Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,835
Likes: 1,816
From: Northern California
Bikes: Cheltenham-Pedersen racer, Boulder F/S Paris-Roubaix, Varsity racer, '52 Christophe, '62 Continental, '92 Merckx, '75 Limongi, '76 Presto, '72 Gitane SC, '71 Schwinn SS, etc.
Open Pro rims are made from a higher-performing alloy called Maxtal. So strength-to-weight ratio is better.
Open Sport rims don't use this alloy, and I don't know if they have two-story "double" eyelets to distribute spoke tension stress between the inner and outer walls of the rim.
I think of both of these rims as old-fashioned though, since riders today are preferring wider rim profiles for what I think are very good reasons.
I've built a few rear wheels for my CX bike using Open Pro rims over the last 20 years, and it's a pretty good rim imo. I did adjust my build to use thicker spokes after bending a couple of rims with very thin spokes.
The events that caused bending were slides where the tire catches traction after sliding out (700c rims can be fragile in this regard).