Originally Posted by ******bagonwhlz
I've wondered about how ma3s can have a lower profile than all of these other rims and still be strong enough to be a touring rim. Unless my definition of touring is different from mavic, to me it is paniers and xtra weight.
High profile rims are useful for wheels that don't have enough spokes, but if you're running 36 spokes (and you should for touring) the wheel will get its vertical strength from the spokes.
There's no reason for a rim to be heavy on a wheel with plenty of spokes, and with properly inflated tires of width suitable for the application.
The rim only needs strength when the tire bottoms out. If your tires are wide enough and properly inflated there shouldn't be an issue of rim strength.
For loaded touring you should be on medium or wide tires, typically 32 mm or wider. Wide tires don't work so well on narrow rims, so the principal need for a "touring" rim is that it be reasonably wide.
Sheldon "MA3, CR-18" Brown
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