DT Swiss XM 1501 Spline One 29 Wheels - Review

The XM 1501 Spline One 29 wheels are assembled with straight-pull spokes around DT Swiss' own hubs, as you'd expect, although it is a bit of a surprise that there's no six-bolt rotor mount option to choose from—it's Center Lock or nothing, with six-bolt adapters being included. The front wheel weighs 818-grams and the rear 934-grams on my scale, both sans Center Lock adapters, making for a 1,752-gram wheel set. That's not too shabby of a number given that there's no carbon fiber to be found here, the relatively wide rim design, and their enduro-ish intentions.



Design

As high-volume tires have grown in popularity due to the extra traction, speed, and forgiveness that they can provide, rim width has had to also grow accordingly. DT Swiss had been somewhat conservative about this in years past, but the debut of their Spline One range a few years ago changed that, with internal rim widths ranging from 22.5mm for their cross-country wheelset to a massive 40mm internal width for the largest option. The XM 1501 Spline One wheels that I've been spending my time on sport a 30mm internal width, which is wide enough to work well with both plus-sized rubber or just wide, standard tires.




The rim bed isn't sealed, but it does ship with rim tape installed, and DT Swiss say that they use a bead blasting method and "a very gentle anodizing process" that is claimed to up surface durability. In other words, fewer scratches, dings, and dents. The shape of the rim bed is also said to make going tubeless easier, as is the design of rim's sidewalls.

DT Swiss' Squorx Pro Head splined nipples are used, and a specifically shaped washer is placed between the inner rim bed and head of each nipple that's said to act as a sort of ball-joint while also distributing the forces through a larger area. Also, I just like to say ''Squorx" a lot. Squorx.




The hubs at the center of XM 1501 Spline One's are, of course, from DT Swiss, and the company says that the straight-pull shells are the lightest that they've ever machined. And as with most of DT Swiss' hubs, they can be had in Boost and non-Boost spacing; the end-caps are pushed on or removed by hand thanks to an interference fit using O-rings, a system that means no tools are required to swap between Shimano and SRAM freehub bodies or to give the guts some love. Internally, you'll find a 36-point engagement Star Ratchet clutch inside the rear hub that provides 10-degrees of engagement.






Performance

The XM 1501 Spline One wheels have been designed for a spot of rowdy riding and that's exactly what they saw, but first I needed to mount up some rubber. I used three different types of tires while I had the XMs on my bike: a set of 2.2'' wide Vittoria Gato tires that weren't really wide enough but that I wanted to try on the DT wheels out of curiosity (they still worked well due to their round cross-section); a set of burly Vittoria Mota tires that are most definitely well suited to the XM 1501 Spline Ones; and a set of equally stout Continental Der Baron 2.4'' Projekt tires.




All three sets went on and seated up without any drama, so there's probably something to DT Swiss' claims that the rim bed shape helps to make this often messy job a rather easy one to get through. The 30mm internal rim width and the support that it provides allows for some seriously low tire pressures, especially if the terrain kept my speed down; as low as 17psi for the Der Barons, and 20psi for the much lighter duty Gatos. Going a few psi below those numbers didn't result in burps and spraying sealant, which is a good sign, but rather just the vague feeling of a tire's casing folding over. Zero burps.

One thing I was expecting was a dent or two by now given the relatively low pressures, especially on the rear rim, but there isn't even a hint of any direct contact with the ground. This, despite me knowing for a fact that I bottomed the rear tire and rim on the ground a handful of times. I did throw the rear wheel on the truing stand once, after about three weeks of use, just to touch up roughly 2mm of run out; tension for both the front and rear has held well.




I ran the XM 1501 Spline One wheels back-to-back with a set of Stan's Arch MK3 rims laced up with 32 spokes. There's a very obvious difference between the Spline One wheels and the Arch MK3s on the trail, with the former feeling more precise, stiffer all around, and allowing for slightly lower tire pressures due to the 4mm of added rim width. Both wheelsets are made for the same kind of riding, but I'd pick the XM 1501 Spline One wheels every time given the chance.

I've always been a big fan of DT Swiss' hubs, largely because of how easy it is to swap freehub bodies or clean and grease the Star Ratchet system, and it's no different with these newer straight-pull flange hubs. Everything comes apart with a firm pull, and it all simply pushed back together by hand as well. The stock configuration is the 36-point engagement Star Ratchet clutch that was flawless for me, and I'd prefer that over the much finer 54-point engagement Star Ratchet that I've seen strip out more than just a few times, especially when used with all of these new, massive bailout cogs that are so popular. The hub bearings aren't spinning quite as smoothly after a few months of use as they were out of the box, but I wouldn't jump in there for maintenance any time soon—they're far from needing any attention. One thing that I'm not a fan of is the Center Lock rotor mounts that allow the adapters to rock ever so slightly in the splines—this is annoying.

As trouble-free as the Spline One wheels were for me, I do find myself looking at their $1,261 USD price with a raised eyebrow. The performance is there, no doubt about that, and their 1,752-gram weight is impressive when you factor in the 30mm internal width, even against many carbon fiber wheel sets. There are, however, other aluminum wheels out there that cost much less and weigh marginally more. Your money, your call.


Pinkbike's Take:

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