DT EX471 on Hope Wheelset

Win a pair of DT EX471 rims on Hope hubs worth up to £650. Brand new, any size and colour, handbuilt and shipped by RyanBuildsWheels, Bristol, UK.

I’ve tried many wheels over the years with many failures, don’t remind me of that Enve review I had to post on Pinkbike. After some long circles, I’ve come back to the old classic combo of Hope Hubs on 25mm DT Swiss EX471 rims for all-around MTB riding, why? Well, for many of the same reasons that multiple World Cup DH riders are using these rims.

First off, the Hope Hubs. They’re not the fanciest or lightest, but they are built to do a job for a long time. Like all Hope products, these can literally last you a lifetime as all spare parts are available essentially forever – you can still order parts for Hope Big Un’s – if any of you are old enough to remember those!

If you swap bikes a lot, like me, then the Hope Pro4 are the best option, the front hub runs on 20mm bearings and is downsized with adaptors for 15mm axles when many front hubs only work with 15mm. The rear hubs all use the same adaptors and the freehub bodies can be changed between any Pro4 hub. Hope are probably the world’s biggest manufacturer of aftermarket hubs and spare parts can generally be found all over the world. Bearings are all standard sizes that can be picked up at any bearing supplier.

The rims are also cheap and cheerful, at £85 RRP per rim, you could buy thirteen of these instead of one carbon Enve rim, or two complete sets of wheels. The narrow 25mm profile gives tyres a more rounded shape – I’ve been finding many tyre profiles are too square for my liking (new Continental + Michelin mainly) on 30mm rims. A more rounded tyre profile makes tyres more predictable when leaning over, deflects less off rocks and roots, plus they roll faster. The more rounded profile combined with narrow rims means a lower chance of striking the rim itself into a rock and also improves pinch-puncture resistance.

This wheelset will be built and dispatched via the expert, RyanBuildsWheels in Bristol, UK. The lucky winner can choose any colour and hub width from old-school 135mm single speed, enduro Boost, up to 157mm DH7spd in any colour. The rim choice is 29″ or 27″ or even 26″ for an older machine or a nice set of single-speed dirt jump bike wheels.