My oldest original 700c clincher wheelset is from a 1972 Gitane TDF.
Rims are Weinmann, 22mm wide outside measure, with fine sidewall patterning, and no eyelets. The center part where the spoke nipples emerge is about 11mm wide, raised a couple of mm towards the hub. These are singlewall boxy-looking rims, hookless, and now pretty rare as I can't recall having seen another. Well-made, too, as I can't readily find the seam and don't know if it's pinned or welded.
I have no idea what tire that Gitane fitted originally, had to be French tho.
David Snyder Auburn, CA
> Bob Hanson wrote:
>> (snip)
>> This issue continued long after Mavic released their beautiful
>> light weight "Module-E" rims (c.1975). These looked very much like
>> Montlhery tubular rims, and had full stainless eyelets, narrow profile,
>> double walled construction, polished surfaces, were for modern hooked
>> bead tires. They were simultaneously released as both 700c and 27" and
>> weighed only around 460 grams... which is somewhere between Open Pros
>> and MA3s, today!
>> But (and please do correct me if I'm wrong here), it was well into
>> the 1980s before "Serious" higher quality and eventually even folding
>> clinchers tires gradually began to appear - in either size.
>
>
> The Michelin Elan folding clincher came out in conjunction with the Mavic
> Module-E (E stands for Elan) clincher rim that was introduced, like you
> stated, around 1975. Specialized folding clinchers (Mitsubishi ?) came
> out about three years later I believe.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California