I do not know if it was an exception but I was buying their rims for rebuilding and replacement. I was getting the steel rims, the 1320 and wider ones too from a number of distributors at the time. Steven Willis The Bike Stand 1778 East Second Street Scotch Plains NJ 07076 908-322-3330 http://www.thebikestand.com
> > Does the CR website have a section on Rigida? I
> > looked under French components and did not find it.
> Don,
> I think the reason for this is that, for the most part,
> Rigida supplied their rims directly to manufacturers. I can't
> recall ever seeing their pieces supplied to shops for use as
> rebuild/replacement work, not do I recall seeing the sort of
> advertisements that you would see from Mavic, Wolber or Super
> Champion. In fact, the first time I noticed a circa 1970s or
> 1980s Rigida rim being sold separately, was just the other day
> on eBay.
> The other issue was model designation. Without doubt, they
> had them. Other than the 1320 (a narrow clincher rim for high
> pressure tires), I don't recall being able to identify their
> products without having to resort to general descriptions.
> The funny thing, is that even with circa 1960s steel rims,
> they seemed to have produced 2 or 3 different types. (Or was
> that merely due to the inconsistent quality control of the
> era?)
> Anyway, from examining a fair number of bicycles, I _think_
> they even produced a lightweight steel rim, akin to the Dunlop
> offerings.
> The other day, I asked about a circa 1968, lightweight
> Hutchinson tire on the CR list. You could find those, mounted
> on Rigida's steel rims, on some really high class bicycles,
> even Italian bikes. Nevertheless, Rigida seems always to have
> been a rather mysterious outfit - except perhaps to actual
> bicycle manufacturers. Therefore... I doubt anyone felt
> strongly enough about their products, except perhaps about
> their peculiarities, to produce a decent Web page. (Except
> perhaps to note that the 1320, while being a nice lighweight
> rim, had really soft braking surfaces.)
> Cheers,
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)