Rims with decent braking surface thickness?

[Brucey]

fair point about using 'commoditised' parts where possible, on the basis of parts availability.

However I'd question whether that really applies to many cycle parts, including disc brake wheels, now or in the future.

For example in rear disc brake wheels, you have several possible axle widths, several possible (largely incompatible) axle types, a choice of disc mountings, disc offsets, disc diameters, gearing/freehub body parts, and that is before you get on to rims and spokes, or the disc calipers themselves! I don't see this situation getting anything other than 'worse' as time goes on, at least not in any equipment that owes its existence to any fad/fashion-driven part of the bicycle market; I'd suggest that 'practical disc brakes' have yet to entirely take on a life of their own, and the availability of such parts is largely dependant on what is being fitted on 'fashion bikes' at any given time, and that will (obviously) change as time goes on.

IMHO idealised commuting bikes are a bit different from other bikes. For example you may choose an IGH here, even though it wouldn't be your first choice for a touring bike. If you want a robust, repairable setup using a hub brake for commuting, I'd suggest an X-RD3 hub. The increase in wheel strength through it being practically undished shouldn't be underestimated: Also, I've never seen a broken hubshell in this model, and pretty much any bike shop worth their salt will be able to replace/fix the internal should it ever give trouble.

In general terms if, as a cyclist, you want to be fairly self-sufficient, it is as well to be able to carry out your own repairs. Two skills that are not always quickly learnt are to fix punctures and to (re)-build wheels. I've had plenty of practice, but I'd reckon to get a workable wheel within about half an hour when re-rimming now, maybe an hour tops if there were one or two problems or I was feeling fussy. Being able to do this takes away some of the worry about spare parts, after all a pothole can rear up and bite you at any time. I've successfully ridden pretty lightweight wheels (in all conditions) for mileages that are nudging six figures, but maybe I have been lucky.

FWIW if you really want to be able to walk into any bike shop and come right out with a replacement wheel that works, best to stick to rim brakes IMHO. There is something to be said for retaining canti bosses on a touring bike for this reason, even if you intend to use disc brakes.

cheers

[hoogerbooger]

My school of touring (all) cycling is based on what I thought was a well established fact that bike maintenance leads to/creates your Karma. (My position in a future life will depend on how many bikes I have fixed). I have difficulty understanding why many cyclists don't maintain their own bike ( like, how are you supposed to bond !). I was in Lhasa a while back acclimatising when a Dutch cyclist arrived having ridden the full distance in from the Netherlands. We got chatting and then out popped a bombshell when he asked if I knew how to repair a bike !!!! I didn't know whether to be impressed or outraged that he'd set off through the middle of nowhere ( which I think is in Belgium) not knowing how to fix his bike. However for a beer and a Yak burger I fixed it ( and was one step closer to Nirvana).

Anyway whilst I would promote to everyone the benefits of personal bike maintenance, I have to respect that other's view may differ ( even if they are wrong) and that as long as it's not causing cruelty to a bike, it's their choice if they wish to spend their hard earned cash at their LBS. Similarly the benefits and dis-benefits of differing brakes is for the individual to judge for their choice & I commend this forum as a very useful source of technical discussion ( plus a bit of banter, some of which is unfortunately not as respectful as others)

[londonbikerider]

Maybe we should email Mavic (with pictures of exploded rims?) stating we deserve better, and if they (Mavic) produce a better product they could use this as a marketing tool and obtain all sales!

I don't think I can subscribe to this, as I get a few years of use out of normal Open Pro rims on my daily commute bike.

Admittedly, my bike is always kept reasonably clean especially the wheels and brake pads, that surely helps extending the lifespan of the rims and making me saving a good amount of money.

[zenitb]

These look interesting for day touring. I have some worn 17mm ETRTO Mavic T217 rims to replace and the 570g weight of these rims suggests a thick braking surface... the text suggests offset spokes as well so maybe some chance of building a 11 speed wheel...

Is this a "Narrow Sputnik" ??

https://www.ryde.nl/edge-r-13

[Des49]

The spec says "tubeless ready". Wonder if this will make the tyres harder to fit? (Mind you my Chrina rims are very tight).

Also they are single eyelet, is the rim bed continuous without holes? Necessitating a bit of fiddle to build a wheel inserting nipples via the valve hole?

[Brucey]

the spec says it is a sleeve jointed rim, which normally means you need a rim tape. It also says there is a 'zig zag' of a specific size to the drilling pattern which rather suggests that there isn't an offset of the sort that helps to equalise tension, in that if there is such a thing, they would normally supply a measurement for it. It also says the rim doesn't conform to ETRTO which could be good, could be bad. I'd imagine that the shallow well and raised lip feature will make for tight tyres.

FWIW there are many rims which have a drawing of the raw extrusion, not the machined rim, in the details, making the braking surface look thicker than it really is.

cheers

[bgnukem]

Can only say that weight doesn't necessarily seem to correlate well with braking surface thickness.

The Kinlin XM250s I returned measured around 1.3mm thickness and weighed around 480g. The Exal LX17 (also 17mm internal width) has a specified eight of 575g but also measures down to 1.3mm in places, as do the H-Plus Son Archtypes I recently bought (490g).

The last Mavic XM317 I used wore out in around 2k miles of commuting. Bear in mind I am pretty religious about cleaning the braking surfaces and pads on a regular basis (i.e. more than once/week).

[Brucey]

is the soil especially abrasive where you are? Or is it very hilly? The wear rate of your rims seems a fair bit higher than average....?

cheers

[zenitb]

These look interesting for day touring. I have some worn 17mm ETRTO Mavic T217 rims to replace and the 570g weight of these rims suggests a thick braking surface... the text suggests offset spokes as well so maybe some chance of building a 11 speed wheel...

Is this a "Narrow Sputnik" ??

https://www.ryde.nl/edge-r-13

looks chunky ...

[bgnukem]

is the soil especially abrasive where you are? Or is it very hilly? The wear rate of your rims seems a fair bit higher than average....?

cheers

Don't know, based in South Somerset, but my commuting bike tends to stay cleaner than my weekend bike as it will be cleaned at shorter distance intervals (typically 9-15 miles a day, braking surfaces cleaned after each commute, if muddy) than the weekend club run bike (which might go 50-100 miles on a run before being cleaned).

Mavic rim was 1mm thick when new. I use wide-ish tyres (1.3 - 1.5") relative to the rim width (17mm internal) which will tend to put more bending stress on the sidewall, albeit using a relatively low tyre pressure of 65psi.

Brake blocks were Koolstop Salmons.

[Brucey]

I've seen 1.0mm thickness in the new mavic open pro (-which I thought was unbelievably stupid BTW- ) but in other Mavic models I have not measured less than 1.35mm in a new rim. And I thought 1.35mm was a bit of a joke TBH.

In terms of rim stress 65psi on a 1.5" tyre is about the same as ~100psi on a narrower (say ~25mm) tyre, so it isn't excessive by any means.

FWIW the cut sections of the Ryde edge r13 rim do look fairly thick-walled. I note that on their website, they no longer lost the Grizzly or Chrina models, as well as one or two others....welcome it or not, change is coming...

cheers

[RickH]

is the soil especially abrasive where you are? Or is it very hilly? The wear rate of your rims seems a fair bit higher than average....?

cheers

I know it wasn't a question to me but it definitely is around here - millstone grit (there was a millstone industry only a few miles from here, at Whittle le Woods, that exported their stones around the world once the Leeds Liverpool Canal opened). Combine that with steep lanes, where braking is inevitable (I'm not a brake dagger - I'll happily let the bike run at 40+mph where the road surface & sight lines allow), & the generally moist local climate that ensures plenty of run off of gritty material onto the roads. I managed to wear out my first set of Open Pros in around 4000 miles. The stock Shimano brake blocks didn't help & subsequent rims lasted a bit longer using different blocks.

I finally had enough of the Open Pros & resorted to Sputniks at the last change. I wouldn't buy them again - the conti GP4Seasons that fitted the Mavics were hard to fit & almost impossible to get to seat without a low spot. That suggests to me the rims are oversized (fitting Schwalbe Marathons, that are notoriously tight, could be fun! ).

4000 miles on my current bike of choice & the rims are as good as new (it has discs - still the original rotors, but, to be fair, wear is split over 2 sets of wheels)!

[Brucey]

FWIW most tyres are an easy fit onto (old type) open pro rims (now known as open pro C). IMHO quite a lot of conti tyres have been made undersize in recent years, and it is not unusual to find that they are a tight fit onto rims that are in fact not too bad for size.

Going from open pro to sputnik is pretty much going from one extreme to the other, isn't it?

cheers

[Jamesh]

What about these rims?
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2345453486

5.4mm total rim thickness so perhaps 1.5mm thickness?

Cheers James

[Jamesh]

Or these at 700gms ouch!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2474873306