But on a fast downhill section of the XC course at Mt Snow Nats this month I hit a jump face pretty hard (actually a mogul on a ski slope) and Taco-ed the front rim causing a pretty major crash and a dnf. Now Im no 140 lbs, but im thinking these rims may be too light for such hard xc riding at my size. Anybody else experience arch tacos?

Mounted up some Kenda Small Block 8s with Stans, didn’t even need soapy water to get that snapping sound when airing them up. They leaked out some air on the first ride but after that they are holding air like champs.

Lost a cool pound over my Bontrager Race wheels that came on the bike. They were heavy and had a beefy steel cog set that wasn’t even close to being light.

Bottom line is: Steering much quicker. Climbing much better and able to go up a gear faster. Pedals much lighter.

Impressed to say the least. Now just have to figure out the magic air pressures for these tires, still running a little hard and skates in dusty/sandy conditions.

I believe you have hit it just about right.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I have the same rims laced to Hope Pro II front hub and DT Swiss 240 rear hub. Used Dt Swiss Comp spokes (and some Dt Swiss Champion on the rear driveside just to make them a bit beefier) and can report no spoke windup, creaks, not even a click when hurtling over all types of rocky crap. I don’t know if the spokes I used are stronger than the ones used by Jake and that’s why our experiences with the wheels have differed, but if your thinking of buying these rims, I wouldn’t skimp and use super-uber light spokes unless you’re hardcore XC’er and every atom counts.

These puppies are still light (1850g for the pair) and so far have been bombproof.

The only problem I’ve had is that some tires can be a bit of a chore to get on and off, but that’s not really an issue, just a pain with lots of tubeless rims, plus I’m lazy and hate changing tires.