Many of us have preferences when it comes to equipment or frames. Those preferences are based on personal experiences, likes or dislikes and/or from highly respected sources. For me, my experiences with Campagnolo rims and DT spokes have left me with the opinion that there are none better or more reliable. That is not to say they dont have equals. On my Mercian I have Mavic Open Pro, I know they are not vintage, clincher rims, which I have come to trust and believe they, are about as good as they get. In the past few weeks I have had some failures with some of my road wheels. The first time I ever have broken a spoke on a road wheel was a few weeks ago and it wasnt a DT, but another big name spoke which led me to question these spokes and rebuild the wheel with my trusty DTs. Now for the question regarding rims; for the first time I have some wheel sets with Mavic tubular rims, specifically the GL 330, should qualify as vintage, and the GEL 280, and not sure if they are vintage or not. The problem I am seeing with these rims is that on the braking surface where the spoke and eyelet is there wear is down to the aluminum and the anodizing is still there between the spokes. I have seen this on other Mavic rims as well. When braking, I know to brake is to admit defeat, I can feel these wide spots. Is this just the way these rims are and do they need more wear to be completely broken in?
Mark, thanks in advance, Poore