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DT Swiss wheelset - 440 hubs, 5.1d rims
James - 25 February 2008
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When DT Swiss first came out with the 5.1 and 6.1 their name was tarnished after a lot of problems with the materials used in the 6.1, it dented very easily and such many people assumed that this was fair game with all DT rims.
But that was back in 2006, at the IceBike trade show I put the question to DT Swiss' technical manager and he assured me that the problems had been ironed out for 2007. So on came the 5.1d rims to our test bike, I wanted a rim that while light enough for XC, was also strong enough for DH. Not an easy proposition, but I was assured that it could manage to crossover, as the 5.1 is labelled as an 'enduro' rim. In 07 the Athertons used this setup on their race bikes, I might not have a new rim for each race but they should last the distance.
The next issue was what hub to match it with, as many companies dont offer a 'wheel' as a package I went in house and chose the DT 440 front and rear matched up with DT spokes. There's a handful of companies who can build an entire wheel from their own products and since we're here, why not test the whole lot?
The 5.1d rim is a perfect choice for an all round bike, weighing in at 520g and with a profile width of 27.8mm and internal width of 21mm they will provide a good tyre profile with 2.3 and 2.5 inch tyres without sacrificing strength or being overly heavy. It comes in black or black and either 32 or 36 hole as well as being disc only.
The 440 hubs are in DT's 'freeride' sector, simply bombproof. Just like a Swiss watch they tick tock and never miss a second. The freehub is especially simple inside, once you open it up its a wonder no-one thought of using their ratchet system before. And instead of the loud clicking you might find on a Hope hub while freewheeling, its much quieter for that stealth setup, check out the soundbite:
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I cant comment on the wheel build, because I got a local shop to do it. Spending this much on a wheelset you have got to get the right builder to do it, and thats certainly not me! So far theyre running straight and true with no signs of self destructing, like my previous wheels. My riding style is pretty hard on the rims but these havent wavered yet despite many peoples claims of their build quality, any reliability issues have been ironed out with the 5.1d.
We've also been using DT Swiss' RWS bolt through rear conversion, it basically replaces the QR internals with a solid 10mm axle which sits into the QR dropouts on your frame nicely. Basically you slot the wheel in, hold onto the nut on one side and spin the lever on the other till its tight, and there you have it. Very simple and much stronger than QR axles, ideal if you have to take the wheels off to get them in the car. The lever also has a spring action, so once you've done the wheel up, simply pull the lever towards you and relocate it out of the way, no chance of a stray rock catching it and loosening the axle.
Up front I've been running the 20mm Maxle thru axle, if you're putting your wheels through a lot of stress there's no better system, I dont fancy the thought of my QR attached front wheel falling out!
While riding I havent noticed any problems, and lets face it, as long as the wheels stay true and keep tracking the ground, then theres no issues. These have done just that, while they are very expensive - with the front hub coming in at around £105 and the rear £185, the rims are a reasonable price at around £40 each. Given that you could buy a fully build set of wheels for the price of the hubs, you do however get what you pay for, I dont think I'll ever break the hubs, and if I do, theyre extremely easy to service, with DT's no tool concept to maintenance.
They certainly arent a budget option, but the performance is simply hard to ignore; I think these wheels will be fitted on my bike for a long time to come.
Have a look at the DT Swiss official website, or the distributor Ultimate Pursuits to check out pricing.
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