Rigida Chrina - big or small?

[SimonCelsa]

I have just ordered another of the Decathlon dynohub wheels (700C this time) & when it arrives I am thinking to rebuild it with some decent stainless spokes & a Chrina rim. Does anyone have any recent experience with the Chrina rim?? I know it is cheap and you get what you pay for, so if I get a year of good use out of it I won't complain. I am more interested in what's it like to get tyres on/off?

I only ask as last year I built up a SP dynohub into an Exal XR2 rim & had the first puncture recently. I did not recall any great problem getting the tyres on initially (panaracer Pasela 28mm) but I busted 2 tyre levers getting the bead off the rim. I will fit this new wheel to an 'audax' bike so would like to feel confident that punctures won't see me snapping tools unnecessarily. Any comments gratefully received, cheers.

[Brucey]

IIRC they vary a bit but they are usually a bit on the tight side for tyres.

FWIW if a tyre goes on easily it ought to come off easily too, provided you keep the bead centred in the rim well away from the tyre lever.

cheers

[Jay Gee]

I gave up on the Chrina rims I bought a couple of years ago - they were so tight I had great difficulty getting the first tyre bead over the rim, let alone the second. I decided that I couldn't risk being unable to repair a puncture on the road, and swapped to something else.

[SimonCelsa]

Yes, I hear a few tales of how tight they can be so will probably plump for something else. I've had pretty good service from Sputniks but they're a little over the top for lightweight cruising/touring. Might give the Exal LX17 a trial https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s116p1565/EXAL-LX17

[MikeF]

Perhaps carry metal tyre levers? Are they still made?
Edit I see they are.

[Brucey]

Exal LX17 rims are sometimes a bit tight too.

I'd suggest the CXP elite (which is based on the a similar extrusion as the previous CXP22 model) but they have machined the guts out of it; braking surfaces average about 1.35mm thickness when new and either this (or some change in the heat treatment perhaps) leaves the rim feeling less strong than the CXP22 model.

cheers

[Samuel D]

I gave up on the Chrina rims I bought a couple of years ago - they were so tight I had great difficulty getting the first tyre bead over the rim, let alone the second.

That the first bead is usually easy to fit shows the value of getting the bead into the rim well. The two beads are the same length. The second bead is harder because the first bead and the tube discourage it from sitting in the deepest part of the well.

The Exal LX17 looks good to me except for the wear indicator groove that I would prefer to do without. The well looks deep enough to make tyre fitting easier than with the XR2, so I’m surprised at the occasional report of difficulty with that rim. I found the XR2 okay with lightweight summer tyres but it became seriously difficult with heavier tyres in cold temperatures.

[Des49]

My Ryde Chrina rims are extremely tight with Conti 28mm 4Seasons. In fact so tight that I can barely manage it. My newer repalcement rims are much tighter than the previous worn Rigida versions which did not need tools to remove or fit a tyre.

I have one of those Var tyre levers that can be used to pull a tyre in place, plus some metal reinforced levers, all kept in the saddle bag of that bike. I punctured a few of weeks ago, rear wheel on my fixed, took a little while to put a new tube in at the roadside, hard work but no issues. But I was prepared and at least it wasn't wet and my hands were not cold.

I find the Chrina rims take a lot of wear and are safe when worn through, current Mavic rims are so much softer and less safe when worn.