Just splashed out on a set of these from Freeborn (hopefully they’ll honour their ‘with frame only deal’ of £350!). Only issue is that they won’t be in stock till June, though not a huge issue as I’m away in Oz all of May 🙂

Anyway, just having a couple of second thoughts now that I’ve ordered them, so thought I’d just throw it out to the STW massive for thoughts & opinions on them (real world usage would be nice 😉 )

For £325 I could get Hope II hubs with Stans Flow rims, which I’m tempted by… what do ya’ll think? BTW I have to have a 25mm thru-bolt compatible front hub (due to the E150SL fork on my Enduro).

Cheers folks, appreciate your time as always 😀

They are great wheels. Mine have taken a hammering for over a year, and only required true-ing after I stuck my size 8’s into the front wheel in a bizarre over-the-bars accident! This includes a week in the Lakes, and a severe casing of the rear wheel trying to clear a surpise ditch, which I was sure would cause the wheel to collapse.
With a light tubeless tyre, they are noticaby quicker than other “all-mountain” wheelsets I’ve used, incuding CK + Stans Flows. Go for it!

What heihei said, although I haven’t had mine so long.

Very light, pretty stiff and seem strong enough. Very versatile too. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

haven’t had mine for too long but pleased so far. quality of build is good and nice having axle options up front.

Coolbies, nice to hear some real world opinions. I’ll stick with my choice then 🙂

I think I’ll buy some Flow rims and get them built onto my existing hubs (stock specialized front and DT Swiss 240 rear), I don’t have much faith in the DT Swiss 4.1 rims (why do Spesh spec these as stock on an Enduro? Why not 5.1’s??)

anyone else want to say nice things about Traversee’s and make me feel still better in my purchase? 😉

Check out the review on Bikeradar – they loved ’em too. Was going to get a second pair but wanted them before June, so getting some Mavic SX’s instead – more expensive and heavier!!

what worries me about these wheels are why are they so much lower cost, given the weight, than the competition ? Is it just Spesh making moves on the wheel market ? Or are they good on paper….poor over a year type product ? also-given that not many people have run these for very long.

Competitive pricing to gain a foothold in anew market sector, then before you know where you are they will be the most expensive like everything Spesh,

that and they ripped off Stans rims R&D to keep the costs down, once they have paid for the patent dispute I am sure the price will go up.

http://www.justridingalong.com/news/2008/11/14/specialized-vs-notubes/

does the weight for the Traversee’s include the rim tape? anyone know? anyone care?

There was a discussion on here about the rim tape a few weeks ago. Basically, after a while they start to leak if you run them tubeless. I now run mine with Joes’ strips which have much better sealing. Apart from that they seem pretty good, altough I did ding the rear rim due to too low a pressure before I realised they were leaking.

I thought maybe they were flogging all the stock off cheap in Europe because of that patent dispute, but that’s just a guess.

I’ve got a pair on order too from freeborn, very simila, thought about 819’s instead, but the reviews out there are so good i’m going to keep the order. They’ll also be for an enduro.

Hey Catnash, I’ve seen your Enduro on the MTBR forum. Whereabouts are you based in the Blighty?

Got an email from Freeborn today, they’re out of stock till 29th May, but they’ll do the wheels for £350 on pre-order… BARGAIN! 😀

hijack! sorry.

Ive got a pair that are in veryyyy good condition.Not a mark on them.not dents/flat spots. They look like they are a month old.

I am running another set of wheels on the bike right now so i cant afford to have another pair of wheels hanging around.Theres unused valves,skewers and axle options for the front hub all bagged and unused.

mail me if interested.
martinbothy@aol.com

Hey psychie, just now read this again. Based in Carmarthen so my local trail is Brechfa.

I like mine. Paid about the same as £350 a while ago. I couldn’t beat them for price / weight / features vs. a custom build when looking.

Smurf