AZORCH

School me on available options, please - help me to identify and narrow my choices.

My requirements: Silver. 700c. Wide enough to comfortably fit 28 - 30 width. 36 hole.

What have you built and love? What do you hate?

John E

Bump. Also seek 700C rim recommendations for 32 to 35mm tires.

eschlwc

i like to build good value. not cheap, like used stuff, just not expensive.

this is why i always use sun m13ii rims and sapim db spokes. you can probably get a 28mm tire on there, but i only run 23mm paselas.

my last set of rims came from niagara cycle at under $33 each shipped. danscomp provides the spokes and nipples.

i'm getting a lot better at building wheels, but it still takes me a weekend to do it. i just use an upside down bike frame as the stand. works great.

lostarchitect 

I built some wheels last year using VO's PBP rims. They look great on vintage bikes, and built up easily. Fit 32mm GB Cypress tires nicely. I don't have a huge amount of miles on them yet, so I can't speak to longevity, but I don't think I will have any issues.

The only rims I have built up that I hated were old and used and probably should have been rebuilt.

RobbieTunes

Strongest I've ever seen: Matrix Aurora.
Best compromise strength to value: Sun CR18
Best looking: Velocity A23 polished.
Most expensive: Velocity A23 polished.
Best value: Alex A.C.E. 19 polished.

I'm sure there are others, these are my experiences.

What I'd buy?
Velocity A23 polished. Hands down: pretty, wide, strong, and light.
The diff between a $30 rim and a $60 rim is zilch once you build and ride the bike, but you'll always have the awesome rims.

clasher

I've built up a number of wheelsets with cr-18 rims and have been happy with them considering the price. I tend to run 32mm tires on them though, 28 might be a bit narrow.

Salubrious

For vintage rims I am a fan of Wolbers. I have Mavic on several machines. Both have held up well.

smallpox champ

The last pair of new rims I bought were on the dirt cheap end of the spectrum. The reason being that I only wanted a wide, low profile, squared-off rim to match the vintage of the bicycle, and I didn't want to break the bank. The best option would be the Pacenti PL23at a hefty price.

The Sun CR18's are a good width, economical and nicely polished, but I've used them in the past and don't like the shape.

So on a lark I purchased some Weinmann AS23X rims from Niagara for $13 each. They don't have eyelets, they're a matte silver and single walled, but they're the right shape and pretty light. They haven't exploded yet either.

hairnet

I have built 4 wheels with CR18s and they never disappointed me.
I wish I knew about this before getting my pair of Dyads. To the OP, Velocity Dyad rims are very nice too and a bit more on the heavy duty side than the A23.

markk900

I've built up several wheels with Alex DM18 rims. They're easily found at the good LBS, they build up easily, and so far I have had no issue with any of them after riding for some time on them. They are satin finish and would not polish up if that's what you want. They have an ugly big sticker on them covering the weld area but that is easily removed and the weld itself is clean and nicely finished off.

seely

Thanks to everyone who's mentioned our rims so far... I'm totally biased, but two others from us worth considering are the NoBS (unfinished, no eyelets) and the Atlas (anodized or polished, + eyelets). It's quickly become one of my favorite rims to build.

Pedaling Nowhere did a nice vintage touring bike build with the polished Atlas:



Vintage Touring Bike Restoration - Pedaling Nowhere

And Chris Murray (chriskmurray on here) did a really great write up and test of the NoBS:



Chris Murray Wheel Works: NoBS Short Term Review

If you want to go a little lighter, the Synergy or Dyad are also excellent choices, and both are available in silver ano or polished.

Ex Pres 

I'm running m13IIs with Challenge P-R 700x27s; maybe a little narrow rim for that tire, but the tires install w/o too much pain, and I haven't had any issues.

auchencrow

Weinmann Concaves are probably my fav's for that wider tire.

photogravity

I wish they had this a year or so back when I built the wheels for my Rapide. It would have saved me a lot of time and labor removing the anodizing and polishing the Velocity Synergy rims. These really look quite nice.

Also, they are available in 32, 36, 40 and 48 hole drillings which will attract folks like me with old English machines that have 32f/40r spoke combinations. And I haven't even mentioned tandems yet!

bikemig 

No love for the mavic open sports? You can find them built up on a variety of different wheels.

Also I'd check out the H Plus Son TB14 rims. I really like the idea of wider rims and the H plus sons are 23 mm. I recently picked up a set of wheels from Quality bikes (I like building my own wheels but you can pick up wheels sometimes for the price of the parts) with the velocity A23 rims, shimano 105 hubs and DT spokes. The wide rim is cool. The velocity A23 is 23 mm like the H Plus Son. The tire profile with a 700 x 28c on those rims is excellent. The A23s are lighter than the H plus Son TB 14 but I'd lean towards those two rims because I like the wider rim and go with the mavic open sport if I wanted something machine built and relatively inexpensive.

AZORCH

I've been waffling between the Mavic Open Sport and the A23 actually. But that's mostly because I'm vaguely familiar with both. I'm not at all familiar with H Plus Son - so thanks everyone for sharing these other names. Keep 'em comin' gang!

rccardr 

Speaking of Velocity rims, Rivendell has been selling their overstock of Twin Hollows in 36 hole drilling for a while now. They built up into a set of very nice wheels for me on 6207 hubs. Not for full touring or super heavy riders (I've run 210 or so and had no problems, although I'm lighter now) as they say on their web site but very nice looking and performing stuff. For $25 plus cheap shipping, such a deal.

Also have a set of polished A23's on my Century, as Robbie can attest they are both attractive and functional. And they'll take 32's.

ColonelJLloyd 

Modern rims are better than vintage ones. It's not to say there's anything wrong with vintage rims; there's not. But modern rim designs are stronger and lighter and there are some offerings these days that look really great on vintage steel. I am all about the wide rim trend. Unless you're an elite level racer and need to shave every gram possible, the wide rims make sense on just about every application. The 23mm wide rims are awesome.

I have built up many wheels for myself and others over the last few years. Here are some observations.

• Sun CR-18: Great budget rim. Wide enough for fatter tires. Builds up pretty easily but not as nice as more expensive rims that have some better QC.
• VO PBP: Not really on my radar anymore as they're not wide and I don't care for the taller sidewall. That said, they build up easily and are good looking rims.
• VO Diagonale: Same profile as the CR-18. On the heavy side (like the CR-18), but a stout, double walled, eyeleted rim.
• VO Raid: The best of their offerings in my opinion. 22mm wide, classic profile and build up easily.
• Velocity A23: Great combination of wide rim, strong V shape and build up well. Velocity offers most of their rims with an off-center (OC) rear for more even spoke tension. I like this. Made in USA. Pretty much everything else is made in China or Taiwan FWIW.
• Velocity Aerohead: Comparable to the A23, but only 19-20mm wide so why not go with the A23? Because they come in a lot of colors might be a reason.
• H+Son TB14: Vintage looks, 23mm wide, eyelets, sexy little name plate and builds up easily. I have two wheelsets with these rims and really like them. They come in polished, black (kinda hard to find), gold (harder) and grey anodized (for that MA-40 look).
• Kinlin XR300: Modern medium V shape, only 19mm wide, but light, strong, aero and relatively inexpensive.
• Pacenti: He makes really good products and I'm eager to try out some of his rim offerings.

And here's a great tip. Stop using cloth rim tape!!! It's heavier, can retain water and rust eyelets if present and make it tough to mount certain tire/rim combinations. Using Stan's or Pacenti or the like rim tape is the way to go. It's lighter, stickier and makes it so easy to mount tires. I've converted nearly all of my wheels to this type of tape.

Kinlin XR300

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

H+Son TB14

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

VO Diagonale

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

VO Raid

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

Sun CR-18

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

Velocity Aerohead (rear OC)

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

Velocity A23 (rear OC)

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

arex

Elaborate on this, please. I'm not arguing the point but, as a novice, I'm always wanting to learn more.

jimmuller 

I've got M13IIs on several bikes, one of which runs 28mm Pasela TGs. I'm happy with them.

Also have dark gray (the braking surface is looking silver) MA40s which I'm happy with. I've been tempted to try PBPs but they were back-ordered at the time, also Open Sports but decided agin' it because of reasons I don't recall, maybe price. It's hard to judge a rim's strength from a catalog, only by reputation or until it breaks or unless you have trouble truing it or keeping it true.

I'd quibble with the Colonel about wider rims. If the tire fits then the narrow rim should be lighter, and I can feel the difference when the tire/rim combination is lighter. You can put 28mm on a "narrow" rim just fine. Maybe not a 32mm so well. But I'll grant it depends on your riding and how you use the bike. For some riding it may be better to have softer, wider tires. I'll also grant that performance per se is meaningless unless you are racing for real or trying to keep up with a group ride. I do neither but I still like the feel of lighter wheels.

About cloth tape, that's another point. I've been using Velox (IIRC) cloth which seems fine, and I don't ride much in the rain. But if you get rain in the spoke holes and under a butyl strip it isn't going to dry much better. Cloth tape can be thinner and lighter. More importantly, I've seen butyl strips deform into the spoke wells from the pressure of the tube and eventually develop holes from the nipple heads. In one case it went through the strip enough to cause a flat just from me truing the spokes a little without deflating the tire. Maybe that's a lesson to learn.

ColonelJLloyd 

There is a lot written on the Internet about this (see "open tubular"), but basically wider rims allow the tire to maintain a rounder shape than with a narrow rim that will cause the tire to adopt a light bulb shape. This helps in cornering and overall feel. I'm sure it's subjective on some levels, and narrow rims are fine, but I prefer wider tires so it's an obvious choice for me.

arex

Interesting. I mistakenly built wheels for my Raleigh that are, by most standards, too wide for the tires I wound up having to use, but they otherwise seem okay. It's good to know that someone thinks I didn't eff it up too bad.

ColonelJLloyd 

Unless your rim is wider than the tire, then they're not too wide.

arex

Ha...no, they're not.

seely

Minor point of clarification... I think you're likely referring to the Aerohead. The Aeroheat is the name for the Dyad in sizes smaller than 700c/622, so its a 24mm wide rim like the Dyad. The Aerohead is a more traditional 19mm rim.

Beautiful bike builds, btw!