Until today, if you wanted a carbon DT Swiss mountain bike rim, you could only get it in a complete wheelset built by DT ...

Of course some Russians found a way to smuggle performance rims through the Iron Curtain. Others may have even built lightweight rims. But a large group settled on a wildly inventive solution.

If you're looking for a climbing wheelset, we also have a guide to the best lightweight wheels, while we have deeper options and disc wheels covered in our guide to the best triathlon wheels.