Mark Adams The MTB rim of choice for Spank’s Downhill World Cup Race Team and Big Mountain Freeriders, this light and resilient Oozy Trail 295 MTB Rim is innovative, versatile, and race-ready. Packed with high-end tech and super strong, the Oozy Trail MTB rim is pro-proven and ready for a custom build.
Super-Strong and Super-Light Alloy MTB Rim
This Oozy Trail 295 MTB Rim is made from an advanced alloy. Spank’s innovative, bespoke manufacturing process ensures that each alloy MTB rim is incredibly light and strong to withstand the most aggressive and technical trails. Tubeless ready so you can run whichever setup you prefer, the Oozy Trail rim also features Spank’s BeadNip™ technology for improved strength, durability, and comfort.
Features:
- Material: MGR Dynamal Alloy
- Rim Dimension (Depth): 22mm
- Rim Dimension (External Width): 29.5mm
- Rim Dimension (Internal): 24.5mm
- Spoke Count: 32
- Tubeless ready
- Polish anodised finish
- Weight: 470g (27.5″); 490g (29″)
Spank Oozy Trail 295 MTB Rim Review:
After testing the Spank Oozy Trail rims for the last month, I reckon the hype is well founded. Having upgraded the entirety of my bike with these wheels, the difference in both performance and overall ride feel is immense. I ride these rims at roughly 2000 feet above sea level in Santa Barbara, California, and chose the 29er version for its 2.5″ compatibility. My first MTB race on the bike with these rims was Laguna Seca’s Jack Rabbit Downhill race.
Previously I was running handmade aluminum 29er rims, which were my favorite rims having raced on them for the past four years. However, compared to these Spank rims (even after I air up the tires), they feel to be lacking. In terms of total lateral stiffness, these rims seem to be on par with my handmade rims, however the Spank Oozy Trail 295 rims are far superior in terms of the lateral stiffness where it is needed the most – at the tire’s contact patch. This may seem odd, as the Spank rims are not as deep as the hand-forged ones, but only when you add the tire/tubes does the Spank wheel overtake the hand-forged rim. The Spank wheels are also a bit lighter, as are the hubs, and there is more rim depth available in the Oozy Trail rims that may be desirable to a lot of people for mainly aesthetic reasons. The Spank rims do need a “first-generation” wider rim tape, which Spank does not include. I am currently using tubeless Surly heavy duty tape, which seems to work perfectly.
The Oozy Trail rims have very noticeably better lateral stiffness at the tire contact patch, when compared to a something like a hand-forged Stans Flow or Stan’s NoTubes ZTR. Again, it should be noted that the wheels are not as deep (which is a big deal), but the tire/tube is sandwiched between two significant radius curves and the Oozy Trail rims have almost no vertical thickness, something the hand-forged rims do have. This vertical thickness might be considered insignificant, however the high-end, made in house, hand-forged rims are noticeably stiffer vertically than the 28/29″ Oozy Trail rims. This is noticeable when climbing fast under load and jump landing. The Spank rims also seems to have a bit better vertical stiffness than some of the other “big name” brands, like DT Swiss or Easton.
After coming off the hand-forged rims, I noticed the grips of the Spank rims, however, were much more forgiving, and that it did take some time to get used to the lack of vertical compliance. I know that the Oozy Trail rims are stiffer laterally than the hand-forged ones, but the difference is just so minimal to the point where I don’t really care, or really even notice it when riding. The idea of rim deflection a few years ago was even unheard of, however, this seems to be a fairly common discussion in the MTB industry nowadays. While it should be noted that these discussions have started to include rims that are 1/2lb lighter than the Oozy Trail rims, I feel that this is small comfort when you take into consideration how much more money you would have to spend to achieve it.
My weight is pretty low, being able to land a 1080 tailwhip fully backwards, with no hands, weighing 140lbs. I have done this on my Spank rims many times, as they are attractive enough to warrant video-ing, being that they are pretty new. Spank does a really good job of rolling out their new wheels in the public eye, before being shipped to shops or private individuals. My previous handmade rims used the standard plastic tape, and I did get a flat, but thankfully on the trail, and not in some remote Spanish deep woods (I love Spain, but just a poor place to fix a flat). My Spank rims do include a “presta adapter” which I personally have not used, but looks to be very well made, and I am a big fan of presta in general. I am pretty sure that a tubeless tire/tube combination would definitely help against an accidental “sting-erb” (local Santa Barabra term for a flat, by “sting-erb”, I mean, by some poisonous plant/insect/whatever), as most tubeless tire/tube manufacturers like Maxxis or Hutchinson recommend using a thin liner (i.e. bike tube), and not a heavy duty tube as most people outside of the MTB bike industry often use. This is so that if your tire does get a puncture in the side wall, or if you hit the rim on a sharp rock, the heavy duty tube will not rip and destroy the tire.
I had a close friend of mine put on the tape for me, as I did not have a floor pump with me at the time, and the tubeless tape/tube combination I usually use had already had the sealant in it. It cost me about thirty seconds of work to get the tire on, and by the tire was on, I would have had to have gotten more flowers for my ex-girlfriend (since I was supposed to be out buying them). Handling is a bit different than what I am used to, but not any different than I read on other sites, where people say that a 29er would naturally have different cornering characteristics than a 26″ wheel. I feel like the Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires I am running, with a 35psi up front and about 30 psi in the back, have the slightest bit of flop when going into corners. Along with the weight of the wheels, it makes it feel like the wheels are “floating”, especially at higher speeds (relative to the bike, it should be noted). It is not too bad, and honestly, I really like it. When riding, I found myself bunny hopping all of the popular coffee stops on my way to classes at 8 a.m. I also like the look of them, and the yellow and red contrast really well with the medium blue of my Rocky Mountain Altitude.
I am really stoked on these wheels for a XC Race Build, looking to race @ Tahoe for the first time this summer, and will be getting some more pics up soon. So far, while I have pushed these wheels pretty hard, I have not put anything close to what would be considered trail abuse. I commute on my bike every day, and have gone down a few stairs on my way to college, and let it be known that I am not very good at multi-tasking while talking to my girlfriend on a cell phone. After riding these wheels, I would never ride the 26″ version, and would hope that Spank would come out with one, but I am sure they are happy with the way they are doing things. If you haven’t already, it is time to ditch the 26″ wheels, or if you are riding 27.5″, upgrade to 29ers. And if you are riding 29ers, go get a set.
