SILT MTB ENDURO ALLOY WHEELSET REVIEW

HIGH VALUE, STELLAR PERFORMANCE

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Finlay Anderson

December 23, 2024

There’s a ton of solid alloy enduro wheelsets out there these days, but finding the goldilocks spot of value, strength and weight can be hard. SILT MTB hopes to nail that balance with their Enduro Alloy wheelset, coming in under $400 but still offering a quality wheelset. We’ve been putting these wheels through their paces for the majority of the year, and now it’s time to share our thoughts.

ABOUT THE SILT ENDURO ALLOY WHEELSET

RIMS | SILT uses a 6069 aluminum alloy for their Enduro rims, with welded seams for the best durability. The rim is asymmetric to balance out spoke tensions, with 28 spokes used up front and 32 in the rear to deliver their ideal stiffness balance. The internal width of the rim is 30mm, with a 2.5mm bead giving a 35mm external width – fairly typical for an alloy rim with enduro intentions.

The rim bed has a pronounced ramp, designed to make tire fitment easier and to encourage the tire to pop into place easily. They’re supplied taped for tubeless, with valves included in the box, so setup couldn’t be much easier.

HUBS | SILT uses a Ratchet Drive System for the rear hub, taking cues from DT Swiss to provide dependable engagement. There’s a choice of 36T (10°) or 54T (6.6°) engagement, through the use of different ratchet rings. These can be chosen at checkout, or changed further down the line.

The hubs are fitted with high quality TPI bearings, using stainless steel to avoid corrosion. The seals on the outside are of the contact type to resist water ingress, whereas the better shielded inner seals feature non-contact seals to reduce rolling resistance. A water repellent grease should keep the bearings spinning smoothly for the long term.

The SILT hubs are J-Bend only for the enduro wheelset, with a 6-bolt disc interface. SRAM XD; Shimano Microspline and Shimano HG cassette bodies are available. There are separate versions for “standard” hub spacing (100x15mm front, 142x12mm rear), or Boost (110x15mm front, 148x12mm rear), and SILT would accommodate a mix of these if requested at checkout.

SPOKES | For the 28 front and 32 rear J-Bend spokes, SILT selected the butted Sapim D-Light spokes. The butting on these – from 2mm at each end to 1.65mm for most of the span – reduces weight and increases fatigue life. They’re laced in a 2-cross pattern in front and 3-cross in rear, and secured to the rim with Sapim Secure Lock brass nipples.

OPTIONS AND PRICING | SILT hand builds the wheels to order in their facility in Ireland. This gives them the ability to accommodate custom requests at the point of order, so whether a customer wants high or low engagement; 2 or 3-cross lacing; or specific spoke tension, SILT should be able to accommodate the request.

Important to note is a weight limit for the total system of 130kg, and a recommendation for more stringent maintenance if above 115kg. Backing up the wheelset, if used within the intended enduro riding use case, is a 3-year warranty and a free crash replacement offer. If a rider dents or tacos a wheel beyond use, SILT will provide one replacement rim free of charge. A 50% discount is offered for any further broken rims.

In the box, spare nipples and a pair of tubeless valves are included. At the time of purchase, the customer can select the desired freehub, axle spacing, wheel size (between 29”, mixed or 27.5”), and the color of the rim graphics. Regardless of the options selected, retail price lands at $400 / £380 / €395. Claimed weight for the 29” is 1968g.

THE DIRT

I’ve had the SILT MTB Enduro Alloy wheel set on test for the majority of the year, and they’ve seen action across a range of test bikes in this time, most recently on my Starling Mega Murmur long term tester.

As fairly wallet-friendly alloy wheels go, Silt has really nailed the finish quality. They’re supplied ready to whack on a set of your favorite tubeless tires, add sealant and go. The rim tape is good quality and held up to multiple tire swaps, still sticking fast and sealing well. The rim shape makes for reliable tubeless setups with minimal fuss – they’re neither too tight for tire fitment nor too loose to create a tubeless seal, they’re just right.

Out of the box, spoke tensions were consistent and balanced, and within a typical range. They ran arrow straight as you might expect, with no spoke “pinging” on the first rides or any real bed-in period to note. The hubs span smooth and relatively quietly – much different to the loud SILT hubs that were present on the carbon AM wheels we tested last year.

After the first few rides, the rear hub ceased to engage. The Ratchet Drive spring turned out to be faulty. With a replacement spring fitted, I faced no further issues. S**t happens and SILT MTB says I was the first instance of such an issue they’d seen.

On the trail, the SILT MTB Enduro Alloy wheels went about their business with minimal fuss. They’re not a stand-out in either comfort or precision, striking a nice middle ground that’s unlikely to excite, but likely to satisfy the vast majority of riders. As a middle-of-the-road alloy wheelset – both in terms of weight and ride feel – they’re one of those products that’ll happily fade into the background and let you focus on the trail ahead. You may not have an ultra-high engagement hub or a super stiff carbon rim to shout about, but they perform very well for a relatively affordable wheelset.

Over the testing period, the SILT EN Alloy wheels were subjected to some serious abuse. From shock bolt-snapping hucks, to park laps on a dual crown-equipped enduro bruiser, they didn’t have an easy life. Through this time, they held up amicably, keeping their true and only needing one round of spoke tightening after the first five or so rides to bring them back up to spec. The bearings are still spinning with no sign of slowing down, and opening up the freehub revealed a fairly clean and still well-greased environment that should keep on engaging time after time. As you might expect from a star ratchet-style hub, the engagement didn’t skip a beat once all the components were fully functional.

Sadly, the testing period was brought to an abrupt end for the rear rim thanks to the work of a needless man-made rock garden. I was getting ready to tip my hat to the SILT alloy rim for shaking off more abuse than it had any right to, but just as I’d thought to myself “damn, these wheels are doing well”, their invincibility was disproven. Denting rims is a complete lottery – as is cracking carbon fiber rims – and in this case, I hit the right rock sufficiently hard to dent the SILT rim sufficiently to write it off. I’d heard that the old SILT MTB rims were perhaps a little on the soft side, but there’s no denying that the hit was hard enough to threaten just about all rims out there.

For a sub-£400 and sub-2kg wheelset to shake off the abuse that the SILT MTB Enduro wheelset did was impressive, so it’s a shame that they did ultimately fail. The silver lining to the situation? I could simply ring up SILT MTB and demand my free crash replacement rim. I’d have to re-lace the rim of course, but aside from a reasonable shipping cost, I’d be up-and-running again without having to dig deep in my pockets.

The Wolf’s Last Word

Nothing is invincible, but the SILT MTB Enduro Alloy wheels held up amicably to a ton of abuse. If you’re in the market for a well performing alloy enduro wheelset, then I can’t recommend against giving these SILT MTB wheels a try, especially since their setup will let you customize your wheelset to suit your exacting needs.

Price: $400 / £380 / €395
Website: Siltmtb.com

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