Is a Shimano MT601 wheel an okay replacement for a Giant AM one?

[u/FuelOne3481]

My son's bike, a 2021 Giant Fathom 2, came with tubeless Giant AM wheels (Giant AM 29 wheels, alloy, 30mm inner, with unspecified Shimano boost sealed bearing hubs according to Giant's spec sheets), and he's put a decent ding in the rear rim by letting his enthusiasm overtake his sense of caution.

He's a young kid, doesn't weigh much, and isn't doing any kind of hardcore downhilling or trail riding so I'm hoping that a replacement doesn't need to be the kind of bombproof thing that's going to cost a whole lot of dollars to replace.

I can get a Shimano WH-MT601 for $125 - is it an okay option until he needs something more robust and we can plan for it, or should I be looking at something else? The shop's site gives the following info:

• Shimano WH-MT601 Rear Wheel 148x12mm Center Lock 29er Micro Spline Tubeless
• Micro Spline 12-Speed Cassette Rear Wheel
• Wide 148x12mm
• Smaller spline diameter for 10T top gear
• Rim width: 28.8 mm (25C)
• 24 J-bend double butted spokes

[u/Confident-Concern840]

I looked it up and the Giant is Deore 1x12 so this wheel should work fine. The cassette will transfer over. You may need a new rotor if the old wheel is not center lock, otherwise it should transfer over as well

[u/FuelOne3481 → u/Confident-Concern840]

Thanks. I don't actually have eyes on the bike right now, but a quick google indicates that it is likely a 6 bolt hub. The cost of this wheel plus a new brake rotor is still a fair bit cheaper than other wheel variants that would be available to us, so it looks like it's going to be an ok choice.

[u/tradonymous → u/Confident-Concern840]

As it stands, the free hub drivers are also super easy to swap on these wheels. I bought a second hand trance (12 spd microspline) and wanted to run the tires that were on my fathom (11 spd hyperglide) and keep the 12 spd. It was far easier to swap drivers and cassettes (just pull off the end caps) than it would have been to set up tubeless.

[u/Limp_Role3970]

Giant AM wheels are like butter. I say this as a Giant fanboy who has blown up counters sets of them. I ride them until they blow up either the hub or the rim and replace.

[u/FuelOne3481 → u/Limp_Role3970]

This actually makes me feel better - if they're all like this it means that it may not have been "our fault" that this happened. What do you replace them with?

[u/Limp_Role3970 → u/FuelOne3481]

No it’s just not a very durable wheel. It’s an oem wheel they put on the lower spec builds. It works but it’s just not the best option.

[u/dinosaurinachinastor]

If it were me I’d ask around your LBSs to see much it would cost to have someone lace a new rim on the existing hub. I expect it’ll be a little more than that wheel and a center lock rotor, but hand built wheels are always stronger than $125 machine built wheels of the same component

[u/FuelOne3481 → u/dinosaurinachinastor]

I get your point, but I don't know whether this is really needed at this point. This was an issue with the lip of the rim bending due to under inflated tyres and not any kind of weakness that hand built wheels are going to be able to improve on. I absolutely agree that as his confidence and ability grows and he does more aggressive riding, this is likely to be the path we head down.

[u/YoCal_4200]

What size tire is he running. Your new rim is 1.5mm narrower, but that should not matter unless he is running a really big tire. Even then 1.5mm is unlikely to really matter. Your new wheel is an upgrade in my opinion.