Dear Tom:
I would probably qualify as a good test mule, being 240 lbs. I don't claim to have ridden every rim in the world, but a fair sample. The only two rims that were definitely inadequate were the Rigida 1320 and the Super Champion Arc en Ciel, both failing to hold true in a rear wheel. The Rigida nightmare occured about 25 years ago, when I was about 40 pounds lighter. The front wheel of each set was fine. The Rigida was in a 126mm rear and the Arc en Ciel in a 120mm. Both were 36 spokes. Of course I was really pushing my luck with the Arc in Ciel which is only a 330-345 gram rim, but I had hoped that a 36 spoked 5 speed would hold up. Neither rim failed catastrophically, but both would warp enough to touch the brake pads in short order: well under 100 miles.
Otherwise, I've not seen any rim that wouldn't do the job if carefully built. Rims that have worked well for me are: Mavic MA2, MA3, G40, MA 40, Module E2, Torelli Master, Ambrosio Elite 19, CR 18, Velocity Synergy and Super champion 58 and Gentleman 81. Testing is still ongoing with a new to me set of Weinmann Concaves and a no eyelet set of Mavic Module rims.
Tubular rims that have held up the Mavic Monthlery, either the Pro or Route and the GP-4. Equally good have been the Ambrosio Montreals and Synthesi, Fiamme Red labels and unknown Weinmanns (with double eyelets and dimpled sidewalls. I bought the wheels from a broke racer, and they were stolen the next year. Wish I still had em.) Obviously all of these rims run at least around 400 grams.
After the troubles with the Rigida (that occured early in my career) I tend to be paranoid about my wheels. The Arc en Ciel is the lightest rear tubular I've ever tried, and all of my wheels are at least 32 spokes. If I'm going to use a 32 spoke hub for a rear wheel now, especially in a 126mm size, I usually go for a off topic off center rear rim.
Tom (first blip on the chart) Adams, Shrewsbury NJ
Tom Sanders <tsan7759142@sbcglobal.net> wrote: We often speak of a rim being strong. Some are held to be stronger than others. Has it ever really been spelled out just what we mean by this? Obviously if a rim bow ties easily, it is not strong, but I have never had a rim failure of any kind and I am no light weight rider. When we speak of " soft" in regards to a rim, what are we really saying? How can we separate this aspect of rim performance from their spoking? Has Sheldon or some other agency ever done any objective or scientific testing of on topic rims (Or even those rims many of us often use on on topic bikes, like Mavic Open Pros, MA2s or Module Es ~Module Es are on topic...right?~) for qualities like strength or softness and posted the results so that we might objectively assess them? Tom Sanders Sitting on his stash of Module Es and MA2 &3 rims, but riding mostly Open Pro, In Lansing, Mi USA
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