Andrew R Stewart 

One more thing- So much of the public view of product "goodness" is based on what the magazines/forums say. There is a strong biases for lighter weigh/racier stuff to be talked about far more then the utilitarian stuff. So much so that if a shop even suggests a 36* wheel to a club rider they are viewed as wrong. "We all know that more spokes are a mark of a tourist and a slow rider". I will agree with furballi in that a lower cost and heavier rim is often the better choice, but only if combined with a sensible spoke count and build job. But this is such a hard concept for many riders to get behind that it's a tough sell. Part of the problem is that with any fresh wheel the rider will have fewer problems initially. So the club rider gets sold on any of the trendy "component wheels" (low spoke count, high tension, stiff rim, factory made) and has immediately good results. How can you argue that? If the rider, unknowingly, also gets smoother in his riding style then this "event" style of wheel (and only 20 years ago these wheels were TdF stuff) might even last a for a while. Of course the longer lasting or better short term results are seen as because the wheel is fancy and pricey (not new and yet to be stressed). Since the pace to 'upgrade' is getting faster and faster many of these wheels are replaced before they show the same problems that were why they were bought in the first place.

Glad i got this off my chest... Andy.