MIN 

Tubular rims for ala carte build.

Which of the three would you choose and why?

urbanknight

Got a link to the Niobium? I haven't heard of them. Either way, the other two are a little heavy for competition in my opinion. What ever happened to those 300g tubulars of the past?

MIN 

Niobium is made by KinLin, which does ZERO marketing. Incidentally, I believe they spec American Classic rims for their wheelsets.

I am not sure where you got the 300 gram figure from. The three rims I listed at the lightest alloy tubulars you can buy today. (~400 grams each.)

Retro Grouch 

I decided to build myself a tubular tire wheelset this winter. Fortuately for me, all of the tubular rims that I checked on were continually out-of-stock until I came to my senses. My answer to your question would be "Whichever you can get."

iab

He's talking old school; Fiamme Ergal, Mavic GEL, Ambrosio Crono, Nisi Sludi, Super Champion Competition, all sub-300 gram rims but none of them are aero. Although I wouldn't consider the Reflex very aero either. ebay is your friend for those old rims or some bike shops may have some NOS lying around.

Sorry I can't help you with your choices, I have never used any of them so I can't have an opinion.

WheresWaldo

The niobium I believe are the lightest of the three rruff can get them and build with them too. I built a set of training wheels with Velocity Escapes on DA hubs. they work very well and you are able to build with high spoke tension. They have been bombproof so far.

briscoelab

I'd get some Crono F20 rims. They have real world weights of about 370 grams and are $50 each. They are great road rims.

MIN 

NOS off eBay or are they still manufactured?

And thanks IAB, for that historical perspective.

Hocam

If you're building this mostly for the experience of using tubulars get some campy or nisi tubulars off e bay for cheap and use those.

ultraman6970

Hmmm....

tubular rims??? MAVIC GP4 if you can find them!... hope you like a non aero shaped rim. U can get Crono f20s at ital tecno i believe. Those ambrosio durex are good rims also. But again nothing compares to gp4s anyways... (in my oppinion)

Thanks.

MIN 

yep I never thought to use old tub rims. I used to ride gp4s back in the day and never realized they were so light.

ultraman6970

GP4s dude... thats the way to go... i like those velocity rims anyways... tough stuff I have to recognize that

CrimsonKarter21

Speaking of which, does anyone know the weight on Mavic's Mach 2? Weight Weenies doesn't show it...

urbanknight

I can't verify, but I've seen them on ebay with the listings claiming 430-460g per rim.

iab got it right, "past" was the key word. What are you planning to use the rims for? There are always NOS and used tubulars on ebay that go for less than the Escape or Reflex. Tell us what you want to use them for, and we can recommend a rim.

briscoelab

New baby!

https://www.ital-tecno.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=34

CrimsonKarter21

Damn that's heavy. They don't look too deep. There's a set on Ebay NOS, $35 buy it now with free shipping.

urbanknight

Yeah, iirc they are a lot like the Open 4CD but in a tubular version. The higher profile and double eyelets make them strong but a little bulky.

I didn't realize they still make the Crono F20. Nice light rim at a fair price.

briscoelab

Yep... and the Nemesis is a hell of a rim if you want a strong wheel. It is also not too bad as far as weight. The Nemesis is what most pro teams use at Paris-Roubaix.

unbelievably

I just ordered a set of Nemesis.

briscoelab

You will be very happy with those. I have a set on some cross wheels and beat the piss out of them.

MIN 

I am researching rims for both my fixed gear and cross bikes. Both are being converted to tubulars and I am looking for lightest rims as possible.

Spokes will likely be DT Revolution 14/17 using American classic hubs for weight.

iab

Yellow Jersey is not cheap, but they have a lot of NOS rims for sale. If you call, they are very knowledgable about the different models.
https://www.yellowjersey.org/cherchi.html

Also, the rims I listed are best suited for those under 170 lbs and definately not for cross. They could work on the fixie.

rruff

It's hard to find light aluminum tubulars for some reason. The Niobiums weigh ~440g and the Escapes are ~400g. If you want them as light as possible, I'd say the Escapes are it.

GeraldChan

I believe the Mavic Reflexes come in at 380 gms and are readily available.

BTW as someone who rode the old school Fiamme and Ambrosio rims, they were light but not very strong if you hit a bump or pothole. (I weighed 160 # "back in the day", so was no Clydes). The modern rims are much stronger and almost as light.

MIN 

Thanks good info.