Wide 650 wheels?

I'm looking for a 650b wheelset to be used for more brutal single track style of riding. I currently have the HED Belgium Plus wheels for my 700c wheelset, and I'm running tires close to 45mm wide. I decided to buy some Hunt 650 wheels, but when I mounted the Byway tires on them, they only measured 43mm (tire is a 47), which had me wondering what was going on. I measured the external and internal of the rims, and they are ~23.5-24 external and ~19.2-19.3 internal, even though they were supposed to be 20 internal, so those will be getting returned. 

I think what I'm looking for is ~22-23mm internal hoop, that will take those 47mm tires up to ~50mm. I'm not against going with carbon, but seems like a lot of extra money for a wheelset that will get minimal use. I'd like to keep within ~$1k, has to have thru-axles (12x100 and 12x142), center-lock rotor mounting, and 11-speed compatible. If I go custom, I'd probably go with White Industry hubs, as the ones on my 700c set have been great so far (3,200 miles). 

Thanks! 

DT Swiss XR361 is 22.5mm Inner width.

You can purchase the rims, or quite a few Euro sites do builds e.g. r2-bike.

I can do a build for you with WTB 650b KOM i23 or i25 rims and keep you within your budget. PM me if interested.

They should stretch a bit from that 43. My Byways are 46mm on WTB i19 rims. The KOM goes up to a 29!

HED has a 650B Ardennes Plus. My 48mm Gravel Kings measure out to 50mm on them.

Shimano XT trail wheelset (8020), best bang for your buck. I picked up a pair of these for less than $250. 28h front/rear, Center Lock disc. They have super wide 27mm outer, 24mm inner rims. I'm running WTB Byways tubeless with Orange Sealant on these, super easy to setup. 

Shimano XT wheels are a good bargain, however 400+ grams heavier than the build we're already talking about off site.

Keith Bontrager said it best "Strong.Light.Cheap. Pick Two"

Kowalski, I'm not saying your recommendation isn't a good one. I have also steered people to Shimano wheels that had tighter budgets than what I build with. But the OP also is looking more towards the higher end.. "White Industries" and "HED" and a "$1k" budget were part of the formula so the theme about where this was going in terms of parts was established as well.

Keith also said that light years ago when component quality and selection for custom builds was nothing compared to how it is now.

Thanks for everyone's input so far, I've been researching them as people are throwing them out. Seems there are quite a few options out there, that my original Google search didn't yield. After looking into some of the stock builds, I do think it makes sense to do a custom build, similar to my 700c's.

The XT's seem like a good deal, but they are quite heavy, and I've had some issues with XT's, mind you back in the 26er era, that make me want to look elsewhere first. Also, I was only able to find 15mm thru-axle versions, not sure how easy it is to convert Shimano hubs to a 12mm?

I do like my HED wheels, but it looks like the Ardennes Plus only come in a 21mm internal rim width, and I want to go wider than the Belgium Plus. 

The DT Swiss hoops look pretty sweet, they are now on my list of potentials, I've just never ridden any DT Swiss hoops, I only have experience with their hubs. I'm sure they're a solid hoop, but any issues with it staying true, too flexy, etc.? 

I'm also still on the fence about the WTB's, as they bit me in the ass back in the early 2000's, but I'm sure that is a long gone issue, so they're also in my list of potentials. 

Thanks again!
Greg 

I'm a big fan of custom wheels and was going to go custom myself for my 650b setup up until a friend suggested the XT trail wheels. Hard to beat them for the price and at close to 200lbs, I don't notice the extra weight. Like you, I wanted wide rims to mount my WTB Byways on and they fit the bill quite nicely.

You could do a really nice custom 650b build with DT350's, Sapim D-Lights or your choice of spoke and Kinlin TL-23 (24mm internal) tubeless rims. I have a set of road wheels (Wheelbuilder custom DT240/Sapim CX-Ray,Kinlin XC279) and a set of road/dirt  wheels(DT350/Sapim D-light,Kinlin XR31) and both have been extremely solid. If you have never considered Kinlin rims before, give them a look.

Kinlin are pretty cheap but really inconsistent quality. No doubt that a decent wheel can be built with them, if you find a good one. Just to give you an idea what that entails; I did some contract builds for a company who's main rim line was Kinlin. I literally had to dig through boxes of 40 to find a decent pair. Their QC is absolutely atrocious and it made for really poor behaving wheels in the stand. Subsequently they were liquidated after enough builders complained. Looks like Rich at wheelbuilder.com has done the same. 

People I know who fit the OP's use description are mostly on DT hubs and KOMs. There have been some carbon rims creeping in, as well as Sram 900 hubs (but they're not centerlock so not an option in this case). The DT hubs also give you some modular options should you change bikes.

Another rim to add to your list?  Ryde Edge 22.  These are pretty similar in weight to the DT and KOM rims already mentioned.  I think it would be fair to say these three are all going to be about the same for stiffness.  They are XC rims and have weight limits, and there is always going to be a compromise with weight vs. strength/stiffness.  

 

If you downgraded your hubs from White Industries, it should be possible to get a pair of LB carbon rims with 22mm internal for under your budget, and not that far over with them. Downgrading to Hope RS4 or DT 350.

Mmmm, not so much. Downgrading wasn't really part of the formula here or the conversation we had off-site. Seems mr_slow is pretty stoked on White Industries, and I can't disagree as most of my personal sets over the years have been as well. Carbon not needed for this bulid, also established off-site. Ryde rims are ok, basically the Rigida revival. Many of the same machines tooling from the old days btw. But I think a WTB i23 KOM is a better rim for the money, especially so when pairing with the same brand tire using the TCS profile beads. And of course, a domestic company. He did mention some reservations about past WTB issues, and he was right they used to be sup par. It was about 2012 when they switched manufacturers and went from zero to hero just like that. I was living in Colorado at the time and have hundreds of customers rolling this same exact build since the switch up and down the Front Range with nothing but smiles.     

Hey man, I know you are a very competent wheel builder and meant no disrespect.  Just wanted to throw out a few other ideas into the conversation.  

That's all.  

The Byways I have on the wheels I just built for myself using WTB Frequency i23 rims are measuring 47-48mm.

oleritter wrote:Hey man, I know you are a very competent wheel builder and meant no disrespect.  Just wanted to throw out a few other ideas into the conversation.  

That's all.  

None taken. I'm just relaying what direction this went when the conversation went to email and the details of wants vs needs were laid out on the table. mr_slow still needs to return a Hunt wheel set, so options and conversation are still in play. 

Just got word from American Classic that they will have 27.5 wheels arriving in the first week of October. I have been running their 700c Argents for the past year on very rugged New England terrain and they have been bombproof. I assume the 27.5 MTB Race wheels will be slightly lighter and even stronger. 24mm inside width. I think the price point will be $750..