Touring Rim Advice

[RobMac]

Im hoping to get some hand built touring wheels soon, 26" with 36 hole XT hubs what Im not sure
about is the rims. I'll be on roads most of the time but probably a little off road on forest tracks
and the likes, which rims? My priority is strength as not so much the weight.

Your thoughts folks please


Rob

[meic]

I would look more to the tyres personally.

I have broken rims with thin or soft tyres on. I dont believe it is possible to survive a crash that breaks any 26" rim fitted with a hard 1.75" Schwalbe Marathon.

My most damaged rim ever was an old steel one.

[reohn2]

For an absolutely bombproof rim its got to be Rigida Sputnik,very thick braking surface but a little on the heavy side.
If durability were my primary consideration thats the rim of choice.The place to buy them built on XT hubs(another great choice IMHO) with strong spokes is SPA cycles ( http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s179p352 ) their wheel builder is a good one and their prices are as good as it gets.

[RobMac]

Thanks very much guys


Rob

[531colin]

What reohn2 said, except I hear murmerings about reliability of XT since they changed to a tubular axle . the axle must be bigger and stiffer, but then the mechanical
parts are smaller to fit inside the same size hub and take the same size cassette?

NEW EDIT
If you want spokes with 13g (2.3mm) heads, look at SAPIM. They do 13g heads down to 14g (sapim "strong") and 13g heads to 16g shaft to 14g nipple end (sapim "force") the latter, bewilderingly only available for 26 inch wheels, when they would be much more use for lightweight 700c rims.

[Justin]

I'm in a similar position myself regarding needing new rims.

One brand that seems to crop up a lot and gets recommended as a decent rim for touring is Sun Rhyno.

I've no experience of XT hubs myself, but whilst enquiring very recently about hubs and rims, I was told by a cycle shop wheelbuilder that he had a concern regarding the reliability of current XT rear hubs. Apparantly the pawls inside the freehub body are known to break or seize (can't remember which). How accurate and/or widespread this is, I don't know.

Good luck with whatever you decide and I'll be watching this thread with interest for recommendations.

[cycleruk]

What reohn2 said, except I hear murmerings about reliability of XT since they changed to a tubular axle . the axle must be bigger and stiffer, but then the mechanical parts are smaller to fit inside the same size hub and take the same size cassette?

Haven't XT hub axles always been tubular?
If the axle was bigger it wouldn't go in the drop out.

Edit - just looked at Shimano tech' Doc and yes they seem to have increased the axle size.
Balls have been reduced from 1/4" to 3/16".

[Freddie]

I'd say the wheel build is probably more important than the components, though anodised rims seem to have a tendency to crack, so silver may be a good bet.

What I don't understand is why there are no spokes 2.3mm at the head (13 gauge?) and the usual (15 gauage) in the middle, surely it's best to have the spoke head fill the spoke hole as much as possible. What also grates is that there seems to be no standard for hub flange width nor spoke elbow length (certainly much variance in the latter, compare DT and ACI), these things would surely benefit cyclists more than some recent dubious "innovations" (anodising, deep rims, machining).

[reohn2]

I'm in a similar position myself regarding needing new rims.

One brand that seems to crop up a lot and gets recommended as a decent rim for touring is Sun Rhyno.

I've no experience of XT hubs myself, but whilst enquiring very recently about hubs and rims, I was told by a cycle shop wheelbuilder that he had a concern regarding the reliability of current XT rear hubs. Apparantly the pawls inside the freehub body are known to break or seize (can't remember which). How accurate and/or widespread this is, I don't know.

Good luck with whatever you decide and I'll be watching this thread with interest for recommendations.

We ran Sun Rhyno rims on our Thorn Discovery tandem,they are good rims but over hyped by Thorn,and are very heavy indeed 795grms which is very heavy for any rim IMHO, as an example Sputniks weigh 670grms and they're considered heavy as most other touring rims are around the 550 to 600gram mark.

I don't have any experience of the latest XT hubs,(TBH I didn't know Shimano had changed them),mine are over 7years old with about 19,000miles on them and still running sweet 'n' smooth.

[Kevin K]

My wheelbuilder (Wheelcraft, Clachan of Campsie) recommended MT19 rims. I do similar cycling to the OP and have been very pleased with them.

[PH]

Rigida's latest and hardest wearing rim is the carbide coated Grizzly and Andra.
http://www.chickencycles.co.uk/index.ph ... b=31&ord=2

Very expensive, but expected to last several times longer than any other rim. I have two pairs, bought before the prices went silly, I've been well pleased. Not only can I not measure any wear after 6,000 miles, they offer better braking in the wet and you get non of that black gunge that’s you rim wearing away. Downsides, apart from the price, you have to use specific brake blocks, though these also last very well. And they can be prone to squealing, on three wheels this only lasted for the first 1.000 miles, on the fourth I can't find anything to stop it.

[willem jongman]

We use Sputnik/Exal SP19 on the loaded touring bikes, and they have not failed us. We have no personal experience of the new XT hubs (the old one works just fine), but a few friends have already been deeply disppointed. First the introduction of their integrated cranksets with badly sealed miniscule ball bearings - now these hubs seem to have been the next victim of Shimano's drive for lighter weight and greater stifness at the expense of reliability. I would now go for LX, or for a new loaded touring bike a Rohloff hub, of course. Shimano is abandoning the touring community, or so it seems.
Willem

[psmiffy]

My last two sets of touring rims have been 36H sun rhyno with XT - The hubs outlive the rims with no maintenance the newer ones are in a much better condition than the first set - no broken spokes in 32000km (very heavily loaded and a lot of very bumpy potholed roads) both sets remained perfectly true throughout their lives (including the rear rim failing due to wear on the first set after 17000k)

Looking at the moment to replace the second set - wear indicators disapeared about 2000k ago on my last tour - Is the Sun Rhyno still widely available - Discontinued?

I replaced the rear wheel on my commuter with a Rhyno Lite but having compared the two there seems to be no real advantage in fitting the lite

[CREPELLO]

I would now go for LX, or for a new loaded touring bike a Rohloff hub, of course. Shimano is abandoning the touring community, or so it seems.
Willem

Except that LX is now a group set aimed specifically at the tourist. I do agree with your point's on XT reliability though, driven by the XTR trickle down effect. What we'll need to be really worried about is when that effect gets through to all other levels. Damn XTR! I'm building my next rear touring wheel with an LX rear hub, rather nice looking in polished alloy.

[sirmy]

I ordered a apir of Sptniks on XT hubs in Novemeber from Spa. A few days later I got a call from them saying they were no longer using XT hubs because they had had, I think it was, five sets returned with faulty freehubs. They recommended the same rims on LX hubs which were a bit cheaper and if maintained should be almost as durable.

I have a Sputnik on an LX hub on the front of my commuter (a bit of an indulgence) from Spa and in six months it's stayed almost perfectly true and caused no problems at all. Only thing is they take presta valves which in my case is a pain when changing inner tubes as my rear wheel takes the other type leading to fiddling with the end of my pump to gt them inflated