Review: American Classic All Mountain 29 disc
Originally posted on August 6, 2013 at 15:12 pm
By Eric McKeegan
American Classic is well known for ultralight parts, and these wheels come in pretty darn light for such a sturdy wheelset. They definitely show signs of dieting when compared to the 2,230g first generation all-mountain wheelset we tested in issue #141. The All Mountain 29 Disc still uses steel inserts on the cassette body to prevent cassettes from marring the aluminum freehub, but pretty much everything else is redesigned.
The wheels come with valve stems and are pre-taped for easy tubeless set up; I managed to install at least four different tires with just a floor pump. I’m a big fan of 32 spoke wheels like these. It makes it easy to find replacement spokes, and damn it, if I’m going to bash around 29-inch wheels I want some spokes in there—keep your low spoke- count wheels for the road. The 15 degrees of engagement was enough for me, and the wheels felt plenty stiff, even on a 140mm bike.
Swapping the rear axle from 142mm to 135 was fidgety and involved two 19mm wrenches. I’ve grown used to easy to install axle end caps from other brands. American Classic uses a one-piece axle that runs through the entire hub, which is claimed to better support the bearings. Those better supported bearing are adjustable, good if you like keeping things tuned to perfection, not so good if you just want to install and forget.
I’ve been stoked on these wheels for a while, and see them as a great choice for the newer generation of longer travel 29ers, or as an everyday wheelset for more aggressive riders, provided you don’t exceed the 230-pound weight limit.
Vital stats
- Price: $850
- Weight: 1,750g
- Hub Compatibility: 9/15/20 front; 135×10, 142×12 rear
- Degrees of Engagement: 15°
- Internal Width: 23mm
- Spoke Count: 32 front, 32 rear
- Country of Origin: Taiwan