WTB KOM 700c/DT Swiss 350 Wheel Build: Rider Review (Built to Last)

I was assembling parts to build up a Surly Midnight Special bike and I wanted a wheelset that was something I could rely on for regular road rides, as well as some gravel rides in northern California that I've had on my to-do list. I've heard nothing but good things about the DT Swiss 350 hubs. They aren't overly portly, and as many others have already pointed out, the weight savings of the 240 hubs just didn't make sense compared to their price premium. One thing that is great about the DT Swiss 350 hubs is that the end caps can be swapped out. The fork I'm running requires a 12mm thru axle, so I picked up the 15mm thru-axle front hub, along with a 12mm end cap set and it was super easy to swap out the end caps. It would have been nicer if I could have just bought the front hub with 12mm thru-axle end caps, but it doesn't appear those are available at this time.

I've used the WTB Valve Stems before, and they seal up fine. I also like the black ones, as they're a bit more stealth than some of the silver stems that are out there. The DT Swiss Competition spokes laced up great and I had no issues with the brass nipples. I went with brass over aluminum nipples only based on online research regarding aluminum being softer and more susceptible to corrosion in certain conditions than brass nipples. For my use, the weight penalty associated with using brass nipples wasn't a consideration.

Lastly, for the rims on this wheel build, I went with the WTB KOM 700c Rims. I've been running WTB rims on my Santa Cruz Bronson for the past few years with no issue and wanted to try out the relatively lightweight KOM rims. I also used the WTB rim tape. Taping the rims always looks easier when watching someone else do it on youtube and is something that always takes me a bit of time to get right, but the tape worked just fine.

All in all, the wheels built up fine without issue. I've only gotten a couple of rides in on them, but so far they've held up great. On one long off-road descent, I actually had to stop a couple of times because my hands were cramping up from checking my speed and being bounced around so much because of all the rocks in the road. The rims held up fine with this abuse and are still running true.