Best Road Rims
 

Hello. What is your favorite rim for commuting on a road bike (23–28mm tires)? I would want something that is durable, so that I can leave it alone for years without maintenance. Do rims vary much in terms of durability? Also, how do you know when to replace a rim? Mine have some grooves in the sides from debris in my brake pads. Is it much of a safety issue? Thanks.

I've got Mavic Open Pros on all of my bikes except my tourer, which has Velocity Dyads. They are solid, relatively light weight and durable but I will probably use something else for my next set of wheels. Mavic is moving away from rims and focusing more on selling boutique wheel sets, and I think their quality has begun to suffer. The last set of OPs that I bought had to be replaced because the eyelets started cracking and breaking after less than two years of use. Also, almost every set of OPs that I have owned eventually developed annoying clicking sounds that drive me crazy. For my next wheel set, I will probably use one of the DT Swiss rims or Velocity Aeroheads. The Velocity Dyads on my tourer are very durable and relatively light weight for a touring-capable rim, but much heavier than OPs.

im running a set of open pros laced to ulteg hubs for my road commuting wheelset.
and running DT Swiss 1.2 rims laced to profile hubs for my fixed commuting wheelset.

Velocity Dyads are solid. I prefer the Velocity Synergy for its weight and, to be honest, its looks. I suspect that the Dyads are more durable and they are my choice for bad roads and winter salt/sand. So far so good on both.

I gave up on the Open Pro's because of persistant creeking in the spoke/eyelet area and, more catostrophically, a ruptured rear rim that occurred a month and a half ago after about 8 months of commuting use. In addition, both front and rear rims showed an extreme amount of scoring after such a short period of use-even when care was taken to maintain them and keep brake pads free of debris. I was also having problems with the XT hubs I had them laced to, the rear was constantly working itself loose. I decided to have a high-end set of wheels built locally that should be much more durable and reliable. After much consideration, I went with a pair of Velocity Chukkers laced to White Industries M15 hubs. The cost was substantial, about $800 but, should pay off in the long run if they hold up like predicted. As for performance: no creaking, more wear resistant, very stiff and, lifetime hubs with improved servicability. So far, I'm very happy with them.

ROL SLRs.

For 23 - 28mm tires I was very impressed with the DT Swiss RR1.1 rims I had (now the RR465, IIRC). You know when it's time to replace them because the brake track has a wear indicator built in.

For wider tires (28mm and up) I love my Sun CR18 rims. Wouldn't use them with anything smaller than 28s since they're a 24-ish mm wide rim, but for 32s up to 45s I can't see using anything else.

I've recently been very pleased with my house brand IRO Cold Fusion rims. There's a thread over in the C&A forum about them, and we're pretty sure they're just unbadged Velocity Fusions. So far (300-ish miles) so good. I've been using them with Pasela TG 28mm tires and I like them well enough that I bought 2 more pairs to have on hand when these wear out.

What color Open Pros are doing this??? The newer ones right with the blue label. The Red label is a previous generation. Is the red label OK???

Dunno about the red labels, but I've seen the blue ones on two occasions where a section of the rim around the eyelet pulled clean out of the hoop. Not just the eyelet, but an entire snapped section of the rim wall.

23-28C? First choice is Velocity Aero. Cheap and strong. Want a stronger rim? Velocity Deep-V. Keep an eye on the rim if the groove is more than 0.04" deep. You'll usually see cracks at the braking surfaces way before failure. Therefore, dump the rim as soon as you see the cracks.

700 X 25 on Deep V

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/...888f5fb1_z.jpgREAREND by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

I ran Open Pros with Ultegra hubs with 700x28 on my Jamis Aurora for two years with no problems. Ran an older wheelset over the winter with studded tires but just switched on the back to a Velocity Aerohead OC wheel I built up. I'm pretty light (145 lbs) and my commute route is pretty smooth so no wheel problems of any sort over the last 10000 miles (knock wood!).

Sunrims CR18.

36 hole Open Pros on Ultegra hubs

Although I don't like the stickered-up look, I am happy with the quality of DT Swiss rims. Most wheelbuilders I've talked to agree. Velocity aren't as true, but still build up fine. Mavic have a decent number of failure reports, but that's largely because of the great number of them on the road. I guess I don't think about it. I'm more interested in the person building the wheel than the specific components.

I'm fairly big at 200lbs, but I don't seem to have much trouble with wheelsets. When I do, it's factory-builts. A trip to the local wheelbuilder for a proper tension has settled them all down properly.

A couple of points worth mentioning. Deep Vs may be durable but they are very heavy, so keep that in mind if you ride on a lot of hilly roads. Mavic CXP-33s are also deep-dish but considerably lighter, although still heavier than Open Pros or Aeroheads or DT Swiss 415s or 450s.

I use the Deep V's. I ride a lot of hills too, but the roads are not good and the rims take a load over lots of bumps and curbs with no problems. I find that regular brake maintenance is essential in keeping rims from getting worn prematurely. Wipe them down after a rain ride and sandpaper them a bit each week to remove debris. I go through lots of brake pads due to hills and road grit during the rainy months but I'd rather replace pads than rims a couple times a year.

I have the OP with Ultegra hubs. They have worked really well for me so far.

fulcrum 7s

Williams 30x
Mavic OP
Mavic CXP22s - My 21s just died and they are from 1997.
Sunrim CR18

Depending on your weight stay around a 28 spoke. Hub is your preference. Mine is the Alchemy Orc.

As far as wear. Run your fingers over the brake surface if there is a dip or dive or a noticeably thinner section. Kill the rim before it kills you. I have a post on what happened to mine when the brake surface died.