DT Swiss BR2250 FATBike Wheels. Take it easy!

DT Swiss BR2250 FATBike Wheels. Take it easy!

BR – Big Ride! 2250 tells you the weight.

Hier geht's zur Deutschen Version!

So, our small series about FATBike wheels now finally comes to an end. But not without presenting two mind blowing high-end wheelset today and next week. Today we'll take a close look onto the DT Swiss BR2250 FATBike wheels which where one of the very first – if not the first ever – aftermarket tuning wheelset. They appeared on Eurobike 2014 in a Canyon Dude but soon became widely available. Luckily!
Again this time we won't bother you with our highly unprofessional tubeless ready scale – you will find it here, here, here and here.

Moreover we added some direct links to our partner Alex* and as usual they're all highlighted with „*“.

The DT Swiss BR2250 FATBike Wheels

First look: Eurobike 2014

As said, the BR2250 entered the stage in 2014 during Eurobike. In those days Canyon claimed that DT has developed a wheel set dedicated for Canyon's light weight Dude FATBikes. No clue whether this is true however it makes sense as the DT wheels are particularely light weight. Today you can simply buy* them without getting a Dude on top. Enough reason for us to present the details to you as these are also technically highly interesting wheels. But first:

Compatibility

Go for SRAM!

This is state-of-the-art wheels. And you will need a state-of-the-art bike to fit them in. Currently only 150/15 (front) and 197/12 (rear) through axle systems are available. The BR2250 set comes with a conversion kit to fit the rear wheel in 190/12 applications as well. But that's it. There is neither an option for QR nor is the BR2250 available for 135 front and 170 rear end.

Centerlock only? Nope! Just use the factory equipped adapter!

A very rare feature instead can be found for the brakes. The DT 350 hubs are ready to take weird Centerlock discs but for all of you who trust in genuine six hole (IS) discs from manufacturers other than Shimano DT provides an adapter that allows to fit them. Great!

Add the disc of your choice and lock it. Nice!

And for all of you out there who prefer to kick the shit out of a SRAM cassette DT adds an XD adapter to the set. Free of charge! How good is that!

The technical stuff

Now, THIS is amazing!

Here we go… DT has been a specialist for wheel technology ever since. No doubt they provide a remarkable firework of technology. The hubs (which by the way are sold separately including a six hole IS disc option) contain sealed bearings (two in the front and four in the rear) from Taiwan which come in 28mm diameter to save weight. DT relies on their integrated seals but adds some additional lip seals to the cassette body.
The approach to save weight was also chosen for the axles which are made of light weight aluminum.
A remarkable highlight is the cassette body: the aluminum body comprises a ratchet system that uses crown gear (or chopper disc) for transmission. This system already came up in the early nineties and has proven its outstanding reliability countless times since then. I bought a DT Hügi hub back in 1995 and it still lasts today. Sadly DT has worked a lot to chop their – formerly amazing – sound to a floppy „bzzzzz“. Not sure if we should advise to wash out all grease to get back the good old „brrrrrrrrrrrrr“ 🙂
By the way: of course you can perform most maintenance without any tools!

Just pull off the end cap and enjoy the view: 28mm Taiwanese bearings.

To connect hubs and rims DT only uses finest DT Competition double butted spokes which are locked by DT's Pro Lock aluminium nipples. Sadly there are no nipple washers used to allow easy truing of a bent wheel. However considering the high-end material and build quality you may never ever have to true the wheels anyway.

My finger spots on the rims joint. Really, that's it!

The rims themselves are another masterpiece. Punched with cut outs they come with bead humps to keep the tires in postion and improve tubeless handling. Yet DT themselves do not advise to run without tubes…
The rim edges are 2.5mm thick and provide a rounded shape to protect tire and tube and avoid punch flats.
The joints are pure eye candy: DT has refined their technology in a way that you can hardly (or, frankly spoken NOT) spot where the aluminum band forming the rim has been welded. This rims just look as if they were carved from a massive block of aluminum.

Here you see… Nothing. And the rim joint (in middle of the picture).

So, where ever you look at: every bit and piece of the DT BR 2250 wheels is just perfect and on the finest quality.

Sizes and weight

**) conversion kits included

Look and feel

Looks good. Feels good. Sounds good.

DT Swiss. Get it? Right! It's SWISS MADE. Those wheels come from a country that has international renown for high precision timepieces and knifes that you can use if you have to remove your appendix in the middle of the jungle! I mean, of course there is more about Switzerland but in any case it has to do with precision and quality. Those values can be found in every corner of the DT Swiss BR2250 wheels. Take the andodized surfaces of the rims and hubs (with printed logos – maybe they could be lasered to last forever), the silky matt finish of the nipples or the fantastic optically seamless rims.
Or take the outstanding ratchet machanism. Oh, and take the special DT Style though axle (they charge you extra for that one)! It's all just great and we could not spot any weakness here.
If you buy a pair of DT Swiss BR2250 wheels you buy a piece of Switzerland. With all it's great values!

Tubeless?

Grooves near the rim edges secure the tire.

75%. For us it's a bit difficult to understand why DT Swiss themselves do not advise to run their BR2250 wheels tubeless! They say it's because it can not be ensured to work properly under all circumstances. Well, the rimes have the most important feature: the hooks to secure the tire in position. By now we have successfully converted several BR2250 wheels to tubelss using Sun Ringle sealing tape! Given the leight weight construction those wheels literally scream for running without chunky tubes!

Yyou can find a „how to“ here (sorry, German only but plenty great pictures!).

Pro and contra

Sounds big, weights light. The DT 350 BR front hub.

+ high end material all around
+ superb build quality
+ outstanding ratchet mechanism
+ should be good to got for Tubeless
+ narrow rims for improved handling and choice of tires
+ rouded rim edges provide good snake bite protection
+ easy to maintain
+ comes with cassette body conversion kits
+ very light weight
+ great value for money (oh yes, we know the price tag)

– No 135 front or 170 rear hub option

So what?

Born for nuke-proof AND light weight applications!

So… After we went through a couple of FATBike wheel set just recently we have to say that the DT Swiss BR2250 just stand out of the crowd. It's a different league: every bit and bop is more advanced and you can see the quality with you eyes, feel it under the tips of your fingers and hear it with you ears (please dont's lick them – they really taste like all other wheels…). It's truly sad that DT Swiss does not offer the BR2250 in different hub options which redlines many FATBikers.
On the other hand they really take care for those, who can actually fit the BR2250 into their frames, e.g. by adding a XD cassette body free of charge.

Now, obviously the DT Swiss BR 2250 FATBike wheels are costly: 859,- are called officially. But as always in life you get what you pay for. And those wheels are just fanstastic. Just take the stunning weight of only 2.250 gram for the whole set!
So if you can afford them (by the way the street price currently is well below 859,-…) the DT Swiss BR2250 are an awesome pick to treat yourself and your bike and wise way to invest your hard earned money!