touring rims

vlado

Hi
I'm upgrading my bike for my europe touring this may and would like to buy some good, reliable touring rims. It will be my first big tour so I need some help. Size is 700c, 36 holes and tyres 35c. Can anyone help with this?
Thanks for any info.

DF33

Chrinas if they go to 35c. cheap, good balance twixt weight and strength, Spa's preferred wheel for general touring I believe.

campbellrae1

I'm using a set of DT Swiss TK 540's on my touring bike, been very impressed so far, have stayed true despite being a bit overloaded on a 1000 mile tour last summer when my front rack broke(I love baggage handlers) so everything for 2 weeks got loaded onto the rear rack including camping gear. They are not cheap, but get a set built by a good wheel builder and they should serve you well for years!

Jay dubbleU

I have Spa built Chrina Sputniks with Ambrosio hubs on the Galaxy - double wall but not excessively heavy

Of course hand built wheels mean its easier to replace spokes should the need arise

andymiller

Chrinas are a good recommendation. I've not had any problems though with Mavic Open Pros but the last time got some wheels built independent wheelbuilders were finding it hard to get Mavic rims..

My advice though would be to go to a specialist wheelbuilder and get them to build the wheels for you. I've been very happy with wheels from Spa but also Harry Rowland.

andymiller

Jay dubbleU wrote:

I have Spa built Chrina Sputniks with Ambrosio hubs on the Galaxy - double wall but not excessively heavy

Just to avoid confusion.

Chrina is the name of one of the rims made by the French manufacturer Rigida. They also make a rim called the Sputnik which is a really heavy-duty rim. If there is such a thing as a bombproof rim then the Sputnik would be a candidate, but it's pretty heavy and a bit over the top for general road touring. (although I have to admit to riding with one on the back for off-road loaded touring).

vlado

Thanks a lot to all.

rake

planet x model b.

desweller

If there was a way to attach the Rigida Sputnik to the hub without spokes then it probably still would stay true. Bit heavy at 750g/rim though!

froze

Mavic makes a nice touring rim model A719, as is the Velocity Chukker which is a little less money then the Mavic, or the real cheap Sun CR18, but the Sun rims are not made to the same exacting specs as the Mavic or the Velocity so it usually takes more of a truing effort to build the wheel; and if you're going to be doing heavy touring I would go with 40 spokes on the rear; then to save money on spokes use Wheelsmith double butted 14/16 spokes instead of DT brand; and White Industries Racer X40 for the rear and X36 on the front, or save some serious cash and get the Velocity hubs which also come in 40 and 36 drillings.

More confusion, just what you needed.

saladdays

I've used this very wheel, touring around north-western Scotland including bridleways. Good value. It does have an 135mm axle, a tight fit in some frames. http://www.evanscycles.com/products/m-w ... l-ec001951

mercia_man

I wouldn't use Rigida Chrinas with 35mm tyres. These rims only have a 13mm internal width which makes them suitable for 18 to 28mm wide tyres, according to touring and wheel specialists Spa Cycles. Good for fast road use but not so good for European touring with wide tyres.

I'd recommend Exal LX17 rims (also sold by Spa) which have a 17mm internal width and are suitable for 25 to 54mm wide tyres. At 575g they are also slighter lighter than the 590g Chrinas. Rigida Sputniks are 19mm internal width and much heavier (745g). They are best suited for heavyweight touring.

I fitted a pair of Exals to my touring bike to replace my worn out Alesa rims and they were pretty easy to build up because they were true and round to start off wth.

andymiller

A good point - although Sheldon Brown (whose table on recommended tyre widths is the bible on this) says that the recommendations are on the conservative side and that many cyclists exceed theses recommendations without problem - eg many mountainbikers use 50mm tyres with 17mm width rims. That said I'd go down a size on the tyres or up a size on the rims to 15mm. (Nb the minimum tyre widths are important).

Find a good wheelbuilder and let them advise you.

andrew_s

I use LX17 with 35c tyres, no problems. They are nice rims and build up easily. A slight drawback compared to Rigida is that the wear indicator is a vanishing groove rather than a cavity that gets exposed (which is harder to ignore/fail to notice).
As stated above, Chrina (13mm) are too narrow. Open Pro (15mm) is the narrowest I'd want to use 35mm tyres on, and with them you are really better off sticking to 32mm.

richh

You could go for the Ridiga Snyper rims instead. I've got a pair build onto 105 hubs by SPA and they're excellent. Definitely recommended (both the wheels and SPA).