Best rims for carrying a heavy load.?
 

I am a big woos when it comes to steep descents...The rims on my touring bike are showing a groove where the brake pads hit...(cantiliver.)
what is the strongest rim for touring bikes where you might be carrying 50 plus pounds...? What kind of spokes would you have installed...Think the present rim is 'double walled'. ?Can you buy the whole rim as is, or to specialize the best wheel/rim do you need to have them custom built?

I like Mavic for just about any application. The A719 is a good touring rim. I have used MA3's too but they are a bit light duty. Not bad and I never had problems with them but they aren't as wide as the A719.

I'd use a good hub like an XT quality or 'sigh' a Phil Wood and build them with a 2.0/1.8/2.0 DT spoke. Sheldon Brown has a pretty good argument on why to use double butted or, better yet, triple butted spoke.

If Ritchey made the OCR series in a 36 hole rim, I'd use that one on the back instead of the A719

Stuart Black

Velocity Dyads are inexpensive and rated for tandems.
Enjoy

I use the Sun Rhynolite and it works great. I used 14g on the drive side and 14/15 double butted on the non-drive side (because they stretch and move a bit more). The one thing about the Rhynolites that is great (above their amzing strenght) is that when breaking in the cold where my old rims squeel the Rhynolite is super quiet and has a great breaking surface that doesn't wear down quickly. I got the 36 hole rim and built it myself. If you don't build your own rims I'm sure you could find a shop who could do it, but be aware that right now it is really hard to find 36 hole hubs that aren't disk hubs (I just tried for a while and all the shop could find were disks). Good luck.

Oh yeah, and I ride with me (215lbs), my school stuff and gear (30lbs), and my girlfriend who sits on the rear rack (130lbs) and I just trued up the wheel after 5 or so months of use and I hadn't trued them since I built them.

I'd back the rhino rims but for trouble free riding go for a handbuilt wheel. While a bit more expensive they are better value in that they are worry free re heavy loads and keep true. Leave the spoke choice to the wheelbuilder as they really do know better. Mavic rims are aquiring a reputation in the UK for cracks appearing around the spoke holes, so personally I'm going to steer clear for a while. George.

The strongest rim i have encountered are velocity deep V. They are a pair for 40 bucks on ebay too, also some of hte beffier sun rims. ANd you dont need a phil wood hub, use shimano XT. Its very strong, just feel it.

Velocity rims are good, but I'm partial to the Suns. Rhyno Lites are an excellent choice. Some people favor the 32 hole as the three cross lacing allows for more parallel alignment of spokes, thus theoretically resulting in a stronger build than a 36. YMMV.
XT hubs are great-nothing fancy, not too expensive, and easily and economically rebuilt.
EDIT: As others have said, it's the handbuilt quality that makes the big difference. A lousy build on the best rim out there isn't going to do you any good.

:eek: Are you trying to get rid of her?


:p