Like Brother Brooks, I'm only familiar with the early, Belgian built, highly polished version. I had no idea that there were later, non-eyelet, softer metal versions. (As they say, "you don't know what you don't know.")
What I do know, though, is that I put _thousands_ of hard, touring miles on mine, which were obviously the earlier version. They were also quite attractive in my estimation.
For a touring bicycle, the only problematic aspect I see is the
spoke wrench issue. But I suspect that's only a problem if you
use a spoke wrench such as the one made by Spokey. I suppose
there's the rim strip/tape situation that Chuck mentioned, but
the same consideration applies to the Super Champion Model 58.
Speaking from personal experience
(which admittedly might differ from your's),
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
>
> In a message dated 11/11/06 8:27:57 AM, oroboyz@aol.com
> writes:
>
> Our Esteemed Listmeister wrote about the Weinmann Concaves:
>
> > <<Earliest versions had eyelets, were high polished, and
> made in Belgium.
> > Later versions were non-eyeleted (is that a word?), a
> satin-to-dull finish
> > (particle blasted?) and made in the USA.>>
> >
> I have a pair of the earlier, made in Belgium rims (27") on
> my '78 Motobecane
> Grand Touring. They have been on the bike since I built
> them eight years
> ago and although I have put only about 1,500 miles on them,
> they have been
> trouble free and look very nice as well. I honestly don't
> remember having had any
> difficulty building them up but did have to use the 10mm wide
> velox tape.
>
> As always - YMMV
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chuck Brooks
> Malta, NY (USA)
> >
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com