Johnny Bobcat

Hi all, I currently have a very old wheelset that is slightly out of round and seems to need trueing every week or so, I beleive the rims are araya CTL 370 and they are laced to suntour gpx hubs. anyways the hubs are in very good condition so I figured I could easily have a better wheelset by replacing the rims and using better spokes. So my question is what rims would you all recommend I get? I use my bike mostly for commuting, but do a few longish rides a week (70-80 miles), plus the occasional century.

NathanC

Johnny Bobcat

do those hula hoops come in 700c, they'd probably be more durable than my current rims
(and by the way, I only titled the post with hoops so as to avoid the confusion about rims as opposed to a whole wheelset, as I want to reuse my hubs.)

urbanknight

Not being too familiar with your current wheelset, are they 32 spoke wheels laced 3 cross? If so, and durability is your main concern, something like Mavic Open Pro or Velocity Fusion would be great choices. If you want to reduce weight, Velocity Aerohead and Kinlin XR-270 are my recommendations.

ILUVUK

Someday, I'd like to try DT Swiss RR1.2 rims. Those appear to be of Herculean strength. Anyone know who manufactures those rims? Does DT Swiss make them themselves? I'd like to know.

subnoob

Cosmic Carbone SL

The_Cretin

I had this problem. Just remove each nipple and replace any that are damaged. Clean the spoke threads and relube the nipple threads and shoulders. Retension to a sufficiently high tension this time and retrue. I rebuilt a rear wheel that had a lot of winter miles resulting in corrosion and dirt in the spoke nipples. After the rebuild, the wheel has stayed perfectly true despite lots of miles on rough roads.

No need to buy a new rim or spokes.

Johnny Bobcat

They are 32 hole, I've never been too clear on what lacing pattern is what (other than radial), but I'd like something that is more durable AND more lightweight.
the main one's i've been looking at are open pro's and also torelli triumphs, would you happen to know what open pro's usually go for? i haven't been able to find a price
Also, should I go with bladed spokes when I get them rebuilt? There are some pretty fierce winds around where I ride, but also a lot of hills. Does the aero advantage outweigh the weight gain, or vice versa?

mrvile

Both DT Aerolite and Sapim CX-Ray bladed (ovalised) spokes are lighter than standard DT Comp double butted spokes.

urbanknight

Open Pro tends to go for about $75/rim (cambriabike.com seems to be the best price). I think it's a little steep, but they are good rims.

I think bladed spokes are useless in the real world. They are heavy and the aero benefit is lost in cross winds (which is almost always). As mrvile said, ovalised spokes like Aerolite and CX-Ray are more aero and lighter weight.