# Matrix Mt. Titan Rims... Junk, or OK?



## TheOtherGuy (Jul 1, 2005)

Hey folks, I'm wanting to build up a somewhat vintage (early-mid '90s) Ti framed weight-weenie bike, but I still want some reliability... (don't laugh..). Just wondering if anyone's tried using Matrix Mt. Titan rims, and what they thought. I picked up an inexpensive NOS pair in 36 hole. These weigh in at about 395 grams each on my triple beam. If built well with light gauge butted spokes, might they last under careful trail use (no jumping), or are they only suited for road riding? Also, these look really narrow (14/20mm in/out)... Any thoughts...? Thanks!


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## richieb (Oct 21, 2004)

Those rims are tough as nails from what I remember. The anoidizing brakes really badly, and tires are really hard to mount, but the extrusion is really tough. I rode 2 full race seasons on a pair and hardly even touched them, service-wise...

rb


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

If you're going weight weenie...wouldn't 36h be a no go?

I think Mavic M231's come in at about 410g or so. A bit heavier, but a good rim. Also to be found in 32h and 28h....period correct.

It's an option.


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## Guitar Ted (Jan 14, 2004)

Matrix Mt. Titan rims are very durable. I also agree that they are harder to mount tires on. Apparently, they made all their rims slightly larger in diameter than most rim manufacturers. Try putting an old skool Conti tire on a Matrix rim, and cursing is sure to break out! Those rims are pretty narrow, but are in line with what a lot of "weight weenie" XC bikes ran in the early 90's. Similar to Sun Mistrals and the like. Roll offs on these types of rims were not uncommon, but a little less likely with the Matrix due to the aforementioned tire mounting difficulties. You probably will get a little "squirm" in high compression corners with a lighter, thin cased XC tire though.


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## TheOtherGuy (Jul 1, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> If you're going weight weenie...wouldn't 36h be a no go?
> 
> I think Mavic M231's come in at about 410g or so. A bit heavier, but a good rim. Also to be found in 32h and 28h....period correct.
> 
> It's an option.


The 36 hole will build a slightly heavier wheel than 32 or 28 ('bout 25/50 grams per wheel) but durability is a priority over extremely light weight on this bike. I've always had better luck with higher spoke count wheels built with thin spokes, at least on my vintage road wheels. Thanks for recommending those Mavic M231s. It seems that vintage rims are somewhat inexpensive right now, so I'll keep my eyes open for a pair of them as well. 
Since the consensus seems to be that the Matrix rims are OK, I'll try them out; I just didn't want to be killed right away by using something known to be dangerous. Google searches didn't show much info. for that rim.

Oh; about hubs for early '90s... Were Bullseye popular or commonly used then? What would be a good early '90s hub that's both light and tough? Please forgive my questions, as I'm coming from vintage road... ask me about pre '90s road and I know a little something; I'm new to mountain world though... Thanks guys!


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## uphiller (Jan 13, 2004)

TheOtherGuy said:


> Oh; about hubs for early '90s... Were Bullseye popular or commonly used then? What would be a good early '90s hub that's both light and tough? Please forgive my questions, as I'm coming from vintage road... ask me about pre '90s road and I know a little something; I'm new to mountain world though... Thanks guys!


Yeah, people used Bullseyes back then. Another good choice are White Industries, www.whiteind.com shows some of their more modern stuff, which is only cosmetically different from what they offered back in the day. Try paulcomp.com as well.


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## flyingsuperpetis (Jan 16, 2004)

*Tanks for the mammaries...*



TheOtherGuy said:


> Matrix Mt. Titan rims...?


 I actually got to make several thousand of those rims @ the rim plant in nearby Marshall while things were slow for a few weeks... till recently I still had a bunch here with all kinds of wacky drillings. Things with multiple tubes, 14 spokes, 16 spokes, etc... stuff like that. What a fun job that was! Mostly a bunch of out of work farmboys making chemical bombs in the dumpsters & getting the middle-aged women who managed the place drunk &/or naked. Anyway, there were a couple extrusions that became the MT Titans. The 400g model you have is the durable one. The 333g model was waaaay more entertaining from a "how many rides?" standpoint. Many, many rims came back with pins that had popped out. Tolerances were all over the place, & there was zero QC. Couldn't keep engineers in that dept for to give em half a chance. Things have improved much since then. Brings back some memories though... whew.


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## TheOtherGuy (Jul 1, 2005)

flyingsuperpetis said:


> ....getting the middle-aged women who managed the place drunk &/or naked. Anyway,...


Yeah baby! Three cheers to drunken, middle-aged women! Where would we be without 'em....?
Thanks for the rim story too


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## 2ManyPlaces (Nov 4, 2004)

*Great rims...*



TheOtherGuy said:


> Hey folks, I'm wanting to build up a somewhat vintage (early-mid '90s) Ti framed weight-weenie bike, but I still want some reliability... (don't laugh..). Just wondering if anyone's tried using Matrix Mt. Titan rims, and what they thought. I picked up an inexpensive NOS pair in 36 hole. These weigh in at about 395 grams each on my triple beam. If built well with light gauge butted spokes, might they last under careful trail use (no jumping), or are they only suited for road riding? Also, these look really narrow (14/20mm in/out)... Any thoughts...? Thanks!


 I bought mine (32h) in '91 or '92 laced with double butted (14/16?) spokes, alloy nipples, NukeProof hubs (really small in diameter).. I raced with them for 2 years on a '91 Alpinestars AlMega (bright yellow/white) EST --rigid (no shocks anywhere).. I weighted 175-180 and learned how to "finesse" handle the bike real well.. No bashing through anything/everything in sight like you do nowadays on the DS bikes.. I think I've only had them trued 2 times in the 14 years that I've had them.. I pretty much quit using them after I got into the DS craze in '95.. A few years ago I I built up my '93 C'Dale DeltaVee700 into a roadie bike (the 2" front suspension w/lockout works really great for this type riding) and have used this original wheelset for the duration.. So, I like 'em.. I like 'em ALOT.. In addition, I think the bearings in the Nukies are still original,too..


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