Valiant effort. I'm riding a bent rim now, nothing that bad, it straightened up but I'm wondering how long it will hold true. I better start looking around for a new hoop - old araya.
The Tacoed Rim & The Fool
- Thread starter Chad T
- Start date
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Before I read this thread I thought all rims were welded. Are pinned wheels common? is it considered cheap construction? Seems to me though they are heavy the old steel tubular rims by Schwinn are tough and stay true even missing spokes.
Quite common for alloy wheels.
Not sure. The only welded seam alloy wheels I've seen are higher end BMX wheels. Makes them tricky to true because the seam is thicker than the rest of the rim.
I think all steel rims are welded but I don't know that for sure. Maybe just the Schwinns are.
Pinned rims are very common; it's definitely cheaper in terms of production, and often, higher-end MTB rims will have a welded seam and they will tout that fact as a selling point. One example, and one of my favorite rims, is the Sun MTX33, which is welded as an aftermarket rim, but apparently, some oem-spec MTX33 rims are pinned, and these are sometimes sold by retailers as take-offs and you won't know it's pinned til you lay hands on it. FWIW, a lot of road rims are welded, too.... in fact, most Mavic rims are welded, for road, mtn, whatever...)
Like Chad said, the welded AL rims will tend to have a flat spot at the seam, but in my view, it's worth it.
I recall reading (in Dirt Rag, maybe?) that welded seams are stronger than the pinned&sleeved jawns, but that the eventual failure of the welded rim is more likely to be "catastrophic;" they didn't explain how, and i never looked into it. But i'm pretty curious.
All that being said, i'm a fat guy who has put in countless miles on pinned&sleeved rims without serious incident. For the most part, you want to get a quality rim from a reputable maker, and don't sweat the small details. (I tend to sweat details anyway; my preference for current-production rims are aluminum, eyeleted, and welded....)
Like Chad said, the welded AL rims will tend to have a flat spot at the seam, but in my view, it's worth it.
I recall reading (in Dirt Rag, maybe?) that welded seams are stronger than the pinned&sleeved jawns, but that the eventual failure of the welded rim is more likely to be "catastrophic;" they didn't explain how, and i never looked into it. But i'm pretty curious.
All that being said, i'm a fat guy who has put in countless miles on pinned&sleeved rims without serious incident. For the most part, you want to get a quality rim from a reputable maker, and don't sweat the small details. (I tend to sweat details anyway; my preference for current-production rims are aluminum, eyeleted, and welded....)
