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Bombproof Wheels under $300.00

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
I bought my 1st freeride bike in December. A new 04 Stinky. The Deore hubs suck (I broke the front axle into 3 pieces yesterday on a 5' drop to flat). The 321's are questionable. I need a new set of wheels, and found some 05 DeeMax's for $525.00, but can't use the front because my Drop Off Triples are "throughaxleless". I'm not ready to buy a JuniorT, so, I need some "skewered" wheels. People have suggested Azonic Outlaws. Any monkeys wanna share their experience with a newbie.

Thanks!
 

Monkeybidnezz

Turbo Monkey
Dec 16, 2003
1,212
0
Pac NW
Good call on the Azonics. Burly rims, and the hubs are convertable so no matter what fork system you run you will have a wheelset that wont leave you high and dry.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Yeah I've been running the Azonic Outlaws for 6 months now and they'll holding up great. The back wheel lost half it's spokes when a 3" stick went through it but it didn't damage the hub or rim. Laced it back up and it's running great.
 

joelsman

Turbo Monkey
Feb 1, 2002
1,369
0
B'ham
the 321's are good rims, if they are still good lace the front to a new hub, get one that converts from qr to 20mm like other people have said, it will save you money when you upgrade the fork.
 

Discostu

Monkey
Nov 15, 2003
524
0
Go with the outlaws, i'm running them with stans this season on my Turner DHR, I don't have any time on them yet but I hear they're solid and they look the part.

The 321 rims may hold up for awhile if you build them back up, but i don't think they will be as tough as the outlaws. These are the weaker XM321 not the D321 remember. (The D321 is an incredible rim by the way, I've had my D321 wheels for years and they still are perfect)
 

me89

Monkey
May 25, 2004
839
0
asheville
na man the dee maxes arent convertable why would they need to be. there made for dh racing and to be hucked off 30 foot cliffs and still hold up. ohh and thats to flat too :eek: :blah:
 

oly

skin cooker for the hive
Dec 6, 2001
5,118
6
Witness relocation housing
Discostu said:
Go with the outlaws, i'm running them with stans this season on my Turner DHR, I don't have any time on them yet but I hear they're solid and they look the part.

The 321 rims may hold up for awhile if you build them back up, but i don't think they will be as tough as the outlaws. These are the weaker XM321 not the D321 remember. (The D321 is an incredible rim by the way, I've had my D321 wheels for years and they still are perfect)
The outlaws he has were my race wheels from last year and they were bommer! I took them off for the notorious rocky courses and also full days at whistler, but use i put them through i only had to tension them a few times. Also i only had to clean the hub once. outlwas are a great deal for the $$.
 

Dogboy

Turbo Monkey
Apr 12, 2004
3,208
581
Durham, NC
The front hub on the Deemax IS convertible. It comes with 2 sets of adapters-one for 110x20mm through-axle and one for 100x9mm quick-release axle. I had a pair and ran them on a Z1 with standard drop-outs and a Super T with 20mm drop-outs.
 

me89

Monkey
May 25, 2004
839
0
asheville
ohh well i didnt know that thanks dogboy. what about the rear though can i get them with a 12mm thru axel or do they just come with the 10mm
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
If you want something even burlier than the outlaw, azonic makes a stronger wheelset for about the same money. They are rediclously over built, but if strength is your priority, give them a look.
The outlaws are great. Thier best feature is thier versatility. I switch them around all the time from bike to bike. The perfect backup wheelset.
 

Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
The front Outlaw hub will RUST. The inner rings are steel and rusted after only about 2 months of riding in wet conditions on my bike. They were great rims for the price.
 

chicodude

The Spooninator
Mar 28, 2004
1,054
2
Paradise
I have the outlaws, and they work great, but you want to make sure you spray the inside of the front hub with WD-40 or something that prevents rust...............
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
There's many options in the handbuilt range, $200-300 that you can do QR front & rear. Rim wise the Azonics are pretty burley, but you could also go with a set of Atom labs, Arrow racing, Sun, and mavic.

If you go the custom route, I know the Hope Bulb is convertible from QR to 20mm with a cheapy kit. I know their rear hubs are convertible as well from QR to 12mm TA for the rear. A little pricey but it's hard to decide what your range is. You said Azonic and Deemax's which are 2 totally different ends of the spectrum in price.

If you want something that is semi-cheap but still strong get one of the pre-built wheelsets from Go-ride or Universal Cycles with the XT front and rear hubs and Atom lab or D321/Arrow DHX rims. If you want something you can upgrade to another bike try getting something like a Hope bulb hubset so you can interchange axles and such.

Again a price range helps a load here because for the price of Deemax's I'd rather have a set of EX729's laced to Hope/Hadley combo's so you can interchange etc...and it's still cheaper than a set of Deemax's. If you plan on riding to the trails the Atom labs and Arrow's are going to be heavy, super strong, but heavy. EX721's or 729's make very good trail bike rims and they have a good strength to weight ratio.
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Thanks for the advice monkeys!

I'm gonna go with the Outlaw's for now, until I can afford a new fork and bad ass wheels. Universal's got the Azonic's for $250 with free 2.5 tires.

Also: I didn't eat last week because I bought a pair of Syncos Mental pedals, and I am now riding the sickest and stickiest platforms on the planet. Do yourselves a favor and get some.
 

Red Bull

Turbo Monkey
Oct 22, 2004
1,772
0
970
me89 said:
na man the dee maxes arent convertable why would they need to be. there made for dh racing and to be hucked off 30 foot cliffs and still hold up. ohh and thats to flat too :eek: :blah:
You dont really know what you are talking about do you...
 

BigStonz

Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
240
0
Swain!! NY
I got 2 sets of Outlaws at Cactus Bike in AZ. $229 per set. Google'em

I didn't realize this was you stinkyBoy. I thought you just picked up one of Todd's wheelsets. You don't want to go with those 48 spoke anchors he bought?

Oops, I got the wrong StinkBoy...my bad
The other Stinkyboy has an 04' stinky, looking at a Jr. T, and hates his wheels too...what are the odds
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Actually, I'm in Phoenix and decided to go to Cactus on saturday to hav'em install them.

They're listed at $251.96 on their site. What's up with 229?

I have an '04 Stinky as well and will get a Jr. T ASAP... What are the odds...