Thanks for the advice, LBS has revised its recommendations ... they now want put Velocity Chukker 700 36h rims for both front and rear on this bike. Wow bigFred, that's great info - I'm a total newb and will have to re-read what you wrote

They said that DT Swiss rim would be too wide for a Soma ES frame... but looking it up, it looks like the TK540 comes in at 23mm wide and the Chukker comes in at 24mm?