I want to build a really tough touring wheelset and have found that my best option in terms of shipping and availability are the A719. However my feelings towards Mavic rims are mixed up. I've had very good rims (X618, stilll going strong after many years of service) and really crappy ones (X517, used in light touring and commuting and got cracks around many eyelets).
Some have told me to stay away from the A719 (cracks, thin sidewalls), others like reputed Harris Cyclery or SJSC describe them as high-end heavy-duty super tough touring rims.
So with this scenario it's a bit hard to make my mind up on thiese rims so I'd really appreciate any comments on them.
Best regards.

Ive been using a set of A719's and shimano deore hubs with dt spokes for a couple years. They have held up through the blue ridge parkway, Georgia mountains and the natchez trace. They are very tough and strong. I have had no problems and still use them today. By the way--I weigh 230 and haul a bob with 50lbs of gear! I recommend them heartily!

I'm pretty close to GD. My touring wheels are these and Phils. My bike guy looks at them every six months or so. Gets em in the stand, spins em, laughs. One time had the bike in a front bus rack here in town. Bus gets cut off by car, hits car. Front wheel gets mashed against the bus. Granted could've been a lot worse of a hit on the wheel, the way it worked out, but still. Few minutes of truing and the LBS is laughing again.

So a vote of confidence here.


edit: I was also on a trailer, which is actually muuuuch better for the wheels. So I can't quite speak of loaded touring w/panniers, where those two wheels carry 100% of the weight.

I ride A719's and think they are great. I am a big rider;6'4" 260lbs and have never had any problems with the rims. I have one set laced to shimano 105 hubs; another set laced to shimano xt hubs.

I've built many wheels with Mavic rims and have nothing bad to say about them. The A719 should hold up fine.

As for the cracking on your X517 rims, were they built with straight gauge or double butted spokes. The X517 was a lightweight MTB racing rim and building it with straight gauge spokes would over-stress the spoke bed, causing cracking. When in doubt, use double butted spokes.

Clayface, I think that if you search the forums you will find that many people here think that the A719 is one of the best touring rims available these days. Search is your friend.

230lbs w/ 45lbs of gear and no problems.

But A719's are only for 26" wheels, right? The best Mavic rims I see for 28" wheels are the A319's. Am I right?

719s are available in 700c. I have them on one of my bikes. You could hardly do better than these as a touring rim.

If you don't like Mavic...as I don't ... look into the Salsa DelgadoX in either rim or disc brake version. I run 32 spoke versions on my daily bike and they are bomb proof...they DO make a 36 hole version as well.

https://www.salsacycles.com/comps_rims.html

I should say that eventually I went for the A719's. Probably they'll remain unlaced till July or so when I get the db DT spokes I'll be ordering for them. The first impression is that they will really stand for every positive comment I've read about them: double eyeleted (like my X618's, a good Mavic reference for me), 25mm width and an actual weight of 556 grs.

Yea a719's are awesome. They also have a rim wear indicator.

Aren't X618's and A719's different sizes? or is the A719's for a different bike?

Have A-719s (40 h, 700c) on our tandem. Gross weight is about 375 Lbs. Still true and round. Excellent rims. Planning on building up an LHT later this year and wouldn't consider any other rims.

Yeah, both are different sizes and the A719's will go on my tourer (which has been running on MA3's)

I don't think the 719 comes in 27 x 1 1/4". If it doesn't, what would be a good wheel for a combined rider and load weight of about 330 lbs, flying over badly potholed urban pavement? Would be 36 or 40 spoke be best?

The A-719 is all I run I have never had a problem with them.
I have the Ultegria hubs on my 2008 Fuji Turing Bicycle-Love them.

Mavic's QC has dropped over the last few years. Cheaper Mavics are now made in Taiwan/China. Bought two Open Sports last year. Returned three due to large gap (~1mm) at the pinned joint. A719 and A319 were very very good boxed rims. These are now superseded by the deep-Vs.

I've built A319, A719, and Velocity's Deep-V. Deep-V is significantly easier to build. No problem handling high-spoke tension to compensate for heavy rider. It held up better than the boxed Mavics under normal use. Only minor drawback is the need to buff the anodized braking surfaces with red Scotchbrite prior to use. This will maximize braking performance from day one.

Look at those high-end rims. Less spokes, but still retain the deep-V design. The boxed Mavics (A719 and Open Pro) were good 10 years ago. I don't have hands-on experience with the wider Velocity Chukker, but they appear to be even stronger than Deep-V. Chukker's wider cross-section should be ideal for heavy-duty touring.

EX 721 is the 26" rim I like , from Mavic.
It came on my Koga WTR.

I put a lot of touring Miles om Mavic Mod 4 (their tandem rim of the era), 40 F 48 spoke Rear..

still in good shape after 10 years ..

When people ask me what the best rim for touring is the A719 tops my list... have built up many of these as well as 319's for tourers who have undertaken some epic journeys and had no problems whatsoever.

The Salsa Delgado is also a really bombproof rim... we use the 26 inch, 48 spoke model for tandems and really big riders.

After five years of being on duty day in day out, the wheels I built with these rims have proved that all the positive comments about the A719 were absolutely true.

The A719 is an easy build... the tolerances are very high and the rim is very stiff and they almost build themselves.

The QC on the 319 is not as good and have found greater variance in these rims.

Sun CR18's are also pretty bulletproof and one of the best deals out there but Sun's QC can also be hit and miss.

Our new Santana tandem has 32H A719s. They are light, and in the almost 1000km we have ridden since taking delivery of the bike in early February, there has been no sign of them going out of true. I weigh around 90kg and Machka around 70kg, which is 300lbs plus that these wheels are toting around. They also have been over gravel as well as potholed asphalt at some speed.

This brief experience, and the fact these rims are eyeletted, has been enough for me to think seriously about changing my own touring rims from Velocity Dyads (uneyeletted) to A719s, and definitely to put the A719s on Machka's new touring bike.

So, did anyone else notice this thread was five years old before resurrected?

Fwiw, I have a set of A719/XT hubs that I REALLY like!

I had spoke-breaking problems on my old tourer. I went to my local mechanic (an older guy with tons of experience and ethical business practices) and told him to build me a rear wheel that wouldn't have that problem. He chose a Mavic 719 rim. I took it on a month-long tour, heavily loaded; and then I gave the bike to my nephew who rode it from Vancouver, B. C. to San Francisco. No broken spokes.

On my LHT I built the wheels myself, using the parts recommended on Sheldon Brown's instructions (at Harris Cyclery's website.) I used 719's again. I've taken that bike on three long tours. No broken spokes. I weigh 200 lbs. and carry a pretty hefty load.

I'd say they've passed my own seat-of-the-pants review. I'm presently building a 29er for the Great Divide Route, and am probably going to stick with 719's.

P. S. All of the 719's I've used have been 700c, 36-spoke rims.