Tabor

Hello,

I was curious if there are any quality US built road rims? I have used Mavic (France) and Velocity (Australia) in the past. Both of these manufacturers will periodically have zero of the rim I want in the US and I have to wait for some boat to show up and for its contents to clear customs. Also, currency fluctuations make prices unstable at times.

TIA!

smurf hunter

I don't get your concern.

Either you are:

1) a pro wheel builder wanting to stabilize the inventory/supply chain - in which case you'd be foolish to switch to a rim you've never heard of if you're selling wheels to others.

2) just wanting to grab a pair of rims - in which case google/ebay will certainly turn up something in stock that's reasonably priced. I've got 32h Velocity Deep Vs in black for $45 on a semi-regular basis. Odd colors or drill patterns cost more and are harder to locate.

Al1943

My LBS keeps some of the more common rims in stock.
U. S. distributors keep plenty of European rims in stock. I've never had to wait more than a few days for MAVIC or DT Swiss rims by ordering through my LBS.

Soil_Sampler

BMX,MTB,ROAD?
Arrow are the only US made aluminum rims I know of. MTB rims

https://www.arrowracing.com/home.html

Grand Bois

Sunringle?

Garthr

Even Sun-Ringle has Walmarted to China.

AEO

wolber
ambrosio

were there american made rims to begin with?

Tabor

Last year I purchased a machine built wheel just to get a 36h Mavic Open Pro (silver). One of the most common rims ever but none were in the supply chain. Also, I am relatively certain that the USD:EUR exchange will continue to get worse, not better (in the long run).

I was just curios if there were any good US made rims.

Garthr

You are better off getting older stock rims from a Pro wheel builder like Joe Young or Peter White. They both stock silver open pros 36h.

Exchange rate? Unless you want to buy a bunch at once, that's life in the Global Economy

MCODave

My last pair of Sun Venus (silver) were made in the USA, but I had heard that they had moved production overseas and the black Venus rims were made in Tiawan. Also, Trek used to sell rims under the name "Matrix" and those were made in the USA.

At the present time I am unaware of any American made rims. Welcome to 2009! The problem is twofold:

1) Manufacturing of lots of consumer products has moved offshore, and

2) Pre-built wheelsets outsell bare rims by a significant margin, and as a result there are a LOT less options in nice rims then there were even ten years ago. The Mavic Open Pro that is frequently mentioned here as the standard in road rims has been around for 15 years or more, and really wasn't that different from the rim it replaced (the Open 4). How many different wheelsets has Mavic introduced and discontinued in that period?

Not sure this is what you wanted to hear, but I have been very happy with Velocity and Ambrosio rims, despite the supply issues.

bikemeister

I think the question was availability in the future "if the dollar becomes toiddy paper and we can't import because nobody will sell to us". At least if we had a domestic manufacturere, we could still get stuff - althought he cost would probably be sky high!
Like with tires. I know Carlisle was the last bicycle tire maker in the U.S., and they ceased production in 1987. (I guess they could start up again if prices got high enough.)

AEO

sun ringle's warehouse or outlet is in florida. they're impossible to buy in canada otherwise and have to be bought from florida.

at least that's what I heard from my bike shop.

MarkWW

Well there's always zipp.

Al1943

Hey, that's right. They're made in Indianapolis. (I think)

Jeff Wills

Since you're in Portland, you should be able to find just about any rim you want. Something a little weird may need to be ordered, but heck, if you want to Keep Portland Weird you're going to have to pay for it.

If it's even slightly less than extremely weird, Universal Cycles should have it or be able to get it for you. You can order it online and then pick it up from their shop under the west end of the Fremont Bridge.

Tabor

But there is no good reason!

I buy rims from France and tires that are hand made in Germany! Do you honestly think it is cheaper to make stuff in France and Germany than the US? I don't.

I use them all the time. Last year when I wanted a Mavic Open Pro 36h silver, they couldn't get it (none in channel, they were out, and they stockpiled many before they sold out).

Two weeks ago they refused to special order a Velocity Aerohead OC 36h even though they were in the channel.

Don't get me wrong, I like them... but they aren't perfect.

surfengine

if you are "relatively certain" that the USD index will drop vs the euro, then I highly recommend that you short the dollar.
Here is a good ETF for you: https://www.google.com/finance?q=UDN

Jeff Wills

OK- so they're out of stock. I guess we who like like lots o' spokes are SOL.

It's not an Open Pro, but Sun M13II rims are still available in 36-hole:
https://www.bikepartsusa.com/bikeparts/item/01-124161/

I have a pair on my beater:
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/...es/bike032.htm

embankmentlb

Bontrager (trek) dealers may be able to get a replacement "classics" rim?

HillRider

I wonder where Bontrager get's their rims. IIRC, Trek used to make their house-brand (Matrix) rims in their own US facilities but I wonder if they still do or source them in Asia.

nitropowered

Zipp, Edge, Reynolds(only DV and SDV series), Lew

But they are all high dollar rims

JohnDThompson 

Sure. Matrix, Sun, even and even Weinmann made rims in the USA. Not to mention Wald and probably other old-time manufacturers.

Road Fan

I'm very sympathetic - two summers back I had a problem getting a set of silver Mavic Reflexes. First they were on their way, then it was, "no, sorry, that was someone else's shipment," then it was "we have an order coming in on the ship in a month," then they weren't on the ship, then there was to be a second shipment, then they were postponed until next season. I ended up using some NOS Mavic GP4 with anodizing.