Choosing a rim for a wheel build
 

I'm in the planning stages of my first wheel build. I've got the hubs picked out and ordered, but I'm sinking in a sea of information trying to decide on a set of rims. I've done a lot of searches, but at this point I feel like I've got too much data and not enough understanding. I'm hoping someone can help me out.

The wheels are for my Marin Muirwoods 29er. I use it primarily for rainy weather commuting, but I'll also be doing some off-road stuff with it in the summer. I'd like to stay under $100 for two rims, but I can probably go as high as $200 if I have a really good reason to do so.

I'm not even sure what I should be looking for in a rim. I want something that accelerates well. I think that means I want something stiff and light, right? Light is easy to see (though most of the rims I'm considering are around the same weight), but how do I know which rim will be stiff? The pavement on my commute is pretty good, and I won't be riding over anything bigger than a street curb or a small log, which given my skills means that if I'm lucky I clear it with my front wheel and the rear wheel hits it squarely, maybe with my weight forward, so a certain amount of strength is necessary but I don't think it's the top priority.

I think I've read that welded rims are better than pinned, but it seems like maybe either is fine for my purposes. I think I've read that eyelets are desirable for attaining high spoke tension.

My hubs are built for 32 spokes. The widest tires the bike can handle are 29x2.1. I've got 700x50's on it now and intend to stay with that, but I can imagine wanting to go as narrow as 32 some time. All the information I can find correlating rim width to min/max tire size specifies interior width, but most of the information I can find on available rims specifies exterior width only.

All of these rims seem to be more or less within my criteria.

Salsa Delgado Cross
Salsa Semi 29er
Mavic A317
Velocity Blunt
Sun Equalizer (21/23/27??)
DT Swiss X470
WTB Dual Duty XC
WTB SpeedDisc

How should I go about picking one? Any others that I should consider?

If you're only riding small curbs and logs i would say you can get away with a pinned and sleeved rim. You should make your choice on rim weight, appropriate tire spec, cost/reviews because you have already selected hubs.

Welded rims will be heavier, do you carry a lot of stuff in your panniers? Are you using disc brakes? If so up the strength of your rims... have you chosen spokes?

Disc brakes, yes. A lot of stuff in the pannier, usually not.

I was thinking DT Swiss Competition spokes.

Well you can probably find some reviews on those rims here since they're mostly mountain bike rims... DT comp spokes are solid.

I've had impressive results with Velocity rims--both on the bike and with their warranty service.

I was hit by a car last April--hard enough to bend a CroMoly fork. My Velocity Aerohead front wheel went only slightly out-of-true--still spun through the brakes. We got a new one anyway because it was scratched, but I'm certain the crashed one was still road-worthy.

The new wheelset for my commuting rig uses the Velocity VXC hoop. There was a defect in one hoop. My ex-LBS built the wheels and sold them to me anyway, hoping I wouldn't notice. After much screwing around trying to get my ex-LBS to make it right, I contacted Velocity. They were pissed! They had me send both wheels to them for complete rebuilding with everything new except my hubs. The even paid the UPS in both directions. Mind you, by the terms of their warranty, they were on the hook only for one replacement hoop--no spokes, nipples or labor.

So based on my experience with both the product and the company's attitude, I recommend either the Blunt or the VXC in your application.

DT Comps will be just fine.

BTW, I'm having really good experience with Avid G3 rotors too. The cost is eye-popping, but they seem much more durable.

My old wheelsets used Avid Roundagons on one, and Delta stainless on the other. Both sets of rotors never stayed true in daily commuting and routine bike rack abuse. They also seemed to be sensitive to temperature. I'd true them indoors, then halfway to work on a below-freezing day, they'd be rubbing again. Back inside, they were okay again. Very frustrating.

I haven't had to touch the G3s since installation four months ago. The G3s have 12 "spokes" instead of the usual six, so maybe that's it, or maybe that's the difference between a $15 rotor and a $45 one.

Can that bike take a 700c rim? If it can, I suggest Velocity Dyad.

for a disk only bike I like the Velocity Blunts, mainly because I don't think there is a cooler looking rim out there.

A couple of weeks ago I was leaning toward the Velocity Blunts, but their apparent unavailability at the time gave me more time to think, and that's when I started sinking.

The thing that worried me about the Blunts was their lack eyelets. Is that something I should worry about or no? I saw somewhere that the round surface is supposed to make it a non-issue, but I wasn't entirely clear about that. Given that this will be my first wheel build, I think I'll have a greater than average chance of botching the spoke tension.

The VXC's look like a good possibility too, but I wasn't sure they were width enough for my fat tires. I guess I can contact Velocity and get their recommendations about that.

Velocity Dyads? I just had some wheels built using them for my touring bike. They are reasonably light and reportedly bombproof.

For mid-duty stuff like you're suggesting, you might consider the Sun CR18. It's a well respected rim among the loaded touring crowd for its wider (22.5mm) profile, reinforced design and spoke eyelets. Plus, they're dirt cheap now: Under $30.00 at most places.

Can I run my 700x50 Marathon Supremes on a Sun CR-18? I thought it might be too narrow for that. Otherwise, the price is definitely right.

A 50mm tire might be straining the upper boundary, but I'm not certain. I can't find an inner bead spec for the CR18, but the Equalizer 21 is 1.5mm narrower and has an inner bead of 16mm. Following suit, the CR18 is probably a 17 - 18mm inner bead measurement, which puts you at a 42mm tire according to the Sheldon Brown Tire Sizing Guide. However, it's been shown that Sheldon's charts run on the highly conservative side. For instance, I have a 32mm tire (true measure of 30.6mm) on a DT RR1.1 rim which measures 14mm internally. I've used a 35mm studded tire (true measure 37.5mm) on the same rim without any problems.
There's a guy in my rando club using a 20mm outer width rim and a 42mm tire with no problems. Looking at the specs for other 29er rims on the Sun-Ringle site, many measure up at 23 - 24mm So, you might not have any issues with a 50mm tire on the 22.5mm CR18.

All i can say is that i build a new rear wheel with a Deore (6 bolt disc / 36 spokes) hub and a Mavic TN719 rim and i love it!, it does really make a huge difference from what i had before (road rim and Deore w/ 32 spokes).

Coque.

Velocity anything. 36 hole will make for a stronger wheel.

I would just go with any of the nice XC width 29er rims you listed. I wouldn't go wide like the blunt, because it might flatten out a 32 too much. If you're sticking with wider tires I've heard good things about it though, and its cousin the VXC. I have a Delgado Cross on the back of my cross bike and I think it works great with tires from 28-42, or probably even bigger, though I haven't run larger because of clearance issues. For your bike I might go with the normal delgados instead of the cross just because you don't need a rim brake surface. Or you could, for versatility down the road.

+1 Cheap and pretty bombproof.... as long as the wheel is built correctly and you keep it trued.