Any recommendations for a gravel rim?
Want a carbon rim for a regular old gravel bike. Not racing, not bikepacking, just regular day rides.
Rider is lightweight, about 120 pounds or so. Would like 24 spoke holes, but that’s not a requirement. Will be lacing to Chris king hubs.
Any experience with the We Are One revive 2.0s? I’ve got a few of their MTB rims and I like them.
Yes I know it would be easier to just buy wheels, but I want to build them.
I build with Nextie rims all the time. They’re solid, have lots of options and several price points. The only downside is the wait, as they’re usually made to order. Light Bicycle is another reputable direct source, Farsports…
Duke Baccara “X” or “RX”
I’ve had great experiences with light bicycle. I built a gravel wheelset with some wide mid-depth rims and DT hubs back in 2022. I have since beat the ever loving crap out of them and they’ve taken the abuse quite well. You can ask for a heavy duty layup via email if you’re really concerned about durability. I also went with them in 2024 for a road disc wheelset that’s been great.
Another vote for Nextie - we frequently build wheelsets in our shop, and we usually use Nextie rims unless the customer requests otherwise. They’re solid and reliable (I myself have three wheelsets using their rims).
My gravel wheels were built using Venn rims (I think the Venn 259 THL), as recommended by a local wheel builder. No complaints from me so far.
To give you an idea what you are missing: Hunt makes a good entry-level carbon wheelset that is 35 mm deep, < 1,500 g for 1,150 €.
Second the Duke recommendation. I ride the BACCARA RX 42 SLR2 on my allroad bike and am very happy. Light, stable in crosswinds.
Would you agree on their marketing claims about “extreme comfort”?
Hard to say for me, because I have no extensive experience with similar rims that I could compare them to.
I have been riding We Are One rims on my bikepacking bike and I too built them up. They recommend Sapium spokes. Two years now and still true and tensioned like the day I built them.
I’ve been on WAO Revive (originals) in 28h for many thousands of miles. They’ve been very robust…two nasty pinch flats and no rim damage to speak of. Seems the 2.0 is only available in 28h. I suspect they’re on the extra-beefy side of things for a 120-pounder, too.
No personal experience, but I’d look into the LightBicycle rims of your choice with the ‘flyweight’ layup option if I were in your shoes.