My riding location is mainly a lot of dry technical steep climbs/descents with rocks
and ruts, therefore pedal clearance is important to me. I had available two fork sizes, a 2008 Lefty Speed DLR 110(limited
to 90) and a 2006 Lefty Max 140 SPV with a 2009 PBR 130 cartridge(limited to 120). I ran the Lefty Speed the first month
and never really liked how the bike felt so I swapped it out for the Lefty Max. With the Lefty Max mounted the
bike awakened, it also gave me better BB clearance. The only minor negative I found was that
on the really steep climbs it requires more body input to keep the front end down. Overall the Titus is fun to ride
and it climbs very good with almost zero bob.
Wheel Testing
The two bikes I used for the test: 2008 Cannondale Rize and 2008 Titus Racer X.
The measured sizes of the tire diameter @ 20 psi are, Kenda
Nevegal/Notubes Rims
29x2.2(28.99"),Kenda
Nevegal/NoTubes Rims 27.5x2.35(27.56"),
Geax Sturdy/Mavic 819 UST Rims 26x2.2(27.03").
The wheel combinations I tried are listed below.
29er vs 650B vs 26er
After 8 months of testing all three wheel sizes
here's what I found; The 650B steered a little quicker vs 29er, but it lacked the traction and roll
over of a 29er. On the climbs the 650B climbed just like my 26x2.2. Both sizes climbed and descended
good but the 29er just worked better than both. The two sizes
27.5" and 26" are very close in size. IMO it does not make sense to invest in a 27.5(650B) design. You
can practically get the 650B diameter by simply changing your tires from 2.0" to 2.2", and its a lot cheaper.
If you've been thinking about changing wheels I'd skip the 26er along with the 650B and make the jump to the 29er.
2009 Medium Titus Racer X 29er
-3" Rear Travel Fox RP23 6.5 x 1.50"
-2006 Lefty Max w/09 PBR
Cartridge Limited to 120mm
-Stans Arch Rims, Lefty SI Front Hub / DT 240 Rear Hub
-Tires:(29er)Kenda Nevegal 2.2F/Maxxis CrossMark 2.1R
-Cannondale SL Crank 2 x 9 w/custom BB
-XTR Cassette, Rear Shifter, Rear Derailleur, Front Derailleur, and Pauls Thumbie Front Shifter
-Hayes Master Cylinder / Hayes F/R Calipers / Hope 203F, 140R Rotors
-Cannondale OS Stem 110/Profile Solar Carbon Bar
-Seat WTB Rocket/Tompson Elite
30.9 post
-Shimano XT pedals
-BB Height 13"
-26.4 Lbs. Complete with Pedals
Shimano 29er WH-MT75 UST Wheelset
Shimano makes a
good UST wheelset but its weak link is the rear freehub. Shimano rear hub failures are common as mine is close
to its end skipping and popping. Hopefully one day Shimano will design a freehub that is more durable and easily serviced.
Meantime while there are no "true" UST 29er rims available for consumers to build a custom wheelset, I decided
to build my own using Shimano's MT75 rims.
So why do this when we have available UST compatible "Notubes"
rims? Notubes rims are fine and they work in most places but where I ride they fail. The internal eyelet holes
and the yellow rim tape is the problem. When a large spine enters the tire and passes all the way into the rim tape
its almost impossible to seal. If you install a Notubes 29er rubber rim strip it's near impossible to get a UST tire
mounted because the inside diameter was designed for rim tape only. The rubber rim strips were designed to convert
other rim manufactures to UST compatible and not to be used with their own rim.
I've ridden Mavic UST rims for years so I
thought why not use that design on a Shimano UST rim? So off I went to locate 48 Mavic UST eyelets and a 9mm x 1
left hand tap. I began by stripping the WH-MT75 wheelset down to the rims. Measuring the eyelet holes of the
MT75 rims I found the size to be 6mm. Since the Mavic eyelets measure 9mm, I needed to enlarge the holes to 8mm for
the final tap size of 9mm. I first used a 7mm drill bit followed by a 8mm to keep the holes true and the shavings
small. With the holes enlarged I ran the 9mm tap into all of them and afterwards performed a thorough rim clean out.
Next I installed the 16mm aluminum/brass nipples and eyelets. With all the nipples and eyelets(blue loctite) in place
it was time lace in the front and rear hubs. After some tensioning and toning I now had my personal 29er wheelset
just the way I wanted it; stiff, semi-light and durable! I've used and abused this new wheelset for some time and I've
had "zero" problems. I also removed all the Shimano 29er graphics with a rag and brake cleaner. Too flashy
for me. Below are all the stats:
Shimano WH-MT75 Wheelset Stock no Skewers:
F-842g R-1014g Total=1855g
That's a good weight for a factory mid-range 29er wheelset.
FYI the factory hubs without skewers weigh F-181g
R-346g
Shimano MT75 24H
UST Rim stock 485g
Modified
Shimano MT75 24H UST Rim w/Mavic Eyelets 490g
*To compare, my Notubes 29er ZTR Arch Rim w/out tape or valve is 478g and it's NOT
a true UST rim. I spoke with Notubes in Dec. of 2010 and the sales rep. told me, "If we made a true UST rim it
would be too heavy." (if you say so!)
Modified
Shimano/Mavic Wheelset:
Front-Shimano MT75 Rim, 24H Cannondale Lefty Hub 128g w/hardware, DT Comp Spokes=790g
Rear-Shimano MT75 Rim, 24H DT Swiss
340 Hub Machined w/Hadley 10mm Thru Axle
370g stock/288g
Modified , DT Comp Spokes=974g
Total=1764g
Wheel
Build Info:
Front Spoke Length
L-282mm 2x(Brass Nipples)
R-277mm
Radial (Brass Nipples)
(If you decide on 2x its 284mm)
Rear Spoke Length
L-282mm 2x(Aluminum Nipples)
R-294mm 3x(Brass Nipples)
NOTE: I
do not recommend that anyone try this. This was done for testing purposes only.
