Rick Chasteen wrote:
>
> Mike, et al:
>
> What I remember about those light sew up rims is, they didn't hold up on
> anything but the smoothest roads and then only if the rider were a
> lightweight. I could ride Fiammes or Ergals now and get great durability
> out of them if I weighed 110 pounds, but I don't, nor do most of the rest
> of
> us. A 400 gram Mavic sewup available now is bullet proof and can be built
> with many fewer spokes with the obvious weight and aerodynamic advantages.
What I remember mid-70s was riding the Rose Bowl and Griffith Park (Los Angeles area) training races every week and bending my rear sew-up rims with great regularity (170 lbs.).
I rode Mavic OR 10s (310g), Super Champion Medaille D'Or (260g) and Record du Monde (310g), Fiamme Ergal (290g), Martano Leggero (310g) and then found out that the euro-pros raced on real "rock crushers" like Mavic Blue SSC (395g) and Grey SSC (400g) and Ambrosio Synthesis Durex (400g). Once I started riding 400g sew-up rims the bent rear wheels ended.
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, California
http://www.velo-retro.com (Timeline, reprints and T-shirts)