Travers Rudy fat 29+ with some new wheels, Red Nextie Jungle Fox II with custom logos and Hope Pro 4 hubs.

A few more shots of the New and Old Nextie Jungle Fox carbon rims. This time head to head from above.

I was trying to show how much thicker the side wall was. Also its much easier to put rim tape on the new rims because of the wider, flat rim bed.

I am quite often asked what is the difference between the Nextie Jungle Fox (on the left) and the Jungle Fox II (on the right).

You can see from the photos that the rim bed is much wider, also the channel where the bead sits is a little deeper and more defined to hold the tyre better.
The most obvious difference is the thickens of the side wall has increased considerably, making it stronger, stiffer and less prone to rock strikes.

So this is a review for a set of Nextie Jungle fox 29+ wheels built for me by Michael of Travers Bikes.

Quick background, I snapped up a large Krampus ex-demo stock bike about six months ago after having rode burly 29ers for years and at the end of last year a short few months on a full fat bike with 4" tyres. Did not take long for the penny to drop with how capable 29+ is and for me it ticks all boxes, especially as a hooligan trail hardtail with a big fork.

Anyway, back to the wheels. I knew from previous experience from buying a set of carbon hoops as an upgrade to a Tallboy a few years back, that loosing weight in the wheels and gaining stiffness at the same time is the best upgrade you can give a bike. With this in mind as soon as I was hooked on the 29+ format I knew what would be next.

Not wanting to break the bank, but also not wishing to order direct from China myself and have a British middle man to deal with warranties etc..I contacted Michael. At that time he was badging the rims up with his own logos as you can see from my pics, but they are essentially exactly the same Nexties as he is selling now ( except you can choose any logo you want by the looks of it ).

First thing you notice when you see these rims in the flesh is how deep the profile is and how cavernous and solid they feel. The skinny Roval carbon hoops I'd had before were like matchsticks in comparison. I chose the matt black option with black spokes and Hope hubs, and was well impressed with the overall stealth look and build quality. They mounted up tubeless first time with a couple of nice pops and have proven air tight with no leaks or loss of air.

Out on the trails they are as stiff and quick to pick up speed with as you would expect of a wheelset that is loosing over three pounds compared to the stock tubed Rabbit Holes Surly wheelset. I had purposefully left the Rabbit Holes with tubes and not attempted to go tubeless in order to get as big of a weight change as possible, just for the hell of it. Bike was transformed, lightning fast and super stiff. I have the rear wheel slammed all the way forward in the dropouts on my Krampus and there is not much tyre clearance, but I have no tyre buzzing to date due to the stiffness of the wheel, and on certain hard berms on my local trails that would flex certain 29er wheels I had in the past, they passed with flying colours.

After messing around with a few different tyres, I settled on the Chupacarbras as my favourite plus tyre. They seem to suit this rim very well, and the slight echo sound you get as they roll with the deep section rims has a reassuring Fat Bike feel to them, even though they are super fast / light and have amazing grip.

So as far as negatives go I have yet to find any, they are still true and running smooth. The terrain I ride day to day is Swinley Forest and Surrey Hills, so hardpack and rooty natural forest stuff. Last weekend however I took a trip to Wales and with 14psi each end I smashed down rocky trails all day with no damage to the rims, even though there were a few loud pings and smacks coming from the back end.

Overall you cant go wrong with an upgrade like this and t is especially relevant to a plus bike I feel as the weight is largely in the wheels. Dealing with Michael was great, expect a personal customer service and a well built set of wheels. Highly recommended.