Opinions on Symmetric vs Asymmetric rear rims?

[Joel Voelz]

Wondering what opinions people have on the value or lack thereof of using an asymmetrical rear rim vs std symmetrical. 

I'm building up a new frame and one of the last things to get are the rims. I've always used regular rims and never had any problems but it seems like they are suggested/discussed more often these days.

Any thoughts/experience on the difference or whether it really makes any difference in "normal" riding?

Joel

[Yiping Lin]

My rear wheel is using Velocity's off-center rim. I cannot tell you whether I experience any difference in normal riding. (I would feel more when changing different tires) Nevertheless, this video tells us that it does make the difference (better for the rear wheel and for the wheels using disc brake).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22B579FrfjQ

It's a 15.5min long video. If you want to know the details, you can jump to 13:49.

Yiping

[NormC]

There's no disadvantage and plenty of advantage, especially with modern hubs that need lots of dishing. All the usual wheel design parameters still apply. You don't get to use fewer spokes or anything. But you do get the extra insurance of a wheel that allows a little extra tension on the non-drive side.

I've put plenty of miles on a Velocity A23 and a Velocity Aerohead OC rim and they've both been reliable wheels.

I was disappointed when Velocity discontinued the OC version of the Aerohead - enough to make me switch to a DT Swiss RR440 offset rim for my latest rear wheel. Haven't ridden that one enough to comment yet, but it built up just fine.

Spoke length calculation can be a little trickier. As a useful approximation, I've found simply adding about 1mm to the right spoke length and subtracting the same from the left gives a close enough result, but follow the manufacturers advice (if they bother to give any).

-Norm

[David Buzzee]

I've used asymmetrical rear wheels on my Rivendell Romulus for years (nine speed cluster) and never had a spoke loosen or break. I check truing several times a year. Pretty boring as nothing is ever amiss. That and the mental comfort of doing the theoretical best thing for reliability is enough for me to keep using asymmetrical.  Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android From:"NormC" <norm...@gmail.com> Date:Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 10:12 Subject:[Randon] Re: Opinions on Symmetric vs Asymmetric rear rims?

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[Eric Nichols]

As a 200-lb guy who rides all types of roads and trails in all types of conditions, and who likes 10-speed cassettes and thus needs to live with that extreme dish, my rear wheels lead a hard life.  I tend to break a spoke every few thousand miles, always in the rear. It may not seem like much, but that little 4 mm offset in the spoke bed makes a significant difference in the spoke tension balance. Instead of 65:35 tension in a typical symmetrical wheel, it will be more like 60:40 or even 55:45. This keeps the NDS spokes from going slack under load, and helps them to live a longer happier life.

If you never break spokes, are lightweight, stay on good roads, etc., then you probably won't ever notice a difference.

The only downside that I have experienced is that some offset rims have a greater tendency to crack at the spoke holes.  I've had several offset Velocity Synergy rims crack over the years. The A23 seems to not suffer this same problem, even though it has no eyelets to spread the load.

Eric Nichols

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[Ed Groth]

Seconded. I've had many Velocity Synergy rims crack at the eyelet, both
on symmetric and asymmetric rims.

Ed

On 3/6/15 2:05 PM, Eric Nichols wrote:
> As a 200-lb guy who rides all types of roads and trails in all types of
> conditions, and who likes 10-speed cassettes and thus needs to live with
> that extreme dish, my rear wheels lead a hard life. I tend to break a
> spoke every few thousand miles, always in the rear. It may not seem like

> much, but that little 4 mm offset in the spoke bed makes a _significant
> _difference in the spoke tension balance. Instead of 65:35 tension in a

> typical symmetrical wheel, it will be more like 60:40 or even 55:45.
> This keeps the NDS spokes from going slack under load, and helps them to
> live a longer happier life.
>
> If you never break spokes, are lightweight, stay on good roads, etc.,
> then you probably won't ever notice a difference.
>
> The only downside that I have experienced is that some offset rims have
> a greater tendency to crack at the spoke holes. I've had several offset
> Velocity Synergy rims crack over the years. The A23 seems to not suffer
> this same problem, even though it has no eyelets to spread the load.
>
> Eric Nichols
>
> On Friday, March 6, 2015 at 10:33:01 AM UTC-5, David Buzzee wrote:
>
> I've used asymmetrical rear wheels on my Rivendell Romulus for years
> (nine speed cluster) and never had a spoke loosen or break. I check
> truing several times a year. Pretty boring as nothing is ever amiss.
> That and the mental comfort of doing the theoretical best thing for
> reliability is enough for me to keep using asymmetrical.
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

> <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/mobile/?.src=Android>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From*:"NormC" <norm...@gmail.com>
> *Date*:Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 10:12
> *Subject*:[Randon] Re: Opinions on Symmetric vs Asymmetric rear rims?

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