Mountain Biking - New Rims! Opinions!

Hey-
I'm looking at getting new rims sometime in the near future. I have been seeing Mavic X517 rims laced to Shimano XTR hubs in a lot of catalogues and shops. I have researched these and am pretty sure these are what I want. I wanted to know if any of you guys have had good/bad experiences with this wheelset. I am about 170, ride and race XC, and don't do any big drops. THANKS for the input! :D

I just did some research on wheels and the 517's are a good choice. Velocipedio has some 517's on his bike too and says he likes them. I'll probably get 317's though because I have disc's and they are disc specific. I don't think you can go wrong with XTR hubs either.

I've got a pair of X317's and they're very nice rims, light yet strong! The X517 are pretty much the same except for the braking surface.

I've also got a pair of D521's. These are very strong, and bombproof, but too heavy for XC.

Overall, I like the Mavic products. There rims all hold up very well, even after some mild abuse. I've had a pair of SUN rims and will not ever get another set based on my experience.

Mavic's are high quality and build up easily. They are more perfectly round from the factory which makes proper spoke tension easier to accomplish. Let me tell you, some cheap rims are a HUGE hassle to build because of them not being "round".

L8R

i have 517 rims, and they are sparkly, havent had any probs with them, good braking surface, dont seem weak, i only do small drops and they still look nice and trim. yeah and XTR hubs sounds pretty nice, i run specialized hubs (not sure of model off the top of my head) and the two work well together. good luck

Another generic endorsement of Mavic rims, in general. I put a set of 32-hole Mavic rims on son #2's mountain bike; so far, no problems whatsoever, even with the abuse a very athletic 13-year-old can dish up.