The Speed Tuned MTR29 Asym Trail (29mm inner) rims offer pro level performance in a budget friendly wrapper. In other words, you'd be hard pressed to find this much rim spec and wheel spec at this price point, they are all business. For starters, these are Asymmetric ("Asym") rims, so you'll be riding a wheel set with much more consistent spoke tension across the board as compared to almost any other bicycle rim out there. It's a superior design that really shines with the contemporary adoption of wider rim widths. It's a totally Rad approach if you're willing to depart from legacy design solutions.
While this specific wheel set features a Trail oriented 29mm inner rim width, the Speed Tuned MTR Asym rim line up offers a comprehensive range with the rest of the rim options. The line up features a Race 23mm inner rim, a XC 25mm inner rim, these Trail oriented rims with a 29mm inner, and then the Enduro's with a 36mm inner width.
The Speed Tuned MTR Asym profiles approach their tubeless ready function in a mature, conforming manner that promotes rim strength at the beadhook, and overall durability. Mounting tubeless should be very doable, without having to employ an arensal of well learned tricks of the trade, to get your tires to seat. So what's the catch you ask? Just like Sun Duroc rims, these do not feature a welded seam like the few top tier rims do. Is that important? You make the call. Do I ask myself a lot of questions? Hard to say. Well, can't you take a guess? Just know that in the grand scheme of things, by percentage, very few MTB rims have a welded joint these days. Very few. A welded rim seam is sort of a rim feature nicety relic from the 90's and 00's. Just to sum it all up, these Speed Tuned rims offer a range of widths, are light weight, strong, offer more lateral strength overall than conventional bicycle rims, and they hold up. Is Airwolf the Raddest 1980's TV attack helicopter starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, and the guy with the eye patch? Absolutely. Not convinced? Look at where they park the thing! What were we Musing about? If you're into racing (Yeah, That kind of racing), riding hard, or you simply prefer to buy really nice gear, this is your starting and finishing point. Pretty straight forward.
For the purpose of gaining perspective, let's talk MTB rims for a moment. Let's go way back. Consider that only a few years ago, top end 26" disc rims for all mountain riding, with a 21-22mm inner width, used to weigh in anywhere between 500 - 575g. These Speed Tuned MTR's with a 29mm tubeless ready inner width, in a larger/29er diameter, weigh in at 475g, (our scale). That's a radical miracle. But are Speed Tuned rims tough enuff?. They're not going to flex while you're trying to bomb through a rough patch, or fight you in a tight turn. It's a quality rim, offering wheel stiffness without the harsh ride of some carbon options. Given this rim's width and strength, it's an ideal choice for a pretty broad range of riding types. These Speed Tuned MTR36's are an excellent option for larger volume, lower pressure set ups. If you need traction and you know it, we'd recommend building up a set of these, messing around with your tire pressures to see how low you can go, and you might be able to set new time records for your favorite trail sections, even before you mess around with your shock settings.
You have the choice to build these wheels with Speed Tuned Super 6 2.0 MTB hubs, or go all out with DT Swiss 350 disc hubs featuring the DT Swiss Star Ratchet engagement mechanism. Both are great options. The Speed Tuned Super 6 2.0 hubs feature 36 points of engagement, (10 degrees) via a 4x2 pawl free hub. The drive ring and pawls are overbuilt in terms of diameter, (drive ring), height, (drive ring + pawls), and materials, (quality stainless). Their bearing placement is proper, in terms of overall design meant to promote hub function and durability.
DT Swiss 350 hubs are excellent, they are finished to incredible standards, and include DT Swiss' Star Ratchet engagement system, (same exact drive mechanism as with their DT 240's and 180's). These hubs get the job done, hold up extremely well in an assortment of conditions, and have proven reliable even in the emerging context of high torque drive trains, (29er wheel bikes with 1x12 Eagle drive trains). Essentially, DT 350's offer you the option of buying one of the best performing hubs available anywhere, for only a modest price bump. Given their huge value proposition, they are hands down a great option for any MTB rider that cares about their gear.
In "stock" form, these wheels are built with DT Swiss Competition Double Butted 2.0/1.8/2.0 black spokes in a 32 hole, three cross configuration front and rear. DT Comp spokes offer legendary quality and performance. If you didn't know a thing about spokes, know that your wheels would come with a really top notch spoke product. That being said, we're offering a spoke upgrade option, in the form of Sapim DLight 2.0/1.65/2.0 spokes. There are two great spoke manufacturers in the world, DT Swiss and Sapim, (in alphabetical order). Essentially, you might be able to find a spoke product that approaches their quality, but you'd be hard pressed to find a company that makes a better spoke product than these two. All their spoke products, from straight gauge to their elliptically bladed and butted products, are all the best of the best. Sapim Dlight spokes will perform at the same relative level as DT Competition spokes, but will shave off approximately 75 - 80g from the wheel set.
Speed Tuned MTR Asym rims are new on the block, but have all the credentials of making their mark amongst the best of the best. And we know that you don't need Ninja skills to realize that these Tasty wheels will play your dangerous game. No doubt these wheels represent an unbeatable deal, (coupon codes here). We're not joking around here. If you don't have a lot of time to research all the rim options in the marketplace, if you don't have a lot of money, and if you can find this product page, maybe that's Magic.
Should you buy this wheel set? Entirely your call. Should you watch this short but sweet rock climbing video? Absolutely. One More Fun One.
Wheel Facts:
-Comes with tubeless tape & valves installed.
-The Speed Tuned MTR29 Asym Trail (sleeved joint), has a 29mm inner width, is 18mm tall, 35mm wide, and weighs about 475g, (our scale).
-Recommended for use with 29er x 2.2 - 2.6" tires
-Wheel set weight with Super 6 2.0 15/142 hubs and alloy nipples is approximately 1810g (Comp) or 1745g (Dlight); with DT 350 hubs wheel set weight is approximately 1835g (Comp) or 1810g (Dlight). Wheel set weight will vary with end caps, freehub driver, and nipple selection. Tape + Valves adds approximately 40-50g for the wheel set, on average.