Interesting post on high-end alloy rim brake rims

[weiwentg]

Interesting blog post by November Bicycles (https://novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/sunset-of-a-golden-age). They having stock issues on a number of the top-end rim brake rims, e.g. the AForce Al33, the Easton R90SL, and the Boyd Altamont Lites.

The AForce manufacturer is based in Europe and the US distributor has apparently decided to pull back on them - this is a very niche product, and it sounds like the distributor had long lead times and high minimum order quantities. November said the distributor is pulling back - not sure if that means they're ceasing distribution or something less severe.

Easton is apparently not making 20h rims available.

November says that Boyd is out of stock in 24h ceramic Altamont Lites and 32h ceramic Altamonts, and that both are "not coming back".

They said that Belgium+ rims are still in stock, but November alluded to one unspecified issue that concerns them - not sure what, though.

So, the majority of new bikes have disc brakes. Nice rim brake equipment in general is a declining market. Nice alloy rim brake wheels in general are a niche thing and they have to be a contracting market. I wonder if manufacturers like Hed and Easton are going to bother with rims (i.e. not built wheels) at all at some point. If all the top-end alloy choices die out, that's going to not be nice for some of us. I hope Kinlin, DT, and similar manufacturers keep making good alloy rims for some time. I'd guess that my next set of wheels for the road bike might just be carbon rims, and I just ride it in fair weather and maybe don't do long descents on it.

[coachboyd]

We're still dedicated to alloy rim brake, it's just that the Altamont Lite line is getting phased out over time. This is the same with the disc brake line.

No matter how many times we tell people that the only difference between the Altamont and Altamont Lite is 5mm of rim height, there's still a perception that the Altamont Lite is a weaker and more fragile rim. Note to self. . .never name anything "Lite" again.

[pjbaz]

Some of us will ride rim brakes until they pry our cold dead hands off the bars we were holding onto so damn tight while trying to stop on a wet descent ...

Seriously, the older I get the more I feel I'm almost perfectly where I need to be for equipment, and as one who does the bike swap thing quite a bit I'll just add a few NOS hoops to my shopping list and build/rebuild as needed. It's not like I've needed as serious a reason to buy bike parts and stash them away before :banana:

FTR, I have mechanical discs on my fatbike and CX bike

[old_fat_and_slow]

There's a solution to this problem, ya know...


Welcome to the wonderful world of bike part hoarding!

You either jump on the bandwagon of constantly having to purchase "upgrades" or you say B.S. to all the design "improvements", and start hoarding current or older design stuff. Choose your option.

[rccardr]

There you go.
Said the guy with five new pairs of rims in storage...

[Nomadmax]

There's a solution to this problem, ya know...


Welcome to the wonderful world of bike part hoarding!

You either jump on the bandwagon of constantly having to purchase "upgrades" or you say B.S. to all the design "improvements", and start hoarding current or older design stuff. Choose your option.


I'm firmly in this camp ^.

[flying]

Nice rim brake equipment in general is a declining market. Nice alloy rim brake wheels in general are a niche thing and they have to be a contracting market.

Not as long as major players like Campagnolo continue to make the best rim brake wheels anyway ;)

[Kirk007]

We're still dedicated to alloy rim brake, it's just that the Altamont Lite line is getting phased out over time. This is the same with the disc brake line.

No matter how many times we tell people that the only difference between the Altamont and Altamont Lite is 5mm of rim height, there's still a perception that the Altamont Lite is a weaker and more fragile rim. Note to self. . .never name anything "Lite" again.

ugh, I guess its good that I've got altamont lites in rim, disc and coated already ; )

[Spaghetti Legs]

Well, there’s always Mavic. Oh, ummm ....


https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-supplier-mavic-placed-in-receivership/

[NHAero]

I have a pair Ergott built me on WI disc hubs, so I expect the brake track will continue to look great :) Very nice rims.

Does Boyd sell rims at all these days, or just wheels?

ugh, I guess its good that I've got altamont lites in rim, disc and coated already ; )

[R3awak3n]

I have a pair Ergott built me on WI disc hubs, so I expect the brake track will continue to look great :) Very nice rims.

Does Boyd sell rims at all these days, or just wheels?

boyd sells rims.


I have altamont lite ceramic and they have been good. Rear track is mostly gone now and so it pulsates a bit when braking, I need to sand the rest of coating off.

[parallelfish]

There you go.
Said the guy with five new pairs of rims in storage...

You are not alone. Stocked up on MA2s when they were discontinued.

[weiwentg]

Following up, November Bicycles thinks that (https://novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/belgium-we-have-a-problem) Hed may soon discontinue the 28h Belgium rim. Hed already removed the 32h model from its pages (without any specific announcement).

[jtbadge]

I was surprised to find out HED is even still making the Belgium C2 (i.e., non-"Plus") clincher at all. I tried to buy some a couple of years ago and gave up waiting for them to come back in stock after a few months.

[AngryScientist]

Following up, November Bicycles thinks that (https://novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/belgium-we-have-a-problem) Hed may soon discontinue the 28h Belgium rim. Hed already removed the 32h model from its pages (without any specific announcement).

makes sense. the older regular belgiums are non-tubeless and the trend is tubeless across the board.

[saab2000]

We're still dedicated to alloy rim brake, it's just that the Altamont Lite line is getting phased out over time. This is the same with the disc brake line.

No matter how many times we tell people that the only difference between the Altamont and Altamont Lite is 5mm of rim height, there's still a perception that the Altamont Lite is a weaker and more fragile rim. Note to self. . .never name anything "Lite" again.

I’m glad I’ve got three sets. They’re a joy to ride.

[oldpotatoe]

Well, no doubt..first is was 'wheelsouttaboxes', 'factory' wheels.
Then tubeless 'factory' wheels and now
disc brake 'factory' wheels.

I think for a wheelbuilder, it may get tougher to find, non disc brake/rim brake rims altho seems like the ones I use, DT, Velocity and H+Son, seem to be doing both still.

[David in Maine]

Astral rims are also an option. Made by Rolf Prima in the US. I’ve been happy with my wheels built with the 22mm depth Solstice rims. They also have the 32mm Radiant model.

David

[froze]

What's the deepest profile AL rim for rim brakes can a person find?

[yinzerniner]

What's the deepest profile AL rim for rim brakes can a person find?

Pure alloy, probably something like the AL33 or Radiant at 32-33mm deep. Once you go deeper than than you're at a huge weight, well over 500g per rim.

If you need alloy and deep your best bet is something like the HED Jet series. Carbon faring over their superior alloy rims. A bit heavier than all-carbon for like depth, but just as fast if not faster.

[Mark McM]

What's the deepest profile AL rim for rim brakes can a person find?

About the deepest currently available is the 42mm deep H+SON SL42 rim:

https://www.hplusson.com/products

They are very heavy at 615 grams each.

The next deepest I'm aware of are the 38mm deep Kinlin XR 380, at about 550 grams:

https://www.prowheelbuilder.com/kinlin-xr-380-msw-700c-black-rim.html

As you get shallower, the selection widens. In the 31-33mm range, there's the AForce AL33 and the Kinlin XR31. At 30mm and below, there are many offerings from many companies.

[gibbo]

This makes me wonder what would be a typical life expectancy for a good quality alloy rim (rim break)? I live in a hilly area, but not mountains and for me I would expect at least 5 years, 25,000 miles (40,000 km) and several break pads before the rim would need replacing. This would be highly dependent on how much wet weather on grimy roads is being ridden, in theory rims could last much more.

[marciero]

I have every confidence that Velocity will continue to offer a full range of alloy rim brake rims indefinitely into the future.

[rustychisel]

Don't worry, they'll come back.

Next stop: wider road bars, narrower tyres, some other stuff (says the cynic in me).

[bigbill]

My son and I had this conversation yesterday. Does his next bike need to be disc? I've never felt limited by my caliper brakes on a road bike. Disc are good on my Coconino's because of their use.

My son does collegiate racing on a 15 person team. Two people have disc brake road bikes. He has two sets of wheels for his rim brake bike. Race wheels built by OldPotato, and a set of 240/Belgium pit/training wheels. The race wheels are DT 350 with DT 411 24/28.

[buddybikes]

My son and I had this conversation yesterday. Does his next bike need to be disc? I've never felt limited by my caliper brakes on a road bike. Disc are good on my Coconino's because of their use.

My son does collegiate racing on a 15 person team. Two people have disc brake road bikes. He has two sets of wheels for his rim brake bike. Race wheels built by OldPotato, and a set of 240/Belgium pit/training wheels. The race wheels are DT 350 with DT 411 24/28.

If you can get a caliper for a fraction of the price of the "fancy" new disc stay with caliper.

PS: I have a disk Lynskey touring that would love to trade for v-brakes!

[AngryScientist]

My son and I had this conversation yesterday. Does his next bike need to be disc? I've never felt limited by my caliper brakes on a road bike. Disc are good on my Coconino's because of their use.

My son does collegiate racing on a 15 person team. Two people have disc brake road bikes. He has two sets of wheels for his rim brake bike. Race wheels built by OldPotato, and a set of 240/Belgium pit/training wheels. The race wheels are DT 350 with DT 411 24/28.

your son would easily and significantly benefit from a real set of modern race wheels way more than a disc frame in a racing scenario.

[tourmalet]

I was surprised to find out HED is even still making the Belgium C2 (i.e., non-"Plus") clincher at all. I tried to buy some a couple of years ago and gave up waiting for them to come back in stock after a few months.

Just had a wheel built at my LBS to wring out some more miles out of my PowerTap hub after the previous rim croaked. Went with a reasonably-priced HED Belgium C2 from this source: https://www.bikeparts.com/BPC392587/hed-belgium-c2-rim-700-rim-black-24h-clincher.

[tylercheung]

I wonder if all the China supply chain manufacturers are feeling the pain behind coronavirus, trade wars, the Hong Kong brouhaha, etc...

[JeffWarner]

As the choices in the rim brake clincher market get “narrower”, are there hole counts ... that due to market demand ... that might stick around a little longer?

I’m thinking on a new set of hubs. I’ve always gone 32 hole but it feels like I have more rim options if I stick with 28 hole or go 24/28. For example, HED looks to have dropped Belgium + in 32 hole. When I need to replace rims in the future, I think I’ll have better choices if I go with what’s popular. Assuming, of course, rider weight will work with a reduced spoke count build.


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[pdonk]

I’m thinking on a new set of hubs. I’ve always gone 32 hole but it feels like I have more rim options if I stick with 28 hole or go 24/28.


At right around 200 lbs I'm having no issues with 24/28 belgium plus rims, now that I'm on 28mm. continental 5000s vs schwalbe 28s.

This thread makes me think I should grab another set just up be safe.