We’ve been fans of Spank’s Oozy rims and wheels for a long time so we jumped on to its latest Bead Bite 29er set as soon as we could. We’ve not had a single issue since, while some other, considerably more expensive, test wheels have already run into various problems with bearings and spoke tension.
We had a bit of a fight getting the WTB tires over the central Oobah bulge that Spank attributes its impressive strength and stiffness to – this gives the rim bed a gentle upside-down wave-like profile. By adding this profile Spank has created 'Beadnip' – instead of just the hook on the vertical wall of the rim holding the tyre in place there’s an additional effective hook on the horizontal plane, which locks the tire’s bead into place. Once over the Oobah bulge, tires blew up tubeless straight away and the 25mm inner width gives even 2.2in tyres a nice fat, well supported profile.
The rim design and three-cross lacing provides a stiff but not too harsh feel that compares well with budget carbon wheels for overall trail character. Despite the broad rims, the 28 triple-butted Sandvik spokes and CNC-machined hubs mean a reasonably responsive 1830g overall weight and the Japanese bearings are still spinning sweetly after eight months of almost daily use.
They come set up for 15mm front and 142x12mm rear axles as standard but 20mm front adaptors and 135mm QR rear adaptors are included for versatility. The Bead Bite micro serrations on the rim bed and inner sidewall mean we’ve not burped or pulled tyres off the rim once, despite our tire pressures getting lower and lower. We have had some issues with a 650b set of Bead Bite rims though, so, as with any rims, be wary if the initial tire fit is baggy.
