Whats your 29 Wheels set of choice?

[haloblack]

Im building up a Karate Monkey and Im wondering what the perfered wheelset combo is for 29s. Is it overkill to use a 36 spoke wheel? Ive heard many use 700c wheels...as in road wheels? I am by know means new to Mtn biking, or SSing, but alas, I am a 29" vigin...

[Cloxxki]

Get something like Salsa Delgado Cross rims, 22.5mm and ~520g each. Be happy. Or if you must have disc rims, Alex TD 17 or Bontrager Mustang. There's a big FAQ thread with more info over on mtbr.com
If you are hard on rear wheels, 36h is a good way to invest 30g and $4, if you ask me. No such thing as being overkill, though 32h is known to hold up fine.
Hubs with wider flange spacing is my preference, but really any decent hubset should do fine.

[jhl99]

Back in the day weren't 36 Holers standard on road bikes and heavy-duty tourers used 40 holers? Seems like 36 can't hurt.

[tryandgetme]

I think I'm gonna go for some 700c sun rhynolites laced up to either iro or DMR revolver disc hubs. the only thing they really share with road bikes is rim diameter...its the extra rubber that gives it the extra 2"

however, I have heard of people using cyclocross wheel sets right off the shelf and doing quite fine.

[wooglin]

I use 32h Delgados on XT hubs laced 3x with 2.0-1.8 spokes. Works good. I weigh 170 and ride light.

Spoke and rim strength have improved markedly over the past 20 or so years, so 36h road wheels are pretty much obsolete on road bikes except for loaded touring. Hell, most roadies think of 32h as too much these days.

[Cyclenaut]

I'm also using Salsa rims on my 29er and they haven't even gone out of true. They are laced to Spot disc hubs.

Of course I also have a preference for Bonty rims, but they weren't easy to get a hold of when I built my bike up.

[clayperez]

I had Richard Sawiris of wheelbuilder.com custom build me a nice set of wheels for my 29er. I didn't spare any expenses mind you so these wheels were $$$.

I used Sapim CX-Ray Aero spokes on Mavic Open Pro (road) rims with 32h configurations. On both the front and rear he laced an agressive cross pattern to compensate for the fact that i would be using disc brakes on Chris King hubs.

29" mountain tires mount nicely to the Mavic Open Pro's and it is also a very light rim at around 430g each.

[haloblack]

Thanks for all the input. I went down to pick up the frame from my lbs and low and behold, a complete 'Monkey was sitting there ready to go! I was drunk with velo-lust and had them throw all the components on the frame I came in to pick up. So just like that I now have a rollin Karate Monkey. I still plan to upgrade some stuff, but in the mean time I can ride :-)

The wheels are Surly hubs on Alexrims Adventurers. Any opinions on these? I noticed last night that the front hub will not accept a quick release. ouch. Any experience or opions on this wheel set?