clayface

I've been considering building an all-round wheelset using some single wall Rigida rims which I've been given. You know, something you could use for commuting and touring (except expeditions!). Reliable wheels, in a word. Rims are Rigida AS 26F and hubs are old 6sp XT (with a 7sp freehub body). At 500+ grs. and being heat treated, the rims seem to be sturdy to me. But, are single wall rims good enough for this job?

gorshkov

I don't know about those particular rims, but I would stay away from single-walls. Double walls give you a large advantage in sturdiness - in order to bend the rim, you have to either compress the inner wall, stretch the outer one, or collapse the braking surfaces, all of which are much harder to do than to bend a single wall.

delver

It never hurts to have an extra set of wheels. Daily wear like commuting, saving your touring, racing, whatever wheels for when needed is not a terrible idea, plus if you have the rims and hubs your almost there. Just some spokes and elbow grease, and good practice working on wheels.

Single wall wheels work fine. sounds like a plan to me.

AndrewP

Good for commuting and day trips, but not loaded tours, grocery shopping or curb hopping.

Booger1

My old touring bike came with single wall Araya's on it many years ago.I never had any problem with the rims for loaded touring.Broke a rear hub,broke alot of spokes and bent alot of axels until I changed them,no problem with the rims.

clayface

Thanks for all your responses. Sorry, but I forgot to mention the rims are 26". Booger, now that you bring the Araya name to the thread, I think I'll use a set (MP-22) that I still have in fairly good condition. From marks and scratches, it's evident that the Rigida rims have had a harder life than the Japanese rims.

kuan

One soft tire and one big pothole and that single wall is toast. When I was young and stupid (now I'm just old, still stupid) I used to ride my road bike like a CX bike. I never had a straight wheel. Ever.