Originally Posted by
cyccommute
As I've said in numerous locations on this forum, strength of the wheel doesn't lie in the rim. The rim is a convenient place to attach a tire. The strength of the wheel is in the spokes. Your problem and comment, i.e. that you "dented" a rim, has little to do with wheel strength anyway. Strength is a longevity issue. Denting a rim is an operational issue. You build a strong wheel by choosing, in order, good spokes, a good hub and (a distant 3rd) rims. You maintain a good wheel by choosing proper tires and inflating them so as to keep the rims from being dented.
And, on this point, some will continue to disagree with you. State it as often as you like and in as many locations. You'll never convince those individuals that subscribe to the points made by folks like Park Tool:
"The recommended tension for spokes in bicycle wheels can be as low as 80 Kilograms force (Kfg) and as high as 230 Kilograms force. As a rule of thumb, it is best to set tension as high as the weakest link in the system will allow, which for a bicycle wheel is usually the rim. Therefore, to obtain a spoke tension recommendation for a specific wheel, it is best to contact the rim manufacturer."
The facts are: Heavy spokes allow higher tensions. Heavy spokes and higher tensions result in less elastic elongation. Less elastic elongation results in less lateral and radial flex of the rim. Lighter/weaker rims can't tolerate the high tensions that can be achieved with heavy spokes and provide less static resistance to radial flex. Heavy/stronger rims provide both more static resistance to radial flex and the ability to accomodate the higher spoke tension that heavier spokes are capable of maintaining. Hence, heavier/stronger rims can and do build into stronger wheels than lighter/weaker rims built up with the same hubs and spokes.