We had to build up a pair of 650b wheels to try out but what to put them on... first up Jons Intense Slopestyle. The wheels do go round but as you can see from the photos only just.

The front wheel was build up with the Pacenti 650b rims and the Pacenti Mega Moto 2.4 tyre mounted so this is quite a harsh test, the rear has the Pacenti Neo Moto 2.1 tyre fitted.

The Intense has a low bottom bracket so the extra height off the ground wasn't a problem. The rear wheel was and a QR axle was fitted into the 12mm drop outs to enable the back wheel to slide back a bit, proper sliding drop outs would be a bonus - until the chain was too short. The front Lyriks are scraping the fork arch, some 650b specific forks or a less chunky tyre would be the answer. But we rode it anyway...

I arrived bright and early Saturday morning and I could already see that this was much more serious than the other more local Gravity Enduros. There were loads of people milling about fettling with their bikes, and all serious bikes too! What struck me first was the amount of this years models, which really illustrates how quickly gravity racing has taken off this year. It's gotta be said that my 2010 meta was looking rather old!

I signed on and set off on a practice ride of the course, which was made up of a mixture of the red and black graded, mostly man made trails that the park has come famous for. The linking stages were mostly reasonably gently climbing on fire roads, but the timed stages were extremely physically demanding, much longer than I am used to and also contained a huge amount of up climbing as well as mega rocky descents. This was going to be a tough race especially as the forecast was for rain all day Sunday.

After the lap which too around 3 and a half hours I set about re-riding stage 5 which would be used for the seeding run later that afternoon. This was around a 3 min stage mostly downhill and was one of the most technical on the course with a bit of everything from jumps and berms at the top to rock steps and even a couple of stream crossings! The very last section before a fire road dash to the finish was particularly tricky to clear has it was deep thick mud and the sharp tight corner leading into it made it very difficult to clear, let alone carry and speed onto the fire road. This was where things would be decided.

The race runs we're then set off at 20 second intervals between riders. I set off and was going really well, clearing all the jumps and carrying good speed through the turns, at around half way down s spectator shouted to me that I had nearly caught the rider in front! This made me push even harder as he came in to view. As I popped off a small lip I flew a lot further than I had been in practice. As I landed my front wheel washed out on some roots and sent me hurtling over the bars. I picked myself up and got back on the bike ( to huge cheers from the spectators) and gave it all I had on the last fire road. It was a couple of minutes later that the pain in my shoulder started, which would eventually cause me to miss out on the race the following day. I was gutted!

Even with the crash I finished 35th In the masters cat, which I was happy with and would have given me a good chance on race day but it just wasn't to be.

Everything apart from the shoulder survived the crash, including my Pacenti wheels, which took another good hammering including a big crash, and they are still true as the day they were built.

Here's to a speedy return to the bike.

Matt

We wanted to share these rather nice photos of a customers wheels on his Pegoretti bike - there are no sofas to ruin this shot.

We saw the cool Pegoretti graphics exhibited at Bespoked Bristol this year. See more on the Pegoretti website or order your own here in the UK !

We built Chris King R45 in silver onto Ambrosio Chrono F20 tubular rim, 28 hole front 32 hole rear laced with silver Sapim CX-Rays.

I say lure as there is something about the Golds that people 'want', the ultimate weight saving, knowing they have the lightest 29er rim - ever. It seems to override the very standard NoTubes ZTR hubs at the centre and the compromises which come with the extreme weight saving and which may be too much for some people. When 29ers came into existence we were shocked by how flexible the wheels were compared to the 26 inch size and that was before the Golds arrived on the scene.

About the American Classic / Crest wheels

The American Classic wheelset is built around high quality hubs with a long list of features to set them apart from the competition. They are made by American Classic in their own factory, using the cam activated freewheel mechanism they developed. The freehub body has steel inserts to prevent cassettes digging in, durable stainless steel bearings, and the hubs weigh in at just 130g front and 225g on the rear - about as light as you can go without sacrificing durability, or spending a fortune.

The NoTubes Crest rims are plenty flexy enough in the 29er incarnation without shaving any more grams off their 375g. The large flanges of the American Classic hubs do go some way to improving the stiffness of the wheels.

We've listed the build weight in the table below with the DT Swiss Revolution spokes to compare them more directly with the Race 29er Golds, but we build our instock set with Super Comps for significant additional stiffness, this adds 56g and can be bought here > .

If you have an extra £100 burning a hole in your pocket then a Spaim CX-Ray bladed spoke upgrade will still come in cheaper than the 29er Golds, and don't forget you can spec exactly what you want in our front and rear custom wheel builders - even purple spoke nipples as in the picture above.

About the ZTR Race 29er Golds

The ZTR 3.30 Ti hubs are made in the far east by a large hub manufacturer. That's not to say they are low quality, as they use good materials, stainless steel bearings and come with a titanium drive ring to save weight. At 140g for the front and 233g for the rear they are among the lightest available but with a price tag £80 more RRP than the American Classic we question their value for money. The price does include some very nice looking carbon / titanium quick releases.

The light 325g Gold rims are noticeably a lot more flexible than the Crest 29ers and we have had riders report durability issues with the wheelsets; occasional spoke loosening has been the main concern. We feel that the rim is not stiff enough to support heavy loads, allowing the spokes to become momentarily detensioned and loosen off.

The Race 29er Gold wheelsets use spokes specially made for NoTubes, 1.8/1.5mm DT Swiss Revolution spokes which save a few grams over the standard 2.0/1.5mm Revolutions, and a mostly 2X lacing pattern which lops a couple more grams off the weight.

Our conclusion

If you really need the lightest 29er wheels out there and are willing to look after them then the Race 29er Golds may be the way to go, as long as you can justify the £175 premium over the American Classic / Crest combination. We think though that they should be sold as a race day only wheelset to lighter riders, who accept that they may need some work with a spoke key from time to time. If you can bear another 96g the American Classics built with the Crests are the best choice for most riders wanting some lightweight wheels they can use more of the time. They probably also go in a straight line.

We were introduced to H Plus Son rims at Bespoked handmade show at Bristol and came away with a sample of their new rim the Archetype. A new brand to us they have been around in the fixie crowd for a while with some more deep section rims and have aimed their rims at a more discerning rider looking for a better standard of finish.

We were immediately impressed with the almost matt finish and virtually invisible weld joint, we're keen to try these rims out and will update when we've built up and ridden these rims.

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from H Plus Son

Archetype rim specifications

Weight: 450 grams
Material: G609 Alloy
Height: 25 mm
Width: 23 mm
Size: 700c
Joint: Welded

"The perfect all around road rim. At 450 grams, this rim has proven to be light yet not sacrificing strength, stiffness, and stability. The well accepted 23mm wide profile mimics a tubular tire, where the advantage can be felt immediately while taking corners as the tire is no longer shaped as a light bulb, flopping over with high load. Our impeccable H Plus Son workmanship and our invisible welded rim joint comes standard with each rim."

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Cost, finishes and availability

black 20h, 24h, 28h, 32h - £55
polished silver 28h, 32h - £55
hard anodised grey 28h, 32h -£58

The rims are suitable for rim brakes but finished with the same coloured braking surface so you could use them on a fixed or disk wheel and still look good.

Delivery expected end of June - early July 2012.

If you are interested in a wheel build on these or any other H Plus Son rim  - get in touch for a quote and availability.

It was a cold start to the day for most of the riders queing up to sign on as snow was falling in huge flakes. This soon turned to rain as riders pulled their bikes out of their cars and set of on their warm up lap. Luckily the weather brightened up a bit for the start of Race 1 and continued to get warmer and brighter throughout the day. The start of the races were a little bit hectic as lots of riders were packed into the narrow fire road creating a big problem for the Commisares lining people up. Eventually though the problem was solved and we were called to the front just behind the Junior riders. I was called up on the second row which I am quite pleased about as I thought the the riders around me were very good so I was compelled by the thought that I was capable of racing these guys.

After the Commisare gave us the usual talk on rules and what to do when passing people there was a silence as "the race will start in the next fifteen seconds" was called a short time before the whistle blew. This caught a few people off guard and there was some pushing throughout the bunch as many riders flew up the short hill. Suddenly a riders back wheel lost grip and went flying at a right angle to the rider stopping him and some other riders behind. Fortunately I was not caught up in this and kept with the front end of the bunch as we turned round the sharp corner leading into the grass field opposite the finish line. As we rode through there was riders being overtaken at the front and some being dropped from the back. The course burst out onto the fire road again only to launch the riders into a downhill singletrack.

My new Stan's Podium wheels rolled magnificently throughout the race giving me extra energy to use in the rest of the race. I was up to 7th on the start of the third lap with a hundred gap infront to 6th place and a few hundred meters to a pair behind me. Unfortunately I encountered gear shift problems that I couldn't work out at speed, I couldn't change into my easier gears for the long climbs, I like to spin a lot rather than using mega power, this took it out of my legs rapidly and I lost my gap, I kept fighting to the line. Although I had this technical problem I came 10th which I am happy with as my aim for this season in the Midlands XC series was to get top ten results.

So I went up early on Saturday before work for a couple of runs, it was a bit damper than it's been recently but the track still rides fast. First a few sections:

Greno's Steel City mini downhill track from Jon Webb on Vimeo.

Total length should be under a minute and a half for the faster riders especially if it's dry (which it probably won't be, being Greno / Wharncliffe). Definitely one for those who can pedal over rocks and hold speed through turns.

And now a full run movie, it starts off OK but gets a bit slow toward the end as I started blundering off line:

Full run of the Greno Steel City Downhill race track from Jon Webb on Vimeo.

Further proof that 650b is here to stay, Pacenti are working on an enormous DH dual ply 2.4" tyre. The one we have is a prototype, we are told the finished product will have more knobbles to improve the handling.

What we know from the sample is that the tyre has an extremely rounded profile, much more so than most other tyres, for a smooth transition to the side knobbles. It will likely come in a lighter (well, 970g) kevlar single ply and the dual ply version shown here which weighs in at a fairly standard (for such a big brute) 1350g. The dual ply will be made in a tacky rubber compound.

Initially the Mega Moto will be available ONLY in 650b size. Possibly it will be made in other sizes but if 650b proves to be as popular as it promises to be, there may be no need.

First impressions were that the sidewalls are mega tough, feeling more solid than Maxxis dual ply. It is heavy but no more so than most DH tyres. This tyre should work really well tubeless, it inflated pretty easily.

It looks like a great tyre and the only thing stopping us from riding it is a bike with enough clearance to take it...we're working on that and will report back soon.