Dylansbob 

The mismatched rims on my Pino are bugging me. It currently has a pretty fresh black MA3 on the rear with a well worn (I didn't even know you could wear) Open 4 CD on the front. I'm trying to decide whether a silver rim might look better. I've heard alot of negative opinions on the newer Romanian-made Mavic stuff, but haven't laced anything newer than early '00s. I wasn't sure if, being a *low end* rim, if they had downgraded to a softer alloy.

3alarmer 

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...I have built three sets of wheels with them and they work fine for me. Feel a little lighter on the bike than Sun rims (which I also use). But none of my bikes gets a lot of mileage, because I have quite a few of them. For my purposes, they are a bargain rim that works well for me. I wish they were easier to find for sale in the 36 hole drilling.

scarlson 

Of the rims you mention, I've only got personal experience with the Open 4 CD (good lightweight rim but hard to keep true) and the MA3 (decidedly bad; I broke two of them touring with a fairly heavy load). As for general rim philosophy, I can pontificate but I'm not sure it's helpful. Nonetheless, here are is my opinion. Feel free to ignore as you like.

To my mind, rim-brake road clincher rims can be classified into three major categories, based on weight:
1) no-compromise lightweight, which weigh around 400g (you can't get much lighter than this)
2) no-compromise touring, which weigh 550g and up (you can't get much more durable than this) and come with double-eyelets
3) halfway-house/compromise rims, which are in the middle.

Right now on the bike you've got one no-compromise rim and one halfway-house. MA3 is 475g. Open Elite rims are 490g, while the Open 4 CD is about 400g. What are you looking to do with the bike, and what is your experience with the rims you have? If you're looking to tour, the Open Elite or MA3 will not satisfy and the weight difference on a touring bike is negligible, so you should get Mavic A319s or Rigida Sputniks. If you're looking to make this a real go-fast bike, you may notice a weight difference of 100g in the rim, and you should go with something lighter like the Kinlin XR200 (aka the IRD Cadence). The only reason I can see to get a halfway-house rim is if you're terrified of breaking a no-compromise lightweight rim, but you don't plan on touring.

Dylansbob 

The main reason for interest in this rim is affordability and a close enough ERD to just swap over rims onto the existing wheels. In keeping with the old philosophy "Get the nicest frame you can, parts can always be upgraded" my planned build for the Pino is 6spd 105. After removing the modern stickers, I think these should be a close enough "look" for a budget build from the early 90s.

rccardr 

They are great rims and would recommend them highly.
In my estimation, just like Open Pro’s but single eyelets instead of doubles, which is no big deal since the nipples are recessed anyway.
Have built six or eight wheel sets with them, both silver and black, 32 and 36 hole, all 3 cross lacing. None of them have had to be retrued yet.
One or two pairs have been to Eroica, which is hard on wheels, with no issues.
As mentioned, they can be hard to find in 36 hole drilling, and they are almost always cheaper in the silver finish. At one point, Ben’s was selling them for about $50 a pair with free shipping.

Dylansbob 

That's what I wanted to hear.

Ben's is where I was looking. Only decision now is whether to just buy a set or get 4 while I'm at it.

masi61

Just a thought about your 3 major categories: they don't take into account evolutionary changes in rim design over the last 10 years.

I've do have a fresh wheel build with Mavic Open Pro's (28 hole front and rear) that I am familiar with and will attest that they built up into a quite good wheel that is plenty strong for my body weight (which lately ranges from ~190-205#). I got them for a good price on clearance from Colorado Cyclist a few years ago - I think they were $45 each. The weight on these is about 425 grams each I believe. They are rather narrow by modern standards. The also do not possess an engineered tubeless rim shelf. Plus consider that Mavic is semi bankrupt and recently went into receivership. the Mavic Open Elite is presumably a bit heavier and less expensive than the (old design) Open Pro. The new Open Pro UST has the newer UST tubeless ready rim extrusion. I bought a set of these when Excel Sports Boulder had them on special for about $70 each. I have not used them yet.

I say all this about Mavic but really want to recommend my new favorite rim: Velocity A23's. To me they are just great. I have a 32 hole front, 36 hole rear Dura Ace 7700 9-speed era hubset built up with the lighter weight of butted DT Swiss spokes and aluminum alloy spoke nipples 3x rear, 2x front and just love, love these wheels. Very strong, very pretty and they are the same weight or maybe 15 grams lighter than the above mentioned Mavic Open Pro wheelset which was built with 28/28 Dura Ace 7700 hubs in the same 2x front, 3x rear configuration. Where they excel, and why I highly recommend these is that the tubeless ready design and the increased interior volume makes them mate up to 25 mm open tubular (clincher tires) in a way that is much more like a racing tubular. I use tubeless rim tape but then run Vittoria latex inner tubes and Challenge Strada and Challenge Criterium high thread count open tubulars in these Velocity A23 (polished silver) rims. These are very under-rated. Velocity also makes the Quill rim which has the extrusion design of the Aileron disc ready clincher rim and the Quill is like 1 mm wider still than the 18mm interior width A23's. The price of the Velocity rims is competitive. Bike shops will occasionally put overstock on sale at clearance prices if you keep your eyes open.

So, my point to the OP and to scarlson is to consider whether the rim extrusion is of a contemporary design or not. You do not even need to run tubeless to reap the benefits of a modern wider, lightweight extrusion tubeless ready clincher rim. Run with low profile tubeless tape and latex inner tubes at slightly reduced pressures, the ride is sublime.

rccardr 

Cannot disagree with you. A23’s are wonderful rims, especially if using Kapton rim tape or similar. Have a set of 650b’s on the Pelizolli and they are really just lovely.
Also like H Plus Son TB14’s, especially the polished ones. Box style rim but modern.