All Mountain Wheeling – The DT Swiss Enduro EX 1750

Sep 2, 2007

Out on the trail there are a few key elements that are a must for a good all mountain wheel set. Namely, as riders pushing our bikes to the limit in a variety of terrain, we want wheels that are durable, relatively stiff and light. They need to be able to take a beating while also spinning smoothly and efficiently. As all mountain wheels, the DT Swiss Enduro EX 1750 meets these criteria well, and with their white base and black and red decals, they look darn hot too.

Getting Ready For

New Hoops

You may have seen some of the world’s top mountain bike athletes such as downhillers Sam Hill and Steve Pete, freerider Aaron Chase or the Yeti, Ironhorse, Specialized and Santa Cruz teams sporting DT Swiss, and they are not choosing the Swiss-based wheel manufacture without reason.

Before

After

After

After

The hand built wheelset weighs in at a scant weight of 1750 g, (820g Front, 930g Rear), the EX 1750 wheelset boasts double butted and bladed spokes, and hubs with stainless steel cartridge bearings. These 32 spoke wheels are ready for a 20mm front axle, while the rear will fit nicely into a set of 135x10mm spaced drop outs. Both wheels are disk brake only and are ready to go with a standard 6 bolt pattern. The wheels’ double butted spokes offer strength while not adding unnecessary weight, while the bladed spokes are designed based on the premise of aerodynamics to offer a more efficient design at higher speeds.

Sealed hubs

Fancy Thru-Axle

Bladed Spokes

Light Rims

These qualities including the light weight of the wheels, high quality of ball bearings, stiffness and spoke tension are just part of the reason why the Enduro EX 1750 won Mountain BIKE Magazine’s ‘All Mountain Wheel’ award when reviewed in October 2006.

After 2.5 months of testing the EX 1750 in a variety of BC locations including Whistler, Port Alberni, the North Shore, Kamloops, and even Utah down in the USA, the Enduro's proved to be a light weight wheel that for the most part can take a good beating.


Where do these wheels excel? The Enduro wheels work best in all mountain riding and especially fast, flowy, smooth single track like that found in BC’s interior. The wheels are also a good fit for dual and 4x racing. When tested on dual slalom courses, the wheel’s lightness and quick spin helped aid acceleration where it counts the most – getting a quick spin out of the gate and through the corners. On super rocky, gnarly terrain, the rear wheel did seem a bit soft and developed several flat spots during the test period. Truing the rear wheel did prove a bit challenging due to the nature of the bladed spokes, but that may be more a question of my mechanical experience rather than ease for truing the EX 1750. For 2008, DT Swiss is reported to be bringing out a Pinned Rim version of the 1750.


So just where can you find these wheels and how much will a set cost you? You'll be dropping around $1599 CDN for a complete wheel set at your local bike shop, but they do include complimentary DT Swiss wheel bags. In Canada the Enduros are distributed to shops by Norco and Cycles Lambert in Levis, Quebec. To find a dealer close to you or to learn more about DT Swiss' products, please visit www.dtswiss-us.com.

By Amber Zirnhelt – Brodie Bikes/Loeka