[Closed] What alloy clincher road rim?

Mavic MA2's they don't get more classic. Personally drooling over some Pacenti SL25's for my cross bike.

Are sl25's disc only?

Yes I believe they are, discs are probably the future but people don't want to admit it yet.

Velocity A23? Not as in vogue as Archetypes but I've found them to be very comfortable on two handbuilt sets now.

Just built up a pair with Pacenti SL23 rims which, while pricy, are sublime to build with but well documented (and I concur!) that they are a bugger to fit tyres to. Hence why I've gone tubeless with them!

I've got Ambrosio Excellights on Ultegra hubs and find them very comfortable indeed.

another +1 for excellights ... mine went on royces and are a joy to ride.
i do have some tb14s on record which are nice (and fashionably wide !!!)

+1 TB14

Just bought some for a classic build. Very lovely rim.

Archetypes/A23 aren't 'classic' and excellights are narrow.

Hi Flange. How's your injury affecting your plans for the Transcontinental? I seem to remember you mentioning it in a previous thread a while ago. I'm also doing it(in the pairs) so it stuck in my mind.

Hi Pete

Well currently I can't walk so not great! Took a dive down the stairs and have cracked a couple of vertebrae and some muscle damage. It's pretty painful but I'm out of hospital now and back home horizontal.

Could have come at a worse time really as I'm finishing my current job tomorrow and took a week off between so I could get some miles in. Looks like that week will now be spent laid up.

How's your training going?

Training has been going ok. I'm upto about 1500 miles for the year.Unfortunately all these winter miles have been killing my bike. Currently waiting for new cassette,chain and chainring before I can get out again. Already have had to replace the wheels ,rear deraileur,headset,cables and brake pads! It's a few years old so the extra riding on the winter roads has taken its toll.hope you'll be back on the bike soon ,especially as the weather is slowly but surely improving.

+1 TB14

Just bought some for a classic build. Very lovely rim.

Hmmm. The finish has gone a little milky on mine, and there is surface corrosion on the eyelets.

12 posts and I'm the first to suggest Open Pros? Are we slipping, or have things really moved on?

Thanks, all looking a bit grim at the moment. Yeah, brake pads and headsets/bbs seem to be my biggest outgoings at the moment. Despite muchos cleaning I'm on my third bb since December, on a hope one now so hopefully that'll last a bit longer!

Open pros are a bit old hat now (imo), they're quite heavy and not very wide. The one thing that puts me off the tb14 is the weight - they're not light are they!

Tb14 rims are very nicely made but are over 500g. Dt swiss RR440 are A lighter option, 450g. I still like my old rr415 rims, i no they have a terrible reputation but i think it has earned due to wheel builder exceeding the hard tension limit of 1100N on these rims. Mine and all the ones i have built with have not had trouble. It is a narrow rim though.

Ryde pulse spknt rims are very light at 390g but have a thin brake track. They are wide though at 17.8mm internal width.

Ambrosio do make some nice rims but they all narrow.

Open Pros's are Ok, but if you can find some NOS ones from the 90's would go for them over new ones, as have found new ones wear quicker then the older models.

For a budget option, Rigida(now Ryde) Chrina's are OK, but have found some just don't want to true up, others work fine. Neither these or Open Pros are that wide as noted, fine for upto 25mm though.

Built up a Stan Alpha 400 a few months ago, and was the easiest rim I have yet to build with, pricey, not to shallow, but real nice.

Not much wrong with Open Pros, 435g isn't heavy.

That said I'm on my last set. No wear markers and there's no way I'm buying a caliper gauge to check (which I think Mavic suggest)
Gave up on Mavic factorys ages ago. If Mavic can't just add a simple thing like that then bye bye Mavic.

TB14 later this month.

Left field suggestion but why not consider a set of Ambrosio Nemesis? They are different to all the above suggestions as they are tubular rims, not clinchers but there is something sublime in the ride quality of a good pair of tubs. Yes clinchers get very close and yes, tubs do present some significant challenges with punctures, but it's worth considering.

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They are very nice, I considered them. Then thought I'd have to use cheap tubs if used on a daily basis.
Still think about it as I rode some Conti Giros which from the reviews you'd think were utter pants, but they're okay.

I run Conti Sprinter Gatorskins which are pretty durable. Here's the funny thing though. In 25c form, they are only 20g heavier than a 25c Vittoria Corsa CX, at which point might as well run them on your race wheels as well!

I had a set of Ambrosio's running a set of Tufo tubs. They were lovely although I did have issues with the rear not holding its shape, even after rebuilding them. I've no issues around running tubs as I spent a winter training on them not so long ago. I did the cardinal sin of putting sealant in them before I got a puncture, but they were fine for 1500 miles and I didn't puncture once.

In my incapacitated state I'm sat here daydreaming about building up a nice set of shallow alloy rims. Thinking some decent hubs with ceramic speed upgrade, set of Veloflex tyres and latex tubes. Then I looked at the price of a ceramicspeed kit....Man. Alive. £500+ for a set of bearings...

In fact I've just looked and for four bearings for a set of my current wheels, its €779. For 4 races....

Christ on a bike!

Have a look at Strada Wheels. They offer hybrid cermaic races as an aftermarket product for about 190.