Araya Aero 1 Question

[svelocity]

Looking to build up a tubular track wheelset for the upcoming season and I have a couple of questions regarding the Araya Aero 1 World Champion rims.


Would a 28H rim handle my weight at 200lbs? This is strictly for the track.
What's the rim width and what size tires am I limited to?

Thanks!

[Grant McLean]

The rim is pretty narrow, about 18.5mm
20mm tires would be best with that width.

I suppose whether or not it's a good choice depends on your expectations
and what events you're doing. These days, deep aero choices and lower
spoke count are going to be a higher priority than something like the Araya.

-g

[ultraman6970]

Tubular or clinchers? asking just to be an ass :D Those came in clinchers too. 20 mm wide.

Yes they will hold you fine, the only thing I would do with the build is to put sapim nipple washers, you will get more tension and the rim will last longer.

I had a set of 32 3x and im like 200 pounds and never felt them to flex at all. Put washers in my set too.

No experience with the clincher ones, so cant tell you if are the same than the tubulars.

Good luck.

[svelocity]

Thank you both for your replies! I knew they were narrow but that's really narrow! Funny how the thinking has changed regarding rim width...

[ultraman6970]

20 mm narrow?? had a pair of saavedra aero ones in 28H for track ITTs and those were thinner, maybe 18 mm wide paired to 130 grams tubulars, you were not able to see the tubular at all. Look at your pinky finger, that wide.

As for the araya aero thats a super nice rim, the issue IMO is that is a mere thing of one guy to say that wider was better and then you know is a trend, racing or track old bicycles even in steel cant get wider rims anyways because they will touch the stays... looked at a racer 3 weeks ago in a scott cr1 and no way in that frame you can put a super wide rim because the BB stays area are just stupidly massive, the guy was riding regular 23s and if the wheel wasnt true the wheel would have touched the stays.

Last thing, if you want to race in the track believe me a wider or a thinner rim wont help because of the type of efford, in the road you kind'a can play with other possibilities but in the track straight forward if the guy has no legs no matter if the bike is made of air, probably he wont win the race at all. No idea whats your level but the araya rim is just normal wide of a tubular rims. Raced track for 15 years so pretty much have seen it all... you can win in a bed with wheels but for track you have to do tubulars, the clincher deform too much in the banks specially if you are at the top of the bank and want to use the momentum for an attack, when you get down of the bank at 50 km/h the clincher will deform too much for my taste, bike will handle better with tubulars too specially if you have to respond to an attack, used once a front clincher wheel while training in a 45 degrees track because mine got a flat and jezz the darn clincher looked like made of sponge and was inflated to 140 psi, just nutz! you dont want that feeling while standing up at 50 km/h while gaining speed in a sprint.

Track racing = tubulars wheels.

Good luck.

[Grant McLean]

Funny how the thinking has changed regarding rim width...

well, for the road maybe, but track guys are still racing on narrow tires.

-g

[svelocity]

The San Diego velodrome is an older 333m outdoor track with a concrete surface. The banks are not that steep (25 degrees maybe?) and the speeds generally are lower than what is found in a indoor 250m wooden track. Unfortunately, the track surface is not the smoothest with bumps and undulations throughout the surface. I've found running a super high psi doesn't feel very good and has sketched me out (bounced me around at high speeds) on occasion due to the surface imperfections.

Frankly, many of the top guys (I'm not one of them) race clinchers. I've been looking at tubulars as I'm building a new wheelset and all possibilities are open to me. These Araya's were one possibility and that's why I was looking for advice. I also wanted to know the rim width and tire limitations due to the aforementioned track surface. If I'm forced to run a 21mm tire at high psi vs a 23mm tire with moderate psi the Araya's may not be advantageous to me.

I realize I may be over thinking everything since I'm not riding at the top of the food chain and even if I was some of those guys who are run clinchers...anyhow if I'm gonna spend my money on building a wheelset I just want to be educated on all possibilities.

Thanks again!

[oliver1850]

I just got a pair of road wheels built with 28 hole Aero 4s. They are similar to Aero 1s, but slightly lower profile (16 mm vs 18.2), and 30g lighter. I don't know how many miles on them, but the front is cracked at the spoke holes, even though built with washers. I also have a pair of very similar section Matrix rimmed wheels with 24 spokes. They are also cracking at the spoke holes. I'm guessing that this type of rim combined with low spoke counts is a bit questionable from a durability standpoint.