Spank Oozy Trail 395+ Rims: Customer Review

Here in this review, our customer Ellison Smith has a set of Spank Oozy Trail 395+ rims laced to Industry Nine Torch hubs with their system aluminum spokes. The Oozy Trail 395+ rims feature a 35mm internal rim width and weigh in at 560 grams a piece. Let's see how Ellison likes his new custom built wheels.

Overview

I’ve been running the Oozy Trail 395+ rims for a few weeks now and have about 100 miles on dirt with them. Out of the box, the quality appeared as good as any other alloy rim I’ve ever used. They also built up very easily for an alloy rim, although not quite as easily as a carbon rim, as both rims I received were good and straight and not at all out of round. The only issue with Spank rims that I’ve noticed is that their claimed ERD is usually off by a few millimeters. Before buying spokes, you definitely want to measure the actual ERD of these rims! I will say, however, that Worldwide Cyclery’s measured ERD was spot on (thank you VERY much for doing this!). Definitely use this number instead of Spank’s ERD when calculating spoke lengths.

Performance

On the trail, the Oozy’s are an excellent performer. I laced mine to a set of Industry 9 hubs with their Torch system aluminum spokes and I outfitted them with 2.8 Maxxis DHF and DHR tires at 17 and 18.5 psi, respectively. I have this setup on a steel hardtail frame. The combination has worked extremely well for me so far, and I’ve done my best to put them through the ringer of rocks, roots, steeps, flow trails, etc. I’ve gotten a few rock strikes here and there, but nothing that was severe enough to pinch flat the tires. I’ve found no evidence of dings or dents on either rim. So I would say they definitely pass the durability test, although that's what I expected at their weight. They’re certainly not very light rims, but I was surprised at how lively they feel. I was worried that a somewhat heavy rim and tire combo would feel sluggish, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised that this hasn’t been the case at all! I do feel the extra weight on paved and gravel climbs, but once they’re on singletrack the gloves are off!

Final Thoughts

I typically prefer carbon rims on my bikes, but I just couldn’t quite justify the extra cost for this bike build. When I found these rims everything just seemed right, and the price on them is unbeatable! Although it comes with a bit of a weight penalty, the combination of strength, ride quality, and stiffness of the Oozy Trail is hard to beat for under $100 per rim. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced rim that won’t make you hesitate to go full bore into rock gardens, I highly recommend the Oozy Trail!