonder the logic of having wide solid wheels. This is now the third time (I think) that wide rims have been in vogue so presumably things will continue to change. I'm tempted to upgrade my wheels and I can't help but think that wide lifeless wheels on a hardtail would be a really bad move. Would probably be awesome on a V10 though.

The first thing I thought when I got mine was 'wow I definitely would not run these on a hardtail'. On a 6" travel 29er it has been awesome though.

I'm probably 210lbs when geared up and went from 21mm inner alum rims to the LB cheapie carbon 32mm inner/38mm outer when I blew up my existing wheels. Love them! I can run any pressure I want now without my front tire flopping around. I usually run 23-25 psi with a Spec Butcher Grid (900+ gram tire). On the 21mm rims I had to keep them at 27+ psi. I don't care about the stiffness either way.

21mm is just way too narrow. Flows feel fine at 25mm or whatever they are. The old Mavic 729s were awesome on the DH bike at 29mm. I wouldn't want any wider than the LB's at 32, and I'll probably never go narrower than 26mm again.

So yeah, a little hype and a little reality. I think they're taking a little too far, though.

edit: the only reason I went to carbon is I wanted wide-ish and durable, but the alum rims were pretty heavy in that width.

I'm probably 210lbs when geared up and went from 21mm inner alum rims to the LB cheapie carbon 32mm inner/38mm outer when I blew up my existing wheels. Love them! I can run any pressure I want now without my front tire flopping around. I usually run 23-25 psi with a Spec Butcher Grid (900+ gram tire). On the 21mm rims I had to keep them at 27+ psi. I don't care about the stiffness either way.

21mm is just way too narrow. Flows feel fine at 25mm or whatever they are. The old Mavic 729s were awesome on the DH bike at 29mm. I wouldn't want any wider than the LB's at 32, and I'll probably never go narrower than 26mm again.

So yeah, a little hype and a little reality. I think they're taking a little to far, though.

Totally. I'm closer to 230 all geared up and my alloy rims were having a hard time. 35mm deep carbon seems like an acceptable option. I'm leery of 40mm+ in the same way I am skeptical of 27.5+ and 29+ wheels - these are all wait-and-see ideas that someone else can explore.