Araya tubular rims
 

Has anyone ridden a set of Araya tubular rims? I just won a pair of vintage Araya Red's on eBay and I'm not too sure what to expect. I have heard nothing but good things about the company, and I would like to hear about your personal experiences with their products.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Yep good rims. Ridden them back in the 80s and still do. I ridden both clinchers and tubulars.

S/F,
CEYA!

Yeah, you outbid me.

The red's and gold's are almost identical cosmetically; the gold's are just a good bit lighter. Both are unanodized, so they benefit from a nice polishing with Simichrome polish before you lace them. Perspiration, road grime, etc. will cause oxidation of the surface so they won't look as nice before long.

They come extremely round and true, so they lace up quite easily. The alloy isn't quite as tough as some of the Mavic rims, so they tend to get flat spots a bit more easily. This also comes with their being fairly light. As track rims they are superb, and that's where they find most of their use, although on the road as a light rim for decent roads (and getting a bit of care) they're good. Do note that the sidewalls are fairly thin so braking will wear through it sooner than on most contemporary European rims -- you might count on 4-5K miles, which isn't as good as a Mavic Reflex and nowhere as long as a GP-4 or DT clincher rim.

I was bidding also hehe... nice rims.. I agree with 11.4

ohoh, now i know what the competition will be for the next set up on ebay

hehehe I got a nice set of araya tubular rims like 1 month ago. Those aero profile ones. I built them with a set of mack hubs and the wheels r super sweet hehe :)

And yes I will try to bid again for those rims if they show up at ebay :p

This is the kind of info ive been searching for. 11.4, I have Araya golds, and im really tempted to use them on the streets. I live in a city where the streets arent all that great. What are the chances of me hitting a pothole and the rim bends on me? Would I have more of a problem with gettin a flat with these tubular wheels, or getting these lightweight thin rims bent? Basically what problem would I run into first??
albertras-

sweetbike, I don't know the answer, but to help others, how many holes are your rims?

Araya Gold's and Red's come most frequently in 36's, but you can order them from Eurasia in 32 and I believe also in 28. The 36's have an NJS stamp, if it matters; the others don't, of course.

Sad that the price on these rims is now around $90-100 per rim.

36

I have a set at work ;) Actualy 4 sets.

caferacer. whats your take on them for the streets?

Theyre a simple, and old design that was used as a road rim aswell as a track rim. Back then a rim was a rim. That being said the alloy isnt as tuff as a modern rim say a Mavic Reflex. So if you hit somthing hard enough it will dent it a bit, and if you hit an edge hard enough it will kink the rim. You also have to be carfull not to over tention the spokes since the eyeletts can pull thru a little easier. But all that aside, I know guys still riding rims they build up when theyre were my age and now are in theyre 50's and the wheels are still going.

Eurasia has them 32 and 36h. I wish they were cheaper. I think they should be.