The stock rim (Alex ACE-19) on my Spec. Tricross Sport rear wheel finally wore out, so I went to an LBS with a good reputation, and walked out with a new wheel: Alex DA22 with a Novatec hub. I explained my requirements pretty clearly: tough enough to survive lots of fully loaded touring on dirt roads, plus mountain biking, and general abuse (I commute around 70km/week).

In fact, one reason I bought it in such a hurry was I just broke a couple of spokes on that kind of 5 day tour last week (caused by rim wearing out, I think), and am doing a 100km mountain bike race next weekend (in the cyclocross category).

Looking up the rim (http://alexrims.com/product_detail.a...=1&cat=1&id=48), it looks like it's basically a road bike rim - not intended to go near dirt, nor to carry any significant load. It's also perhaps too narrow: just 14mm internal width, whereas I normally run 35mm rear tyre.

So, would appreciate advice: should I take it back? Is it of any use to me?