- Weight: 1020g + 1120g = 2140g (650b)
- Width: 34mm/39mm
- Freehub lag: 8°
- Sizes: 27.5, 29in
If you can suck up the weight then Hope’s 35W-Pro 4 Enduro wheels can suck up any walloping or weather they encounter. Add excellent customer service from the Lancashire factory and that makes them fantastic long-term value.
The 35W rims are heavy but at 34mm wide, they’ll handle any tyre from 60-70mm wide (that’s from 2.35-inch to a full 3-inch plus-tyre depending on brand) without feeling pinched.
The rims come with ultra-durable Velox cotton spoke-protection tape included, but you will have to buy the broader tubeless sealing tape and valve separately (Hope can supply). Once fitted, they air up well and seal securely with most tyre brands, and the extra width helps keep them from crumpling at lower pressures.
After a couple of years clattering round on them we know the rims will take a battering without denting or losing shape either. Happily, Hope have rectified some build issues they had a while back, which saw some of our sample wheels going baggy – the in-house hand-built quality is now as solid and reliable as the rims and hubs.
Hub weight and relaxed (rather than uptight) tensioning gives them a solidly damped rather than poppy and dynamic feel. That contributes to their shock-shrugging toughness and adds compliant ‘soft compound feel’ traction when you’re really ragging them.
The latest Pro 4 hubs have a faster take-up and aren’t quite as noisy as older Hopes, although they still give a signature soundtrack to any sections where you’re off the power.
They come in six different anodised colours and can be ordered in or converted to all current fitment standards (and a lot of old-school ones you won’t find supported elsewhere).
There’s a straight-pull spoke option for a tighter feel and a steel-free hub option, too. Hope’s reputation for sorting out any issue on any component (however long you’ve had it) also adds a long-term value boost to an already competitively priced, punishment-proof wheel set.
