DT Swiss FR 541 [Rider Review]

DT Swiss is a very common name that comes up when speaking out rims. They are known to be incredibly reliable and have great value. When they sought out to make a durable and bombproof rim, they knocked it out of the park with the FR541. See what our customer thinks of them! 

Overview

I bought the DT Swiss FR 541 Rims, 29" from 27.5 for the rear. The intended use was form my Turbo Levo Gen 3. I am a 200 pounds rider and the idea was to get something that would last for a long time. I have them paired with industry 9 hubs, hydra. To be honest, initially it was quite a challenge to understand the spoke length that I should get. I didn't have a lot of knowledge in this and as I started to get involved I saw that there were a lot of things to consider. Hubs, rims, how they are going to be set, etc. I was sent a calculator however it was not very intuitive and didn't want to make mistakes.

Guys in Worldwide Cyclery were very supportive and I was able to get the exact measure for of Spoker. I got the Sapim Sport Spokes in raw color, I wanted to be different to most builds which are black.

What I was looking for in a rim was durability, I saw a lot of videos showing the durability of these rims and how they were basically indestructable. I saw videos of guys using them even without a tyre and they worked perfectly well and outlasted every test. Me being a more or less heavy rider plus having a heavy XL ebike I was looking for something that would last for a long time. I have been using them now for around a month as what I can see is that I have had no issues, up to this point they have worked as expected.

In addition, these are stiffer rims which I can really feel a difference when riding, I can feel how they are more planted and also more predictable when turning.

Why I choose these rims? Well I don't think the carbon wheels are worth the price when using a full power ebike. I don't think the weight is a big issue in full power ebikes. In addition the price of these rims for what the quality that they offer is exceptional. A good set of carbon rims would have been much more expensive than these aluminium.

I was recommended for the build 3 cross set up, as I was told that the three crosses would make the build stronger. I think this will depend on the hubs and the bike that the build is being done. This has been one of the nicer upgrades I have done. In addition, the rims come with red stickers but in the package there are silver and golden stickers that can be used. I chose the silver ones as I have modified a lot of parts to silver.

Final Thoughts

I would totally recommend these upgrade, as the confidence the rims give, the look and the quality that you can sense are totally worth the price. The confidence you obtain knowing the rims will resist a big hit are worth every penny. If you are not clear if you should buy these, go ahead and do it!!