Hello,

I am looking for some good wheel rims for my Commuter bike.

My bike is a Specialized Globe City 6 - with a Nexus IG 8 gear hub and a Nexus dyno hub up front. The rear OEM Alex Rim has developed cracks around the spoke nipple after only 1500 miles.

Thanks, Gil

I can't say I'm qualified to recommend a rim, but you might want to mention your weight and the types of roads/terrain you bike over, since those will factor into other people's responses.

I wouldn't take cracks as indicators of imminent failure but you can't go wrong with a Mavic 719

How heavy are you? What are the drillings for your current hubs? (32? 36?) If your heavy in weight you might want to build some wheels with higher spoke counts.

I built up a rear wheel using a Nexus 8-speed hub and the Mavic A319 rim, and a front wheel using a Velocity Synergy rim and a Shimano XT hub on the front. I've had no problems with either rim. Both were built to very high tension and the eyelets are fine after a few thousand miles, no cracks, no bulges.

I weigh about 245lbs and have ridden with the Mavic A319 rim on the back and Velocity Dyads and Synergys on the front without unexpected problems. I cross railroad tracks 16 times a day for my commute. After 2 years (8000 miles +), the Mavic developed cracks around the spoke eyelets but there was no catastrophic failure. Rims are going to wear out, especially at my weight. If you are a clydesdale like myself, I would not recommend the Velocity Synergy OC for the rear. I have had cracks develop with less than 1000 miles on two of these rims. I'm not saying the Synergy OCs are bad rims, they just can't handle my weight on the rear wheel. The front wheels have had no problems; still going strong. Just my experiences. Hope this helps

nothing like a good set of open pros

Nothing noisier.
Nothing I've heard more members of my randonneuring club complain about.

"Good set" of Open Pros is an oxymoron. DT Swiss RR 415 or RR 465 is a better option, IMO. They're the replacement names for the RR1.1 single eyelet and double eyelet, respectively.

Never had any problems with them... have been using them for the past 12 years for commutting and cyclocross.

The Velocity Dyad is very sturdy, not excessively heavy, and considerably less expensive than Mavic's upper-end trekking rims. That's a safe bet for your Globe.

The problem is that the OP's bike probably has 32-38 mm tires. DT Swiss recommends a maximum tire width of 25mm for both 415 and 465. An Open Pro rim would also not work with tires this wide.
The proper DT Swiss rim option would be the TK 540.

+1, have the Mavic A719 rim with 36 spoke hubs on my commuter/utility bike. My mass is 100 kg, I'm not too careful what I ride over or thru- railroad tracks, broken up pavement, gravel roads, off a few curbs. This wheelset has been great- at 3000 km I took the bike in for a tune up and had the wheels checked, they were still true. IMHO- the quality of wheel build is an important factor. Getting a wheel that is properly tensioned and stress relieved - reduces the potential for wheel problems.

I think 36 hole cross rims are about right for taking anything you can dish out.

The front is an Alex Adventurer (built a few years ago, $25), the rear is a Salsa Delgato (just about a year old now, $30). I think either are very durable and not terribly expensive.

I think a 36 hole, double walled Sunrims CR-18 is about as good as it gets for very little money. You should be able to pick one up for $30.

Of course, having an excellent rim is only half the story.

Are your spokes in good condition? What's the brand name? Good quality spokes can be re-used and give you many,many miles. If so, you might try to match up your spokes with any rim mentioned above.

I am a wheel builder and from a wheel builder's perspective I would choose something from DT Swiss. I have the DT Swiss TK 7.1 (it's a touring rim) on my commuter. DT Swiss rims are usually really round and true right out of the box. Can't say the same for the other big companies.

Sun Rims cr-18 700c 48 spoke laced to shimano tandem hubs. Bomb proof.

I'm in the clydesdale category and often carry a decent amount of stuff to add to it. I have a Salsa Delgado Cross 700c 36h on the rear which I find holds up very well. Heavy gauge spokes and a good wheel build do the rest. What I put on the front seems to make very little difference, so I usually run whatever reasonably priced double walled rim my LBS has around.

One lesson I learned the hard way is to clean your rims fairly often if you ride a lot. Road grime on rims and brake pads wears out the rim making it thin enough you will start to get cracks around the eyelets. I went through my first Salsa Delgado rim in less than a year because I didn't know that. With more religious cleaning I can get 5-6K miles or more.

Grit on the pads and rim will certainly wear out the braking surface of the rim more quickly. But that's on the sides of the rim, not where the eyelets are located. When my rims wear out from braking the sides first become noticeably concave, then I get some pulsing when braking, and, if I ignore that warning, a portion of the side of the rim is broken free by the pressure from the tire bead. But I've never seen cracks near the eyelets due to a thinned brake track.

cracked eyelets means to much tension on the spokes