In August 2015, the Biel-based wheel specialist DT Swiss launched the XMC 1200 Spline, a new carbon wheel on the market - an all-mountain wheel consisting of a hookless carbon rim with an inner width of 24 millimetres and 28 Aerolite Comp spokes mounted on the Spline hubs. The Twentyniner wheelset weighs just under 1,500 grams - an ambitious weight for all-mountain use. To find out whether they are robust enough to hold their own in their field, Ride chased the stylish rolling stock over numerous trails littered with roots and rocks.

Simple and stylish, but robust enough for all-mountain use?

Exterior and tire mounting
The design of the XMC-1200 wheels is kept very simple: The rim in unidirectional carbon look with discreet lettering and shiny black elements, black aero spokes with silver aluminum Prolock nipples and black hub body with bare milled flange.
There are no negative conspicuous features from the workmanship of the individual components to the construction of the complete wheel.
The tire mounting is pleasant. Although still tight enough, the tires could be mounted without any fuss and without tire levers. This is not a matter of course with all carbon rims, as some products have relatively high rim beds.

To ensure that the tires don't play too big a role when accelerating, we opted for the Onza "Ibex" in the 29x2.4 inch size and FRC-120 carcass. In our opinion, this represents a good all-mountain tire and, at 880 grams, strikes a balance between a marathon and a gravity tire. Its tread is also roughly in the middle between high-traction and smooth-running.
The Bold "Linkin Trail" is ideal for the ride test, as the stiff frame hardly distorts the perception of the wheels.

Maltreating on the trails
The wheels impress with their strong propulsion when accelerating while seated as well as when pedaling. This means that very little energy is lost to twisting when accelerating in the saddle. The power transmission is also very good when pedaling out of the saddle and there is hardly any twisting even when pedaling hard or sprinting - even after several rides. The low weight of the rim also has a positive effect.

The firm character is also noticeable on the trail. The XMC-1200-Spline transmits more bumps to the bike than the XM-1501-Spline wheel from DT Swiss - its aluminum brother, so to speak. Even though this difference is noticeable, it is minimal and hard to tell without a direct comparison.
However, the lateral stiffness of this wheelset is very noticeable when riding downhill. There, the wheels convince with good lines and precise steering behavior. The lateral stiffness is just as helpful when changing direction quickly.Stony trails and carbon rims are often not friends. In fact, rough rides through coarse gravel and rock gardens leave their mark on the XMC-1200 rims. But the same applies to aluminum rims and so we don't want to complain about the yield of scratches after one day and two half-day tours. The carbon rims on the front and rear wheels also coped well with the five clearly noticeable punctures. There was no major damage such as holes or smashed flanges to report. These punctures had no effect on the spoke tension: the wheels still turn without wobbling.

Scratches are never pretty, but they could be far bigger after the test.

Conclusion: DT Swiss has created a very light and robust wheelset with the XMC-1200-Spline. Sporty, crisp and very well-balanced, it impresses in terms of performance, stability and quality, but transmits impacts somewhat more than aluminum rims. An all-mountain wheelset of this quality has its price, but at CHF 2,268 for the 29-inch Boost version, it is in line with its direct competitors.

www.dtswiss.com
www.intercycle.com/dt-swiss-spline