$140 carbon rims

[Dean W]

Thanks for the update Dutch.

Looks like I will be getting another set of Flows

[heckler]

they only lasted two weeks, eh Dutch. That's really too bad.

Thanks for being the guinea pig though!

back to the flows...

[atb]

I could see thies working well as fronts, ive been running the same dt swiss am front for 5 years.

[dutch]

Few guys on mtbr figure i should just keep running em as is seeing as they still hold air.

A bit risky, but I'll give it a try.

[kperras]

FYI, I've been running the havens for a while now and have hammered them around a fair bit. Never more than 30psi but usually 28psi (2bar) in my tires without issues. Not a single issue with the rims and there have been a few times when I was sure I would have cracked them (exiting 7th Secret onto the fireroad...4 Kings race, especially the DH day).

Rear hub came loose, a cleanup and a dab of blue loctite and everything is good.

[bogey]

I'm pretty easy on my equipment for a 250 lber (with gear) but I have pounded one of my Reynolds carbon road rim hard enough on a steel square edged hole hard enough to pinch flat and wreck the tire. I figured for sure that the rim was toast but there was no damage at all. I'm also running Reynolds AM 29er wheels on my Tallboy and have beat the hell out of them including some solid impacts to rocks and roots. Again, no damage at all to the rims. Not all carbon is created equal!

[Bryce]

Originally Posted by safetee

Doesn't soap leaking out the nipple only indicate that the seal from the yellow tape is leaking? Shouldn't you just replace the yellow tape?

its from cleaning

I've seen the Havens crack at the eyelets without any direct impact. Light rider riding pretty hard. I was pretty surprised and, apparently, Easton was too.

[craw]

*bump for further update

[Couch_Surfer]

Originally Posted by craw

*bump for further update

I thought we determined that they cracked on the first waterbar that he cased?

[dutch]

I'm still running the same rims, with the original crack. I cracked the rear again with about the same severity. I've repaired neither.

The rear was very slightly out of true, but I straightened it up and all is well.

Still riding it, still holds air. I don't notice any performance loss due to the crack and so far its only visual. *shrug* If you can get over the possibility of cracking them, its still not a bad deal. I was a bit disappointed at the first crack, but truth be told, I'll probably buy more in the future.

[Kram]

I've got two rides on a set. Hardly time for a real test, but there is no question that they offer a superior ride. If I have to replace one a year, it may be worth it to me but any more than that I don't think I would stick with it. I've rallied them hard and they are exceptionally smooth yet stiff in a way that only carbon seems to manage. As long as they don't fail before the bike park opens I will be using the third one I bought as a front rim on my DH bike, and am considering getting the newly available version that packs on another 60g for extra strength for the rear. But that will depend on how much chance I get to pound these ones before then. Carbon is certainly the future though, one way or another.

[CoilAir]

Brad Walton over on PB has an interesting review on the Enve DH wheels. Cracked the rim in a g-out, heard it go, noticed the crack and decided to keep on riding. Cased a jump, and blew the rim.

He originally had pics of the damaged wheel in the review, but they were removed. Enve, in the review, claim he was riding a set of proto rims that were 30g lighter than the production rims. If you read some of Brad's comments, he claims he's had multiple warranty issues with Enve, and that he knows guys that have broken "several" Enve wheels.

I find it interesting that it's a generally positive review, but if you dig up some of Brad's comments they are anything but positive. In fact, in the comments area someone points out it's a shame the broken wheel photo got taken out and Brad replied with this:

Originally Posted by bradwalton

It really is a shame. As a matter of fact, it's BS. As a product tester I find it insulting that a company would claim to have sent me a pre-production prototype without telling me. These rims cost me a separated shoulder. When I wrote the review, these pics were included, but the editor cut them out. What is included is the ACTUAL weight of the wheelset, which is heavier than the company quotes it to be, which means that these 'proto' rims are not any lighter. Trust me, had they told me these were pre-production sample carbon rims for testing, I would never have put them on my bike. Carbon has it's place, which is for race use only. If you ride hard every day, forget about it.

Check the review here.

This is one of the photos that got removed.

[Kram]

Maybe in the future we will see a rear specific DH rim that is not trying to be light, but just giving us the better feel of carbon. I wouldn't care if it weighed the same as an 823 as long as it was as strong and still gave the same smooth and stiff feel.

[C.Lee]

at least with alu rims it'll just dent and still rideable

[Kram]

Originally Posted by C.Lee

at least with alu rims it'll just dent and still rideable

You've never seen an alu rim become unrideable? Just last year I carried a friend on a spineboard out of In Deep due to a folded aluminum rim.