OneIsAllYouNeed

You can buy Aforce AL33 and Velocity Cliffhanger today. They check most of your boxes. Cliffhangers with 30mm tires are probably lower drag than any carbon rim less than 27mm wide.
I don’t expect to read about hookless aluminum rims anytime soon though. There’s a gray area between 40-80psi where tires sometimes blow off of hookless rims. Certainly Schwalbe Pro Ones have proven to work well, but I’d want a few more options.

smashndash

Looks like the Cliffhanger is a box section touring rim. Only available in 32 spokes and up, plus it would add 400g over the Velocity quill at the rim alone. The Velocity Quill, Boyd Altamont, HED Ardennes and AlForce 33 are all fine options but unfortunately there aren’t many prebuilt wheels available at those widths, especially as OEM for lower end bikes. Which is a shame.

Dean V

I don't see any reason to go wider than a Hed Belgium+ (25mm outside) for a road bike alloy rim.
Wider will be heavier.
If you want aero you will be using deeper carbon rims.
Handling will not be any better.

shelbyfv

Nice rims of course, "However, road finds the sweet spot at 30mm outer width...."

MoAlpha

How sweet is it, really? Are we talking blueberries or Frosted Flakes?

shelbyfv

No clue, I just learned of it in this very thread

TimothyH

I'm old enough to remember when they were called "Sugar Frosted Flakes."


-Tim-

MoAlpha

So am I, but since this is a technical discussion with a high level of assumed knowledge, I thought I was safe using the shorter term.

pressed001

What kind of rim/tire are you using? Zipp 30 Course? I like the dimensions on those, never seen them before.

For riding through Zürich I hit a and jump a lot of curbs, some of which are sharp. 70psi is the best for my combo of rim/tire/terrain. I have ridden them at 60 once or twice but it was a bit soft for rough riding.

Your pressures on the other hand sound rather low especially if you're not running tubeless. Snake-bites, extra drag? But if you're cruising on nice streets all the time I don't see an issue.

I remember looking at the Aforce's over a year ago but they were very hard to find and all on backorder with unknown delivery dates. Honestly they're just not wide enough to consider. Those cliff-hangers look great until I see the freaking weight. 600g! I am running Stan's Notubes ZTR 355's right now. Nearly half the weight but yeah, supper skinny and burpy with tubeless.

The one thing that I really dislike is the pear shape caused by most tire/rim combos. A perfectly flush transition from tire to rim is optimal for aero. If it's a wide enough rim you'll also get dramatically increased comfort too.

I took my 31mm tire/30mm rim combo in the mountains some months ago and enjoyed FLYING down the winding streets with more control than I had ever had before. A week later, I took out my Kuota which has 2009 Reynolds assault rims and 25mm Pardone's and tried the same thing. Through one turn the angle was great enough and pressure low enough so that the peared-out tire gave way a bit and woke me up. Since then I ditched the skinny rims and won't look back.

MoAlpha

Hed Ardennes+ with cheap Contis and tubes. Hed recommends 67 PSI for 25 mm tires and riders 140-180 lbs. At 145, I am at the bottom of that range, so I round down to about 65 for the rear and a little less for the front. That setup feels fast and safe on bad pavement.

pressed001

Thanks for the info. I'm actually liking this thread. There's some rims popping up that I had not known about.

pressed001

I am glad that I could find this thread again. I purchased a stand-alone gauge and found that my old pump gauge was way off. That 70 PSI is actually more like 55-60.