Disk brake specific cyclocross rims.

Hi, has anyone got a cross bike with disk brakes? I'm getting a cross bike and I'll be having the wheel built by the local bike shop.

I know which hubs to get but I wonder about the rims. Is there any reason I shouldn't used 29er mountain bike rims or would it be better to get cyclocross specific rims?

By the way my road bike is on ebay if anyone's interested; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Litespeed-Xicon-Easton-Shimano-Mavic-Thomson-FSA-/111603427402?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19fc15284a

Posting eBay links to your own sales is frowned upon here.

There are very few cyclocross specific rims. If a rim maker has a CX category it's usually comprised of their road rims and they are basically saying yeah, you can ride this rim on a CX course.

Cyclocross specific rims seem to mostly be coming out of the US, from Stan's, such as the Iron Cross, a 40psi limit race rim, and Grail a road / CX PSI rated multisport / gravel rim.

Why wouldn't you use an MTB rim? Usually because they are a bit heavier than a road rim, a bit wider than a road rim, and bit overbuilt for CX. They also tend to be quite shallow. That said, plenty of people use Stan's Crest, and as road wheels have got wider and machined sidewalls are dropped for disc brakes there is some overlap.

Personally I'd go for Iron Cross if it was a race wheelset, Grail if you want some flexibility and hard ano Archetype if you want a complete all rounder that will also work on a frame without disc brakes too.

This thread should probably be merged into the CX thread.

Sorry for posting the ebay link, I hardly ever sell on ebay so you can be reassured the likelihood of it happening again is negligible. Sorry also for possibly posting in the wrong section.

Thanks for the detail Howard. I'm not racing and I'm a very heavy rider so from what you've written thirty six spoke 29er wheels will probably be the right choice for me.

Good choice. A pair of quality mavic 29er rims would make an utterly bombproof wheelset.

I've always been inclined to go for Mavic rims and wheels. It's decided; Hope pro hubs, DT Swiss spokes and probably Mavic XM119 rims.

the only reason not to use 29er rims for disc cx would be if you insisted on lower spoke count, which would be a bit silly anyways.

Wholly thread revival, so I got a Cannondale cross bike and it came with maddux cx 2.1 36 spoke wheels. On the first ride I had spoke snappage, because I'm 22 stone. So do you guys think that the wheels I was originally planning to get (see above) would be a lot stronger than the maddux wheels?

I've got Mavic Cosmic Elite wheels on my road bike and they've not failed me, do Mavic make a cyclo cross/29er version of these wheels and what are they called?

Thanks again.

The 'dale Maddux wheels are notoriously poorly built.

So do you guys think that the wheels I was originally planning to get (see above) would be a lot stronger than the maddux wheels

Yes.

Mavic 29er CrossRide is probably the closest thing you'll get before you hit serious money.

Or Shimano RX31/RX05 from Merlin?

Thanks for the replies, Mavic it is then.

Maddux wheel are horribly build and their spokes always keep snapping even if you're 8 stone.

Sending them back to CSG doesn't do anything, as it came back with too much tension.

There's an Aksium One Disc too, but a little on the porky side.

Do you think it's worth getting the guy at my local bike shop to just rebuild the wheel with the same rim then? I do know that he is a good wheel builder, I've had wheels that he's built in the past and they've withstood me using them.

With the different Mavic 29er wheel sets; what's the difference in the rim between the Askium, the Crossone, the Crossride and the Crossroc?