Pacenti PL23's and Velocity A23's, was Velocity Synergy, UGG

[Anthony King]

Anthony,
You and I've talked about the Dyad versus the Synergy before;  how would you compare the A23 to the Dyad? And the A23 to the Synergy?  How would you compare those three to Kirk's PL23? (corrected--AK)

Kirk is welcome to weigh in on this. I sell both of these rims and distribute the A23's. The A23's have the same shape as the Dyad but are slightly narrower, so they have less material. The A23 and PL23 are the same width as the Synergy, but the former rims are lighter than the Synergy.

On A23's and PL23's

The rims are very similar and are intended for the same type of riding. They are both tubeless ready lightweight 650B road rims. The Pacenti rims are lighter--I just weighed a few and they average 30g's lighter than the A23 (396 vs. 426).

There was some talk that this lightness is achieved by removing too much rim material, with concern that the sidewall would be too thin. I disagree. The Pacenti rims are welded, while the Velocity are pinned and sleeved. The insert used in the latter process certainly accounts for some of the weight difference. The Pacenti braking surface isn't any thinner than the A23's at their thinnest point. The Pacenti rims have a nice wear indicator that is .21mm deep. The deeper well of the Pacenti means the thinnest portion of the braking surface is larger compared to the A23's, but the section is actually thicker than the comparable section on the A23 by .8mm. I've handled lots and lots of rims and wheels and have now built thousands of wheels. Nothing about either rim seems overly fragile. They are lightweight, but they aren't pushing the envelope and I wouldn't tell riders over 180 pounds they need to look at other rims.

Both are tubeless ready, but the well of the PL23 rim is slightly deeper than the A23. With most tires you'll need tools to get tires on and off both rims, but the PL23 well design is better and makes mounting easier. I provide free Veloplugs for customer using tubes with the 650B A23 rims, because using cloth tape will make mounting tires too difficult in my opinion.

The Pacenti rims are polished, the A23' are silver anodized. The PL23' are a box rims with eyelets. The A23' are a v-section rim without eyelets. The spoke bed of the A23 is thicker than the other parts of the extrusion. 

As a wheelbuilder I would not build the PL23's with as much spoke tension as the A23's. Lightweight box section rims cannot handle the same spoke tension as a v-section rim. But the PL23's can be built with enough spoke tension to avoid spokes going completely slack under normal use, so this is mostly a theoretical difference. The v-section of the A23 makes it a little stiffer, but again only in very marginal cases would this be anything more than a theoretical consideration.

[Jan Heine]

At 8:45 AM -0700 9/25/12, Anthony King wrote:

> I sell both of these rims and distribute the A23's.

Anthony,

Thank you for the detailed assessment of the rims. Having seen both
rims, at first sight, I agree with what you wrote. The proof will
come on the road...

I think that these two rims hopefully will take care of the problem
of poorly seated tires on rims with overly deep wells - a problem
that I find more troubling than the cracks. I am glad that problem
finally appears to be resolved.

I hope that the word spreads and nobody makes the mistake and buys
rims that clearly are obsolete. (We have stopped selling Grand Bois
rims because we feel that these new rims are better options.)

Jan Heine
Compass Bicycles Ltd.
http://www.compasscycle.com

Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/
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[J L]

I live on the CA coast and plan to use either pl23 or A23 for my next 650b build.  Is there a difference between the two types of finish and the interaction with the salt air? I have heard that annodized rims hold up better to oxidation.  My concern is mostly cosmetic. I prefer the box rim but if the finish will prove difficult to maintain I might choose a different model. 
Jl

[Leslie Bright]

Many thanks for the informative comparison... much to mull over.