can this pair of mountain bike wheelset handle such abuse?

Question

mavic xc717 disc rims
shimano 08 deoreXT hub
DT swiss competition spokes
frame: giant xtc team
can these setup take very light freeride?
jump not higher than 1meter.

i am only 50kg

Answer 1

they are not meant for these purposes
its stated that its for xc
anything more than that, they cant gurantee your safety
a good wheel builder is also important
get a trust worthy LBS to build your wheelset
a properly built XC wheels can take some small drops
but a inproperly built DH wheels can break with just small drops.

Answer 2

I would suggest another rim if you plan on doing this frequently, if you're dropping to flat, or if you're doing it in areas where you may land on rocks. The 717's aren't bad, but they aren't quite up to a lot of abuse. 3' isn't much, and if you're landing on a dirt transition and/or have a full suspension bike they'll probably be ok. You can certainly find better wheels for jumping, though.

The XT hubs are durable. I've broken a couple of axles on the rear...but those came from some 4' and 5' drops to flat on concrete with a hardtail. One of those abused XT hubs got rebuilt into a new wheel and I expected to see damage at the spoke holes or races but it was in great shape.....impressive!

For rims, if you want something stronger, I'd suggest a rim with a wider profile.....something 29mm to 32mm wide. These will withstand sharp-edge hits and lateral impacts much better than most xc rims in the 23-27mm range.

The Rhinolyte XL rims are great, although a little heavy....not as heavy as many other rims, though. I used a pair of Rhinos to race xc for two years and did well with them despite their weight. I rode two pairs of them on some horrible abusive urban rides and they did really well up to about the 4' range dropping to flat. For most riders and most types of riding, you can consider the Rhinolytes bombproof.....and they're cheap. You can get a pair of XT/Rhino wheels for about $120 to $160.

Other suggestions that won't break the bank are the Azonic Outlaws for $250, the Halo Tornados for about $280, and the Transition Revolution wheelset for $290.

Also, if you do drops, even short ones like 3', very much, you may want to change your bottom bracket to something stronger when your bearings finally go. Use steel QR skewers, too....they may still bend, but you can guarantee that titanium skewers will bend in short order.

Have fun! :o)

Answer 3

Sure, this setup can take light freeride and meter drops, but the real question is how long can it take it? You don't mention how you have the bike setup, but most XTC frames are set up to be light, XC racing rigs with short travel fork and frame shock. Therefore, something is certain to fail at some point.

As well, drops on XC rigs, with your weight forward and high, are kind of scarey. Even if your bike doesn't fail soon, one day you'll let your front wheel drop and do an endo.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

In short... NO!

here's why..
These rims are mavic's base lightweight noob model, they are crap by any standards as regards taking abuse.

Exactly how long they will last depends on whether you're using the fs or hardtail model xtc team and how much you weigh; but you're probably not looking at much more than a year.

Go for an all mountain rim like sun single tracks, I have a pair and they have lasted me years.

As for the hubs and spokes, they will be just fine.

Answer 5

No. Those are cross country rims designed for racing. They will disintegrate in no time if you try freeride with them. They also wear out pretty quick if you ride in the wet a lot.

Signed: Year round cycle commuter who eats light weight rims like candy.

Answer 6

I think they're sound for that riding.

Answer 7

Nice set of wheels , this is the way to go ......