As a happy Reserve (ab)user I can assure that the warranty on those is phenomenal. Never backed out of riding a tricky rock garden or a drop into the junk. Such a great product!
Phenomenal rim. I have the 31 DH on my Mach 6 and it's such a sick combo. I swapped out the i9 hubs with 350s (54t) probably in the minority with that decision, but in my experience there's no better hub that combines durability, reliability and repairability better than the 350. They're bombproof. As far as the rims, not much to say, they do what they're supposed to do and are backed by the best warranty in the business. I figured those Fillmore valves were an overpriced gimmick, but I was pleasantly surprised with their quality and ease of use. If I had to choose another rim I'd go with We Are One Triads, and if I had to go with another hub I'd get either 240s or Chris King. I'd also like to try out those Berd spokes but I'm not spending that much on spokes ... At least not now, but I would like to see what all the hype is about.
for what it's worth, they've also got a warranty on the valves, if they break (i reckon yours should qualify) you fill out a form on the same website and they should send you a new valve.
Very nice! Can't wait to give my Reserve 30 HD Alloy DT 350 wheel set a go, they just arrived at the store today, so will give them a thrash this weekend! The Carbon ones I will get when I buy a Megatower ha ha. Cheers from Aus!
I have a Norco Range VLT E-bike. At 60-lbs, it's a beast of a bike. A large contributor to that weight are the stock alloy wheelset, with coat hanger thick spokes. I swapped out the Reserve 30's with DT350 hubs I bought for my new Enduro. This wheelset was like 8-lbs lighter and served for nearly 1-1/2 years and 4,000 miles of destructive E-bike testing before a sharp edge rock took out the rear. The warranty process was fast. 1 week to get a new rear complete wheel assembly, with upgrade to the 30HD. They upgraded to HD30 without my knowledge. Impeccable customer service.
I’ve had my SC ARC 27 factory built alloy wheels for almost 4 years now and have abused the s_it out of them on rock gardens, without one loose or broken spoke. SC builds the best wheels IMO and I’ve only heard good things about their carbon Reserve wheels too. I have two guys I ride with who bought Ibis carbon wheels and they’ve had nothing but spoke breakages galore. They both swore they would never get those wheels again!
Unrelated to your review Jeff, as your reviews are amazing, but does anyone speculate that Greg Minnaar is leaving the SC Syndicate because of reserve wheels considering the amount of mechanicals he’s had this year? He’s late into his career but still states that he doesn’t even feel 30 so I presume he’s switched team to perform at his best and not just to ride out his career on SC. Sorry for the rant but I just want to see other people’s opinions on what I’ve been thinking😂
Most of companies are cutting their loses. I assumed they had to cut Greg and take a risk with Jackson. The whole economy is tanking and not just the MTB industry so that's my guess.
I have no idea what happened between Greg Minnaar and SCB. Greg's bike shop in Pietermaritzburg sells Specialized, perhaps he got a better offer from them? I mean, he should be bigger than that, but it's not a crazy thought...
I think in the Santa Cruz video mechanic said they want the wheels to break. If it doesn’t break it’s not fast for racing. It’s too sturdy only suited for everyday riding
You should check spoke tension! That's a sign of a quality build or not and reviewing wheels should always include this. What's the highest tension these rims can be laced to? 1100N? When inflating the tyre the spoke tension lowers so being in the areas of 1200N isn't a big concern. The Park Tool tensiometer isn't very accurate to be honest either. They have probably used the DT Swiss one. Tension has to be consistent on one side though. By the way, normally I have around 650-700 on the weaker side when going to full tension on the strong side. 1200/900 is a good value on these SC rims.
Those are awesome valves, you can straighten the cave core or just replace them. Valve core replacement is inexpensive. Those are awesome wheels also, extremely durable but not invisible. I think the spokes should be a little heavier gauge and I’d love to see DT Swiss spokes.
I'm sorry but a broken rim is a big deal, I get it nothing is industrcutible and there is probably no solution that is better then the rest. Santa Cruz/Reserve is a big company and can easily back there products, so thats good though. I don't think I ride nearly as hard as you do but am heaveir but have yet to taco a rim since the 1990's lol. The stuff we get nowadays is far superior to what we used to have!
Any thoughts on dt Swiss 350 hubs for heavier riders? Had i9 torches for years but had to go stainless freehub and service yearly or things would bend and skip internally.
4:19 Hello from Norway. That sealant is not for me then, it can be -15C sometimes, not often, but still. -10 usually at lowest most often. It can get even colder up north. Good I live in the east part of the country. Currently I'm trying Muc Off, but I had to refill after filling it as it only coated the tyre, so I had to double it, add twice the recommended amount. I used Tune One Shot before, as it did not have any nasty stuff in it, seemed to work fine but did not get to test it on punctures. But no longer sold here. But I see I've been recommended to try Oko, I might buy some, they got bike specific sealants, but some say the tractor sealant works just as well.
Its funny u bent it, the inner portion is steel. Ive been using since the beginning and never had an issue. Ive had zero issues with fillmore valves but maybe im just a bit more careful.
WTB sealant didn't work so well for me, had a small hole and the stuff just fizzed out collecting dirt and not sealing the small hole. Patched the tire and used Stans and have had no issues since.
Hi mate, can you answer a question for me please that I can't find a straight answer for please? If you read this anyway e great, right I got a new EMBT on Saturday the cube stereo 160 action team I've not been out on it yet just got my sam hill pedles yesterday and waiting for frame wrap but it's the brand new disc's on it the shimanos do they need scuffed up for the pads to bed in or are they good to go from new? I used to sand my disc's years ago but just being back into biking after watching these videos and other's it's gave me my confidence back after my big accident years ago so thanks for that boost! The bike came inspected from a pretty good bike shop all test sheet list with it that was set up and inspected but still think the chain will need abit lube anyway and I'm thinking the disc's will need cleaned off and sanded abit? Even being brand new it's a hard thing to go take sandpaper to lol but just part of the mechanic world! Can you give me some advice please
I’m interested in the alloy wheel set. Where I live it’s very rocky, often rocks ping up and hit the side of the rim which makes me too uneasy to run carbon wheels. Would be interesting to know if they are worth the investment.
Love ask your videos. Everyone should look at importyeti - all these wheels come from one of three places. There is no innovation left in this type of manufacturing. The marketing is tiring. The last thing they could “innovate” is offering better warranties.
Santa Cruz carbon is primarily made by VIP composites, a Chinese company, with factories in Vietnam, Myanmar, and China. Industry Nine imports their rims from Taiwan (kind of surprising, since aluminum rims are so easy to make). WR1 makes their rims in Canada. I haven't looked into it lately, but Enve was doing Utah construction of their rims for a while. There might even be more North American made rims, but it really doesn't matter- the fundamental differences between aluminum and carbon rims don't change based on where they are manufactured.
Good idea on new wheels to pull rim tape and inspect length of the spoke in the spoke nipples. Should be flush or a liitle above the top of the nipple will also spot not uniform tension. Takes lots of rides and a hard hit to only then discover spoke length is wrong and you should have rejected the wheels when they arrived. Brass nipples are a bandaid for the problem of short spokes. It is not a good inspection of the wheel build if spoke length not checked.
How would you compare the Ibis HD6 to the Orbea Rallon or the RM Altitude? Looking for a bike to get serious about enduro racing but also want it to be my only bike that Id feel comfortable pedaling around all day, and these three are my top picks so far. I've gotten a lot of demoing experience on the HD6, a brief demo on the Altitude, but yet none on the Rallon
First off, for local enduro racing, I would go Ripmo/Hightower/SB140/Instinct/Stumpjumper before going long travel. Only the EDR level needs long travel (from what I've seen over the years), but my theory was always go light and efficient over stuck to the ground and slow feeling. Rallon was the smallest feeling long travel enduro rig, almost like a slightly more capable Ripmo. Altitude was much more beefy, adjustable, and happier in the gnarlier stuff. I loved that Altitude.
all this sounds cool and great but... 2,5 weeks to get the warranty is just too much without riding I mean... you just get a ex511 and have it rebuild in a couple of days - that's all that of course if you're riding on a level or in an area that tends to break wheels
well seems like I'm to broke for these, for that price (1800$) I'd get a 2-3 year old bike with relatively solid spec definitley not as highend as these but it'll get me riding
Yeah man, that's totally legit to get a second hand alloy bike. I'd fully support that over a fancy set of wheels, just depends on where you're at in your MTB journey.
The marketing and press has always advertised the Reserve’s as bombproof! Godamn, those valvestems are finicky! I wonder if your fame affects the warranty process?
LOL they have ZERO idea what bike frame is being used with the wheels- or in this case, which 5 frames are used with the wheels! Yeah I had hoped they wouldn't crack either, but shit happens. It wasn't a bad break by any means.
Well, the literature says "if you break a wheel, we’ll send you a new one to keep you going;" they did NOT do that. They just sent a rim, so I was down about 3 weeks.
I run these valves on my three bikes. Game changer as far as frustration changing tires. Did have an issue with one, but had a replacement within days. Plus I had plenty of other stems to toss on while I waited. I like to swap tires often so these things are great for me
I bought one for my Reynolds’s black label set for my firebird. One seals the other leaks around the stem in the rim. Is it a stem issue? I have the stock one in there without any issues.
I was wondering if you told them who you are, an influencer and pro in the industry. Would they treat someone like you any differently than Joe blow? Would you get better service because of who you are? 😎
Well, the literature says "if you break a wheel, we’ll send you a new one to keep you going;" they did NOT do that. They just sent a rim, so I was down about 3 weeks. reservewheels.com/pages/rider-support. Also, I should have included this in the video, but after I found the crack I emailed the marketing manager. He said he could send a wheel that day himself, or I could go through the consumer facing website. So, I decided to go through the consumer site, and filled out the warranty claim page on the website like anyone would. It took a few days to get a response, but I did get one, and about a week after that, they sent a tracking number. I do think Reserve is WELL aware that anyone who rides hard enough to break a rim is going to be someone they want to keep stoked, so I doubt they'll deny much. reservewheels.com/pages/rider-support
i have weareone (wao) triads with dt240, round sapim race and its quite good! (the dt is great for low maintenance too..) The reserve feel similar to me for the most part (I'm a noob), maybe better compliance on the wao. Would get any of these or even nobl, though I do think the wao are actually the nicest (looking, tech wise, etc.)
@@JeffKendallWeed I've not either, just heard about them from GCN Tech a day ago, they did a factor tour. They are a carbon material infused with polymer rather than epoxy, a different method of layup and a different shock/vibration damping quality, evidently. Just wondered how common or uncommon they were by this point.
Nope, I'd rather run DH/DD style tires. It's easier to deal with, and prevents tear style punctures. On a hardtail, I will definitely run inserts in the back tire; on the rigid bike, inserts front and rear.
I consider it just another propf that carbon rims is a disaster. They fail pretty much always under advanced riders, and they are absolutely horrible for environment because the companies just send new ones when the previous fail.
That Valve design is so monumentally stupid its actually comical. I dont care about warranty or anything else if they break, the design is just stupid and immensly prone to failure.
