brian blum wrote:
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> Rigida rims were softer than their competitors rims in the 80's but they were the lightest clincher rims out there. Bicycle World did a real world survey and measured the 13/20 700C at 419grams versus 480 grams for a MA-40 which is an excellent rim though 15% heavier. I like the Rigidas and still use them. I weight 157 lbs, the secret to these rims is to run wider tires. I would not ride these with narrow 19-20C tires the rims need to be protected from impacts. I ran the old 25C specialized(actually narrower than that) on these rims and have had good service. Brian in Berkeley
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My recollections (might not be absolutely accurate): In the mid 1970s Michelin introduced a light weight foldable clincher tire called the Elan. Narrow clincher rims were designed to work with this new tire. The first rim (I think) was the Mavic Mod E (E for Elan) with a listed weight of 410g. There also was the Rigida 13/19 (13/19 referring to inner and outer rim section in mm) with a listed weight of 450g, the Super Champion Gentleman with listed weight of 470g, and slightly later, the Ambrosio 19 Extra (19 referring to outer rim section in mm and Extra for the colored anodizing I imagine) at 420g.
This was followed by the Mavic Mod E2 (double eyelet, same cross section as Mod E) at a listed weight of 430g.
The Mavic G 40 listed at 430g with hard anodizing followed by the Mavic MA 40 and Mavic MA 2 were all from a later period.
You are comparing a 1970s first generation clincher rim (Rigida 13/19) with a 1980s second generation (or third generation depending on how you look at it) clincher rim (Mavic MA-40).
Chuck Schmidt SoPas, SoCal
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