> My limited experience with steel rims in general is that > you can't use the high spoke tensions that are OK with > modern rims. > > I suppose it's possible that some hopeful soul > responsible for designing these things decided that > stainless steel is harder, so it could be drawn thinner, > thus reducing weight by a few grams, and then overdid it. > Certainly, since it's more expensive, there would be an > incentive to minimize the use of materials as well. > > Anyone have any hard info on that?
Steve,
My experience with those rims was in the remote past - i.e. the 1960s! Although I did not have good luck with them, many (thousands?) of people did in the UK did. So I suspect that there is a "right" way to tension those rims, and if one adheres to that method, the result will be a solid reliable wheel.
But back then, all my friends and aquaintances only had real experience with the following sorts of rims: - Weinmann style aluminum clinchers, and the Italian equivalents such as Fiamme - Steel rims such as Rigida - Tubulars
I think that the lightweight, stainless steel Dunlops required a bit of knowledge/experience that we did didn't have, since we didn't see them often enough. Maybe if you went to the right bicycle shop, things were a bit different...
Cheers,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)