"Now now Andrew, aluminum rims have stood the test of time, and arguably are safer than steel or crabon fibber." onyourleft I wasn't saying AL rims are not a reasonable choice, just that AL does fatigue and I should have added it tends to fail rather suddenly. As others have mentioned some of the same reasons I did and added other factors I feel my comments are valid. I will say that AL does have some good qualities, like relative lightweight (compared to steel) and excellent wet brake capacity. But it's how the current L rims are made/designed/used that I take issue with, again like others have already mentioned far better then I can.

"They have to be thick enough for fatigue strength, and this thickness results in stiffness." WizardOfBoz To pick a nit. Tubing stiffness is linier with it's increase of wall but geometricly so (squared) as a function of it's diameter. case in point are all the Vitus and Alan frames that last for decades but are regarded ad wet noodles yet the younger Cannondales (and their offspring) which are regarded as stiff but crack prone.

I'm going to condense this in to the quote attributed alternately to Keith Bontrager or Tom Ritchey: "You can have Light, Cheap, and Strong. Pick Two." Ironfish653 I'm a fan of Keith's too.

In no way do I suggest that AL rims are wrong. I have used the common and less so alternatives (including TI rims, don't ever descend a big hill in the rain of them ) and still prefer AL. But I don't push the spoke counts on a rotationally stressed wheel and don't run hub brakes. I do use only butted spokes, medium wide tires, weigh less then most and long ago learned how to float and spin on a bike. My rims get replaced from rim blips, brake track wear or a new bike build up. Andy (who hasn't ridden a factory built wheel for a long time)