Advise on touring wheels/rims

[Gintautas Budvytis]

It's time to rebuild my wheels. I have Mavic Open Pro, but they
started to crack at the eyelets (and it's not the first time I've seen
that for Mavic). I went to LBS and they strongly advised against Mavic
(for the same reason). LBS suggested to build a wheel on Velocity Dyad
26mm rim since I will run 28+mm tires, straight gauge Wheelsmith
spokes (DT are out of favor with my LBS and apparently Peter White
too) . Any experience/advice on Velocity rims? Note: I'm heavy rider,
application: light touring/brevet riding.

Gintautas Budvytis

[J.T. Conklin]

I'm a heavy rider too. I selected a 36 hole Dyad when I decided to
get a dyno hub earlier this year. I've run 700x37 Schwalbe Marathon
Supremes and 700x28 Grand Bois tires (fwiw I much prefer the latter)
without problems. I readily endorse the Dyad rims.

--jtc

--
J.T. Conklin

[Rob Hawks]

Interesting. I've had less problems, and really far more success by switching *to* Open Pro and DT spokes (well, I've always used DT with few exceptions). I wonder if the LBS has some sort of financial or delivery problems with Mavic/Mavic's supplier.

rob

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[Joe Gross]

I'm a big van of the Velocity Aerohead rims. They're very strong, you can get 'em in 36 hole, and the offset spoke rear makes for a much stronger wheel due to reduced dish.

You can also get them in multiple colors -- I chose silver so that I can put reflective tabs on them without it looking ugly. The semi-aero profile makes for great angles to install reflective tabs.

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=610

Contrary to popular belief, straight gauge spokes will not result in a stronger or more durable wheel. Spokes usually break at the elbow due to insufficient tension, so double-butted spokes will give you the strength necessary to tension properly and also be flexible enough to absorb shock.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

The biggest factor in making a strong wheel is sufficient spoke tension. This means choosing your wheel builder is going to be the biggest factor influencing your final wheel quality. I recommend reading Jobst Brandt's "The Bicycle Wheel" book. It will inspire you to built your own wheel (once!).

http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Wheel-3rd-Jobst-Brandt/dp/0960723668

If you're in SF, I highly recommend having Dan at Freewheel on Valencia build your wheels. He built my last few sets and did a remarkable job making very strong wheels that I haven't had to true for years.

Joe

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 12:05 PM, Gintautas Budvytis <sen...@gmail.com> wrote:

[banks...@gmail.com]

While I can't speak for wheel specs, I can endorse Rich at Rivendell, another excellent wheelbuilder in Walnut Creek.

Sent from my Banksphone

**************************

Debra Banks

Banks...@gmail.com

720 933 1252

[Greg Merritt]

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Joe Gross <joeg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The biggest factor in making a strong wheel is sufficient spoke tension.

I'm with you.

However, I've found something... "interesting" with the Dyad under
high spoke tension. It was looking like the nipples were pushing
through the rim a bit. You could feel bulges around every nipple
hole. Depending on the light, you would either notice nothing or see
it plain as day.

These were 48-spoke wheels for my tandem.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the *valve* hole also had a
similar bulge! See this picture:

http://home.nannynannybooboo.com/bike/dyads/front/IMG_7249.jpg

Perhaps the nipples are pushing through their holes, but I expect that
there is something different or additional happening in this case. If
you visualize the rim as 49 [sic] sections punctuated by holes (48
spoke + 1 valve), you can think of the highly-tensions wheel as
bringing each section closer to the center. The holes are the weak
bits, and they give a little bit -- bulge -- to let each of the
segments come in closer.

I'll let you all ponder the picture and decide for yourselves what's going on.

For me, I'm going with eyeleted rims for now. Bummer that there
aren't really any good 48-spoke eyeleted rims any more, since I have
some dough sunk into a SON front & Phil Wood rear in 48. Shoulda just
gone with 40s. :(

Happy choosing. Well, for a randonneur, rims are consumables anyway! ;)

-Greg

[Massimiliano Poletto]

Open Pros are the only type of rim I've ever used for my "go-fast"
wheels, and I've never had such a failure. The only failures I've seen
have been cracks in the brake surface from excessive brake wear---a
natural occurrence that can be avoided only by a more conservative
replacement schedule.

Are you sure you (or your LBS) are not overtensioning the spokes?
Mavic technical docs recommend max spoke tension of 110-120 Kgf, and I
always use a tensiometer to ensure that front wheel and rear
drive-side spokes do not exceed that level. With a modern high-dish
hub that leaves the non-drive-side rear spokes feeling a bit soft, but
as long as you have uniform tension on them the wheel will stay true
until the rim wears out. (And I've never had one break.)

There seems to be a lot of poorly-substantiated religion around spoke
brands: DT, Wheelsmith, and Sapim all have their fans.

+1 to joegross' comment about butted spokes and elbow failures.

Also +1 about Jobst Brandt's "Bicycle Wheel" book. I've built most of
my (and later my wife's) wheels since ~1995, and (for me) it is a
meditative and satisfying way to spend an evening every now and then.

Finally, interesting comment about the Velocity Aeroheads. I wanted to
try an Aerohead OC to improve dish on my rear wheel, but my LBS
wouldn't carry it (even though they sell other Velocity products)
because they thought it was so much lower quality than the Open Pros.
I've always had good luck with Mavic so didn't argue, but---as with
the spokes---I bet such strong opinions are supported more by anecdote
than good statistics.

max

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Joe Gross <joeg...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Kerry Wilson]

I have the dyads on my touring bikes and they are great. The bike and touring gear weighs 75 pounds plus me at 180.    5,000 miles on the wheels and still true without any problems.  hubs are white industries.   they are great also.   --- On Mon, 7/26/10, Rob Hawks <rob....@gmail.com> wrote:

[Massimiliano Poletto]

Gintautas, I should add I weigh ~190lbs, plus sometimes a saddlebag
for tours or commuting (including laptop), so I think we're in the
same weight range. And I use those wheels on dirt/gravel regularly.

max

[Koss, Brian R. (ARC-RE)]

I have been happy with the Dyad rims on several of my tandems. I am probably going to use them for a 650B build. I have known a few people that have had problems with the eyelets cracking on the open pros but I have about 60K miles on a set and am waiting for the sidewalls to fail. Great rims in my opinion. The Aerohead is a really nice rim from a weight standpoint. A friend built a wheel last year and was disappointed in the splice finish on his. The rims he bought had a pinned joint rather than a welded and machined joint. I believe they were recent stock. You might want to look at Kinlin rims. The xr270 or xr300 would make a good all around rim with some aero benefit. They are the company that makes American Classic rims and I have been very happy with the reliability of them. I am building up some 32 hole xr270's with Sapim c-xray spokes for a dependable light weight set of wheels.

Just my opinions.

Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: sfra...@googlegroups.com [mailto:sfra...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Massimiliano Poletto
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 1:19 PM
To: joeg...@gmail.com
Cc: senisbs; San Francisco Randonneurs
Subject: Re: [SFRandon] Advise on touring wheels/rims

[C. Duque]

No experience with 700 rims but I have always used Mavic rims and have
had very few problems with them. before the days of 2.5" and wider
tires many MTB rims were 20mm and narrower but maybe the higher tire
pressure of road tires demands wider rims? Also shouldn't 32 hole be
more than enough or are 700 wheels that much weaker than smaller
diameter ones? Love to open this can of worms...

I agree with Joe on the double butted spokes, they are strong. I build
my own wheels and use DB spokes and mavic rims with no issues but will
think that nowadays most respectful spoke brands offer good quality.
Have also heard good things about the Velocity brand but no experience
with them.

If I was looking for strong 700 wheels I would look at what 29" MTB
people are using.

Carlos

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 12:05 PM, Gintautas Budvytis <sen...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Nathan Shimek]

I have run Mavic A719 36h rims for quite some time and couldn't be happier.  They offer a great balance of weight and strength.

Nate

[Rob Hawks]

My take on butted spokes as regards strength comes from a small sample size of the wheels I've built and ridden. I'd have to say that for my wheels I've seen fewer broken spokes when using butted, but as I say the sample size is small.

As far as Mavic and rim problems, there was a problem that I experienced a long time ago with a clicking sound. Rumor was that Mavic had some problem with the way they joined the rim at the seam. I had a wheel that would click as the weight unloaded from that point. At the time I searched for references to 'mavic click' and found very little, so took it to mean the problem was isolated and small.

I'm currently using Mavic Open Pros on the two bikes I ridet for anything over 50 miles. It might be because I've gotten better at building or it could be the Rims but those two sets of wheels have required very little touch up. The 36 hole wheel never seems to need anything, the 32 hole wheel only touch up at long intervals. My wheels before these were mostly MA2 and MA3s. I've heard that MA2s were not intended for much beyond 7speed rear wheels though some have gotten good results.

rob

[Len B]

I'm a fan of the Open Pros.  They're double walled with eyelets and I built up a 32 hole set for my girlfriend on her fixed gear, strong wheelset for weight.  Her set is tightly tensioned and it's yet to go out of true after a year and a half of riding.

However, I thought there was a user weight limit on Open Pros; for our heavier riders, La Dolce Velo uses 36 hole Ambrosio Rims and DT Swiss Competition Double Butted Spokes to get the strength needed in a reasonably light wheelset.  The DT Swiss Comps are 2.0/1.8 butting, and are cold milled into shape instead of cut.  I'm not sure if that has any true bearing on the strength of the spokes. 

Personally I think its more important that the wheel builder knows how to build and tension the wheel correctly.  Machine built wheels often have too much tension, deforming both the nipple bed and flange holes and exceeding the elastic limits of the spokes under load, causing movement at the J bend and broken spokes, or cracking the rims where the nipples pull through if the spoke doesn't move at the flange.  A great hand built wheelset with quality components should last without adjustments in normal riding conditions until the rim wears out, regardless of the specific brands, although with heavier riders on rough roads, YMMV.

Regards,
Len

[Greg Merritt]

> As far as Mavic and rim problems, there was a problem that I experienced a
> long time ago with a clicking sound. Rumor was that Mavic had some problem
> with the way they joined the rim at the seam. I had a wheel that would click
> as the weight unloaded from that point. At the time I searched for
> references to 'mavic click' and found very little, so took it to mean the
> problem was isolated and small.

Hahaha -- mystery solved. I have two A719s that do this. Here ya go:

http://home.nannynannybooboo.com/bike/a719.jpg

There's a damn slab of metal loose in the rim at the valve hole! Yes,
that piece that is obscuring the hole in the picture is free to slide
along the circumference of the rim until it hits either neighboring
eyelet.

When you rotate the wheel around slowly, it will slap across and hit
the next eyelet on each rotation. Spin it fast enough -- not really
very fast at all -- and the centripetal acceleration will pin that bad
boy so that it doesn't slap around any more.

On my wife's A719/SON commuter, I used some silicone glue to fix it in
place. On my A719/105, I didn't bother. Click! Click! Click!

So, yeah, something to complain about for every brand. Anyway, yeah,
rims are totally consumables. Aside from your time (if you do your
own wheels!) and your various brand/model preferences, the replacement
cost may not be too different than the cost of a tire.

-Greg

[Joe Gross]

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 2:00 PM, Len B <iam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Personally I think its more important that the wheel builder knows how to build and tension the wheel correctly.  Machine built wheels often have too much tension, deforming both the nipple bed and flange holes and exceeding the elastic limits of the spokes under load, causing movement at the J bend and broken spokes, or cracking the rims where the nipples pull through if the spoke doesn't move at the flange.  A great hand built wheelset with quality components should last without adjustments in normal riding conditions until the rim wears out, regardless of the specific brands, although with heavier riders on rough roads, YMMV.

My understanding of wheel building is that good rims will always deform (ie: taco) when they reach their tension limits during a wheel build. You will *always* reach the limit of your rim long before the spoke itself. A broken spoke at the bend during building means a defective or improperly seated spoke. Cracked nipple holes are an indication of a bad rim.

According to Jobst the correct way to reach proper spoke tension is to tension until the wheel deforms and then back off from there. No amount of riding force will ever overcome the massive tension that the rim experiences via the spokes themselves so there's no worry about going over that deformation limit while riding.

Joe

[Greg Merritt]

> Machine built wheels often have too
> much tension, deforming both the nipple bed and flange holes and exceeding
> the elastic limits of the spokes under load, causing movement at the J bend
> and broken spokes, or cracking the rims where the nipples pull through if
> the spoke doesn't move at the flange.

Under normal (non-lateral) load, the tension on spokes is relieved,
not increased. This relaxation under load is what causes the problem
at the nipple and at the bend, particularly if the spoke line was not
corrected when the wheel was built.

This is why butted spokes are more durable: there is less change in
tension for the same displacement. With a fat-gauge spoke, a small
displacement will severely decrease spoke tension, allowing for those
micro-bends at the nipple & elbow and, in more severe cases, allow the
nipple to loosen much more readily than for the same circumstance with
a thinner-gauged butted spoke.

Machine-built wheels (when built with typical machine-build practices
of high output) tend to be under-tensioned, have uncorrected spoke
lines, and residual twist. These are all things that an experienced
builder (or a dummy like me with a book) can pretty easily overcome.

-Greg

[Greg Merritt]

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 3:07 PM, Joe Gross <joeg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> According to Jobst the correct way to reach proper spoke tension is to
> tension until the wheel deforms and then back off from there. No amount of
> riding force will ever overcome the massive tension that the rim experiences
> via the spokes themselves so there's no worry about going over that
> deformation limit while riding.

My experience with the 48-hole Dyads suggests to me that that rim's
geometry prevents the taco-ing that traditional box-section rims will
do. The Dyad seems to like first to just squish on in radially (at
the expense of the nipple & valve holes) rather than taco.

-Greg

[Greg Merritt]

Gintautas, be sure to let us know which rims you choose. ;)

-Greg

[Craig Robertson]

Many of us have had trouble with Mavic Open Pro rims.  I have a stack of them at home with one or more eyelets cracked out.  Most people I know who have used Velocity rims have had good results - I have a large number of wheels built on Velocity rims, including the Dyad.  I used those on my cross bike for winter commuting for several years.  I quit using them when I quit working.  Some years back Peter White said he was seeing the same problem with Open Pro rims that I, and others, have seen. 

 

I wonder why straight gauge spokes.  It's easier to build with straight gauge, but I don't think it makes a more durable wheel.  You might read Jobst Brandt's book on wheels to get a better understanding - but basically double butted spokes are used for strain relief, not weight reduction.  The thin mid-section gives a bit, reducing the strain on the eyelet, nipple, and hub flange.  If I'm looking for a durable wheel (like on my tandems) I use 15/16 spokes with brass nipples.  A lot of shops don't like to build with 15/16 spokes as they are harder to build with, but if you know what you are doing you can get better results.  A shop has to be able to build a wheel fast in order to make the labor charge profitable.  I don't, so I can take as much time as I like. 

 

Craig

----- Original Message -----

From: Rob Hawks

To: sen...@gmail.com

Cc: San Francisco Randonneurs

Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 2:19 PM

Subject: Re: [SFRandon] Advise on touring wheels/rims

[Rob Hawks]

>

It's easier to build with straight gauge,

This hasn't been my experience at all. I've found just the opposite and the difference is noticeable.

rob

[Todd Teachout]

Do you really mean touring? Open Pro are optimal for "sportive" riding - the type of rides we do for Randonneuring, as well as Double Centuries and Century event rides. For true touring, with 20-8 pounds of load in addition to rider and bike, open pro are inappropriate. MA-3 might be a better choice for a narrow rim but even that might be a stretch. If your going 28mm or over in tire size a wider rim would be a better choice. Mavic makes rims wider than the Open Pro/MA-3 models, Look under the 29er selection.

I personally have not had an Open pro rim crack. But then I'm only riding 4k to 8k miles per year. I do have some wheels made with Velocity Arrowheads. So far so good.

I've been cycling for decades. As such I am conditioned to think rims with Ferrules, like the Mavic Open Pro, are better. Back in the 70's Aluminum alloys were a bit weaker than modern rims. Rims back then were lighter so ferrule reinforcement worked nicely.

A more important factor than ferrule or no ferrule is the bead diameter. I had some wheels built up with Torelli Master rims, which looked every bit the same as MA-2 (with ferrules), only to discover that the diameter of the bead was a bit large making tire mounting a challenge ( lots of punctured tubes because of the tight fit). Ditto with Roval Rims. Velocity Aeroheads and Mavic rim diameters are optimal for secure tire mouting and ease of tire mounting. I also have had some good luck with Ambrosio rims. Those are now hard to find. Ditto with Rigida. Rigida is one of the larger rim makers but at the moment they have chosen not to be a part of the aftermarket chain.

I haven't tried the Velo Orange rims that are supposed to mimic Super Champion 58 rims. I do have several pairs of Super Champion Mod 58. Super Champions are probably the best wide single wall rim made in the past. They are a bit heavy at about 520 grams but they are solid and fit tires nicely. Grand Bois is also making rims similar to Super Champion 58.

Don't overlook locally (Indiana) produced Sun Rims. They make a polished narrow rim called the M 13II and a wider polished rim called the CR18II. Sun Rims are a bit old school in that the rim joint is not welded and ground smooth. The extrusion ends are fitted with a joining block like the old days. Wheel builders don't carry them too much but I've had ok experiences with them. They are ok for tire fitment and they are ok to buildup and ride. In 2009 they started marketing polished versions. It is a finish that hasn't been available for many years. For years and years they offer the dark "hard anodized" models which were ok. I like the polished models much better (when I got into bikes all the good bikes had lots of chrome on the frame, polished aluminum or a very high quality satiny silver anodized aluminum). Nowadays everything appears to be very poorly finished, Mavic, Velocity, Roval. They do a bead blast and then wrap them up.

I also have a pair of Mavic Module E. They are like an Mavic MA rims (with an eyelet but no ferrule) but wider. Module E, MA-2 haven't been made for about 10 years and now fetch a premium price, even though their original price was mid scale.

Brands I've dealt with over the years

Mavic
Fiamme
Nisi
Ambrosio
Ukai
Sun
Velocity
Rigida
Weinmann
Torelli
Roval
Super Champion
Schereen
Hi-E

Good luck.

I wouldn't hesitate getting a wheel with Mavic, Velocity, Sun, Rigida rims. The others are either gone or I have had problems with.

Todd Teachout

[William A. Monsen]

Here is a link to my very long write-up of my highs and lows during the Santa Cruz Randonneurs' Central Coast 1000k:

http://wp.me/pSoQT-34

I recommend keeping a caffeinated beverage close at hand while reading...

Bill

[Richard McCaw]

I got wheels built with Mavic A719 and Phil Wood hubs for use with 28+ tires (I use 32C) for my commuter bicycle a few years ago. Works great for all situations. I don't expect any issues until sidewalls are worn through

Richard McCaw

408-838-9863

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 26, 2010, at 1:55 PM, Nathan Shimek <nsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have run Mavic A719 36h rims for quite some time and couldn't be happier.  They offer a great balance of weight and strength.

Nate

--

[Ken Wronkiewicz]

On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 03:07:31PM -0700, Joe Gross wrote:
> My understanding of wheel building is that good rims will always deform (ie:
> taco) when they reach their tension limits during a wheel build. You will
> *always* reach the limit of your rim long before the spoke itself. A broken
> spoke at the bend during building means a defective or improperly seated
> spoke. Cracked nipple holes are an indication of a bad rim.
>
> According to Jobst the correct way to reach proper spoke tension is to
> tension until the wheel deforms and then back off from there. No amount of
> riding force will ever overcome the massive tension that the rim experiences
> via the spokes themselves so there's no worry about going over that
> deformation limit while riding.

I have the vague memory of reading an archived Jobst thread suggesting
that some of the deep-section aero rims are sufficiently strong that you'll
never be able to tension the spokes hard enough to deform the rim. Which
would be reflected in the next edition of his book if he ever were to make one.

IMHO, even though they do not necessarily serve any practical value other than
separating you and your cash, the easiest spokes to work with are bladed,
simply because you can very easily feel... and often see... when there's
wind-up.

Also, Sun Ringle rims were mentioned in this thread. However, if you look
at their website, they've been discontinuing rims lately, including the CR18,
in non-BMX sizes.

Which, I might add, is bringing me ever closer to being one of those grumpy
old cyclists who yells at kids to get off his lawn from the comfort of his MA2
wheelset, lugged steel road bike, and 5-speed freehub that he's got enough
spares of to last him a few more decades.

[Timothy Woudenberg]

I would advise against any wheel that uses special spokes.  If you can't adjust it easily with a standard spoke wrench, or get replacement spokes at your LBS, find a better wheel.  If you have a wheel like this, you should carry replacement spokes and the special spoke wrench.  Don't get stranded! --- On Mon, 7/26/10, Craig Robertson <craig.r...@pobox.com> wrote:

From: Craig Robertson <craig.r...@pobox.com> Subject: Re: [SFRandon] Advise on touring wheels/rims

To: rob....@gmail.com, sen...@gmail.com Cc: "San Francisco Randonneurs" <sfra...@googlegroups.com>

[ronsmithjunior]

On Jul 27, 1:06 pm, Timothy Woudenberg <woude...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I would advise against any wheel that uses special spokes.  If you can't adjust it easily with a standard spoke wrench, or get replacement spokes at your LBS, find a better wheel.  If you have a wheel like this, you should carry replacement spokes and the special spoke wrench.  Don't get stranded!

On a related note, when getting a wheel built it is a good idea to get
a couple of extra spokes to carry on rides. You people riding road
bikes can fit them inside your seat tube, properly secured. Another
thing to carry is a FiberFix. I carry both: spare spokes for me and a
FiberFix for whoever might need it.

Here are a few of my opinions on wheels:

- The word "strong" is being used. It needs to be defined so we are
talking about the same thing. Me, I think of a wheel as being stiff,
and as being durable (long lasting). Build one with double-butted
spokes and it will be durable, yet not the stiffest. Why? Because,
when put under high load, the steel spokes will take the cyclic load
and not the aluminum rim. Steel is much more ok with cyclic loads than
aluminum, so the wheel lasts longer. The downside is that you might be
able to feel the wheel "give" under these loads, which you may or may
not be ok with.

Build a wheel with straight gauge spokes and it will be stiffer yet
not as durable. Those cyclic loads will get transferred to the rim,
causing it to fail sooner rather than later. The stronger straight
gauge spokes won't allow the wheel to "give" under high loads, making
it feel stiffer.

What's important are the requirements. Personally I hate to feel a
wheel move under me, so I stay away from double-butted spokes. I'll
take a stiffer wheel that doesn't last as long, providing I still get
a good couple of years out of the rim. At 6'7" and 210 lbs, and not
being able to get out of the saddle (I ride a recumbent), I am
familiar with unavoidably putting high loads on a wheel.

- When building wheels I always use a tensiometer because I don't have
the experience to tension by hand. I always go by the rim
manufacturer's rating for spoke tension. The idea of increasing
tension to just before the taco point and then backing off seems like
a bad idea. It can result in too high a tension, making the rim fail
prematurely. Spoke tensions are published for a good reason.

- The Dyad looks like a good rim because it is wide at 24 mm. I was
going to suggest the Aerohead or the Deep-V, both of which are good
rims, but they are narrower at 19 mm. Whatever you get, I'd suggest
getting machined sidewalls. My experience with Velocity Aeroheads, non-
machined, wasn't very good. Welded joints are good too, but it doesn't
look like Velocity does that. My current wheelset uses the Velocity
pinned joint, and is doing ok.

- Two of my four Open Pro rims have cracked eyelets. These days I am
staying away from eyelets, but I know plenty of people who have had
good luck with these rims. Don't over tension them and you shouldn't
have a problem. :-)

Ron

[David J Wolking]

Hey all,

I appreciate the insight and info on this thread.  I have also been looking into a new wheelset for light touring and was thinking Mavic Open Pro, 105 hubs, with DT spokes, so glad to be aware of potential Open Pro issues...

I was wondering if anyone has experience or thoughts on the two Velo Orange Rims (Diagonale and PBP)?  Here's a link to the VO page: http://www.velo-orange.com/rihuandotwhc.html

There is very little on these rim in the forums, aside from a few posts on a Jobst critique of the single eyelet.  

Thanks,

David

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[Gintautas Budvytis]

So Mavic Open Pro finally totally gave up. I've noticed it less than
36 hours before Santa Cruz 400km start. It survived SCR 300km two
weeks ago and my bike was sitting in the stand since then (I swear, I
didn't touch it!). How it happened when it was not used is beyond my
understanding and I got lucky, I should say.
My LBS already received a rim of my choice a few days before, but I
was reluctant to make a big change before SCR 400km, and I've
scheduled the rebuild the next week. So, nobody was happy when I
showed up on Friday with great urgency in my eyes. Kudos to John (the
owner) of Castro Valley Cyclery, to make it happen that night, after
regular business hours. Highly recommended (you can also check praises
online)! Anyway, even if it is too early to say, 400km later I'm still
happy with my choice:

Velocity Aerohead silver 32h, Wheelsmith 14/15G DB silver spokes 3x
laced to silver Dura Ace hub. It came out really nice. Solid and
shiny! And I did not notice any flex.

Lessons learned: probable cause of the failure - over-tensioning (my
guess, I need to buy a tensiometer); the old wheel was build in a
"goofy" way (key spoke was not a trailing spoke, read Sheldon Brown);
I need to learn how to build a wheel just for fun (was slacking for 2
year now).

Gintautas B.