Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
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Mavic XM 321 Disc Specific Rim
As my old rims were in poor shape and I needed more stopping power, I decided a new set were in order plus hubs and brakes. After pricing up a variety of wheel sets from many on-line shops, I decided on Mavic XM Disc Specific rims (£22.49 each, but you may be able to find a better deal online) laced with DT double butted stainless spokes and Hope XC hubs.
Mavic spec these as “All Mountain” rims and my initial reaction when they arrived was one of surprise as they were far heavier than my old Cross Country XC 517’s (XMs 570g as opposed to 395g for the XCs), but after 6 months of use and abuse they show now sign of splitting around the eyelets and no side wall damage, which is worth the extra weight penalty. Overall, I just cannot really fault these rims: bombproof, strong and the tracking quality of them compared to my old rims is awesome. On rocky descents they feel solid and stable whereas the XC517’s would wander and flex when things got hairy. On tight singletrack they track superbly and when stomping on the pedals, though there is a little more rotating weight. Using Kevlar tyres and lightweight inner tubes would help this.
If you’re after a dependable set of rims (but be sure on the build quality – get them hand built by a reputable wheel builder) that will last, then go for these. My only really gripe is that tyres (mine are Continental 2.3 Vertical Steel wired) are a darn bugger to get on and off the rim. The deep sided walls are strong and the payback for this is you really know your tyre is not going to come off the rim, just make sure you carry some extra strong tyre levers!
Looks/styling :: 8/10
Design features/materials :: 9/10
Performance :: 8/10
Value :: 9/10
Fany fact
Don't wait for slower riders, leave them to die on the hills. Through the process of natural selection your team will become fitter and faster.