fthomas

There are quite a few on here that I respect the opinion due to their extensive experience on the road. What is considered the best rim for touring? I am going to build up a SRAM i-Light hub.

niknak

I have Velocity Dyads on my current bike. They're super strong, but some will argue that the lack of eyelets is a weakness. For a budget option, the Sun CR-18 is great.

jimblairo

Mavic A-719

Rowan

What sort of touring do you intend to do, and what size tyres will you be running?

I've been using Velocity rims of various types for a while now. The Dyad is wider than the standard road wheel so is probably preferable if you want to run wide tyres. I have used Aeroheads, but they are a bit fragile for heavily loaded touring. Currently I have Aeros on my touring/LD fixed gear and am happy with them. My MTB has Deep-Vs, and likewise I am happy so far after 200km of quite hard off-road use.

36H is my preferred spoke count for touring. I don't consider eyelets to be essential for anything other than really heavy-duty trekking... far from it... none of my wheels has ever had eyelets.

BengeBoy 

I recently researched this very topic by looking at the rims spec'd by as many custom touring bike builders as I could find. They were almost evenly split between the two rims mentioned -- Velocity Dyads and Mavic A719. See Peter White's website; he offers wheels in both.

Camel

I used a set of Peter White built 700c wheels using 48h Velocity Dyads for my year tour. I went on some pretty darned cruddy "roads" - worst I could ever imagine. Never had a problem with the wheels, never had them re-trued or anything.

-Tires is another issue, so I'll never use 700c again for off the beaten track touring (ie outside Western Europe & N America).

fthomas

Thanks for your input!

I wish I had the resources and I would have Peter build me up a set of wheels with the A719 in 36h with a Phil Wood Rear Hub and Schmidt front. For now I'll have to go with what I have. It is actually turning into an exceptional learning experience.

I have to agree on the 700c, though I am running 32's right now I will probably go to the 35's.

I saw a Rivendell Rambouillet, my first hands on look, with 26" wheels. Nice!

ken cummings

Bruce Gordon uses Velocity Synergy rims on his tourers. I had no trouble with them for 12,000 miles until the rack fell off the back of the car at 70 MPH with the wife's bike on top. Only had to replace one rim.

IronMac

Man...that must have been some accident!

fthomas

I wish I could pontificate on the Velocity Synergy vs. the Mavic A719. Can't!

Does anyone know the real comparison between the two?

ThatHertz

what about DT Swiss TK 7.1's? I have been trying to get these forever! I thinnk after much contemplation I will be building a set of Mavic A719 laced with double butted spokes. I reeeeallly want the TK's though.

MrPolak

us Eastern Europeans might can find some 700c wheels/tires and such, I rekon. So if you ever come 'round to our neck of th'woods, we'll pretund lahk we are modern and stuff. Heck, my brother just got hisself a fancy 3-speed!

Xanti Andia

Yes, this is one of my favorite pontification subjects, stick to 26' wheels if you are going to tour outside of North America (Mexico I don't know) / Europe and perhaps Australia, decent wide tourning tires are not generaly available in the rest of the world on 700c. Chioce of 36 h vs 40 h is another story. 36 you will find 36 h rims, but chances of needing repalcement are sligtly lower with 40 h.

NeezyDeezy

+1 on the DT Swiss TK 7.1, I have them on my bike and I am afraid of how strong they are

robow

+1, although the Mavic A319 is a little less expensive and is spec'd on some tourers, Sheldon always spoke highly of these as well fwiw.

uciflylow

When having my LHT built up in June, we where unable to find the A719! I ended up going with the Salsa Delgado 29er rim. So far, so good! These are laced up to 36 hole LX hubbs and DT spokes.

intheways

I put some Delgado Crosses on my Crosscheck. It's not quite built for loaded touring, but I had the same set of rims on a Karate Monkey that got flogged on some nasty offroad trails.

IntoThickAir

Lots of good advice on rims here, to which I'll add: don't forget the tires. If you'll be hitting some rough roads, you'll appreciate tires with enough sidewall to let you deflate them to whatever is the appropriate pressure without pinching a tube or damaging your rim. Let the tire take the blow - not the rim. 700s have gotten some knocks on this forum, but that may be only because some frames won't accept a big enough tire. I tour on 700 x 47 Continentals, and highly recommend them.

myheadsashed

I have TK7.1's on my crossbike they're strong good for touring but I have folded the front before.