Put a huge dent in a Stans iron cross rim last night- hit a rock on a fast descent on the cross bike I think - I'm not sure if that caused the rim to dent and tyre to come off, or if the tyre was punctured a few seconds before, which let the rim hit the rock.
Anyway, before I order a new iron cross rim, would an alpha 400 disc rim be stronger?
I'll be using it exclusively on the disc CX bike and it is unlikely that I'll use skinny tyres, so that aspect isn't an issue. The alpha 400 has the extra channel though, so I wonder if it might be sturdier or stand up to dings better?
Thoughts?
Morning
Probably of little help to you but I went for H Plus Son Archetype rims as an all round better alternative to the stans rims.
Roughly the same price iirc and they can deal with higher pressures than the stans which comes in handy if you fit road tyres at any point. Oh and good if you do the three peaks!
Gordymac
I would say if you put a massive dent in one rim, any other rim, when hit with the same rock through the same tyre will dent too.
if the rims stayed true and had not other problems until the single, large, impact, I would stick with what you know. Otherwise you will be in the outrageous situation of having mis-matching rims 😯
The best "fix" to that problem is more tyre pressure and/or a larger tyre....
I have been using the alpha rims and they have been really good with no dents at all and my riding is not what you would call smooth....
All of the above conflicting opinions are valid points! Thanks all. Hmm, decisions...
Gordymac - didn't realise you were lurking on here. Small world.
Graeme
Do Archetype rims work tubeless tho?
Strada say the archetype can be run tubeless with tape and sealant. Any experiences? I know the stans rims are a doddle tubeless.
Yeah archetypes can be run tubeless afaik. Mine were taped by Strada and I've go the valves but never got round to going tubeless on them as I don't think Challenge open tubs are made for tubeless.
H Plus rims here, as upgrade to hand me down Mavic/Shimano.
Faultless rims, have whacked them a couple of times when heavily laden, and though punctured (on rough tracks) the rim has stood up fine.
From Jon @ JRA, good price and great communication.
Thanks. Struggling to find many reports of people who have actually run Archetypes for tubeless CX, although in theory it should be possible.
I know what you mean about the Challenge open tubs - sidewalls seem too porous and I know Addy blew one off a rim. I've been meaning to try the Grifo clinchers they have on the website some time.
The cross section of the Archetypes doesnt look like it would be great for low pressure tubeless (no obvious bead seat), as you say some shops say it works but ive yet to find any decent feedback. I'm still thinking of getting some tho as they do get a lot of good reviews generally and for me they would be my road/spare-cross wheels so ill prob stick with tubes anyway.
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EDIT: If i do get them it will prob be through wiggle, £49.50 each, plus you can buy through quidco to get some more cashback. JRA have a nice website but £55 each plus £8p&p, that works out more than my LBS.
Sure. All I meant really was that I emailed a few wheel outlets, some were "Iron Cross no problem" and others were more in depth in their response, JRA for one, so I was happy to pay that premium to get the rims - got wheels built in the end as I needed them for a trip, and my LBS would have taken longer to order, schedule & build..