shopco43

I have seen two types of stickers on Super Champ Record du Monde rims; one is a gold box and the other is white with world championship stripes. This is in addition to the red oval. Does anyone know the time frames of these two stickers? I am looking for ’73 vintage.

repechage

The white rectangle with WC stripes is the second lightest in the range. about 295-310 grams.

The gold box… I would need to see it.

In 1973 no Super Champion rims were anodized by the way, soon to come though. So, that might help your selection.

shopco43

My mistake; the gold box was on Mavic rims

rootboy 

Super Champion Gentlemans had a gold box too.

vsanzbajo

How good are these rims, I have a pair on my Razesa bike.

rootboy 

Personally, I like that particular rim. Have them on my Le Champion.

Chombi

Just curious, how were the lightest Super Champion tubular rims in terms of stiffness? I built up a set of Fiamme Ergals last year that belonged to the same era, and they turned out to be the noodliest rims I ever dealt with, constantly needing re-truing after some miles.....
Was thinking of eventually changing them out with Super Champions, but I'm afraid that they would be similar.....

rootboy 

Which was the lightest in the SC lineup, Chombi? I can't remember. I like the Arc en Ciels. Seem sturdy and maintain their shape well. But they're not the lightest. Light enough for me though.

rootboy 

Speaking of rims, anyone seen this before? Rim rope? First I've seen it. Seems awfully old school to me. And I'm old school.

Model 58 Super Champion 32° Polished 27" Clincher Rims Set Rim Rope | eBay

repechage

The Medaille D'Or rim was the lightest of the offerings, 280grams or a bit lighter, some places claimed 260, but I think that was optimistic. I think they are better than Fiamme Yellow labels, the predecessor to the Ergals (I think just renamed)
I considered them race rims. My first set of race wheels was one of each. the Super Champ was easier to keep happy.
I was pretty light back then though, 130-135#

The next year I was racing on Super Champion Competitions, 350-360 grams. Insurance. I did have one set of Arc en ciel's, about 310 each only used on smooth criteriums.

crank_addict

I questioned that awhile back; took advice from the BF experts and went with cloth rim tape. Bibendum seems happy

Chombi

I guess once you go below that 300 gram rim weight, things just usually get squiggly with these older rims, so I cannot expect more from them..... I'd still be interested to try out Super Champions myself just to find out if they are better......
I built up a wheelset with Mavic GEL 280s three years ago and those are holding up better than the Ergals but still not as good as my older wheelset that have Mavic 330 GL's. The 80's better metallurgy might be contributing to the better performance I'm getting from my Mavic's.....

oldskoolwrench

In their day, they were about as good as you could get in a clincher rim. When you saw that sticker, you knew you were looking at a better quality bike.

crank_addict

Sorry for the hijack but seems this is the Super Champion rim Q&A thread.

Before the days of Wolber, does anyone know the rim decal timeline identification for Super Champion? I'm up on the type and model offerings but lost in identifying the period or year of production. Velobase hasn't quite filled in the blanks. I don't need the decals but the repro makers don't have an answer either. Is there some chart or old adverts someone might have?

Not overly critical but I'm ready to build a set of wheels yet don't want them to stand out as the incorrect era. Worse, I shouldn't have cleaned the hubs and rims and now need to sport sunglasses to look at them. (All I used was a cleaner wax.) I probably sound odd, but if I use them for a particular build they'll sort of look goofy against a beat-up, well patina frame along with the other components. However I'm planning to use vintage used spokes, cleaned them but they have an acceptable level to match the bike.

kroozer 

That's to tie them together so you can hang them from your ceiling. Old school.

dddd

I've long wondered what of the origins of the "Gentleman" naming. Perhaps to distinguish from racing tubulars, as in more staid, old, slow, heavy, and gentlemanly?

Or, is it that real gentlemen would never get their fingers, clothes, hair etc. dirtied with rim cement, nor breath the vapors?

I don't think that many racers took even these narrow clinchers seriously, back when the only narrow tires that fit them were still in the "rapid early development" phase.

I think the Gentleman rim perhaps got a re-naming around the time the darker anodizing appeared, does "GTX" ring a bell?

Gentleman rims are good, as these are quite sturdy, and fully 1mm wider inside and out than their Mavic Module E2 contemporaries.
Possibly my favorite rim, since they also nearly mimic the rounded, low profile of traditional racing tubular rims.

rootboy 

You are odd, Cranky....

What year bike? Clincher or sew ups?
Not that I can answer your query.

You might find catalog scans on...what is it? Bulgier.net? Mark has a lot of great stuff.
Or, perhaps the catalog scans of that guy Stronglight.
Though I have access to neither of these links on my pad here.

crank_addict

^ Great tip on Mark's site but I'm having a problem linking. Not sure if there's a new link or re-direct..

Anyways, my thought was to use these tubulars for a late 50's era project. Depicted prior to applying a clear coat over the decal and wax between the spoke holes. They now radiate. Seriously. Almost stupid and like having oversized chrome rims on some beat-up car.

gaucho777 

@crank_addict, thanks for the great ad/catalog Super Champion scan. I have a few Super Champion hoops kicking around the garage. I plan to pick the straightest of the bunch and build them up with some Hi-E hubs for a lightweight wheelset. I'm no longer light enough to ride sub-300g rims without delusions. Maybe I'll use a Record du Monde rim for the front and the Arc-en-Ciel for the rear.



Fwiw, the three unlaced rims weigh in at 329g, 331g (Record-du-Monde label), and 336g with glue residue.

JayBe

I am also in the process of building up a pair of NOS Super Champion "Route" with DT Revolution spokes and DA-7403 hubs (should be 1602g total set). Weighted the rims at 351g/353g. Will see and let you know how they compare to FIR Pulsar and Mavic GP4.
I weigh only 65kg, so cannot speak for heavier riders, but lighter rims generally suit me better - setting those up with 25mm Strada tubs.



Edit: They are 32 holes.

MeadMan2

My Record du Monde's have the white with world championship stripes sticker & were built up in 1974. *My understanding is that the Gentleman rim was their touring model. *Mine are built up with Weyless hubs & both rims & hubs have been trouble free.

The Golden Boy 

I don't understand French, or the way the ad is laid out- but it looks like the Gentleman and the Modele 58 are much heavier than the other wheels. I know several of the "top of the line" tourers in the mid 80s used the Modele 58.





As referenced in the Schwinn Voyageur Comparison chart- The Model 58 is THE wheel used by the Voyageur, and Voyageur SP from 1984-1989. I'd almost guess there was a change at Super Champion/Wolber and the construction of 27" wheels...

https://sandro.knot.org/blog/wp-conte...comparison.pdf

ThermionicScott 

My French is pretty bad, but I think the "Jantes Boyaux" on the left are tubular rims, and the two "Jantes Pneus" are the clincher rims, which is why they're heavier.


(Reverso translated "boyaux" as "intestines" which I guess are tubular. )

rootboy 

I can't seem to access Mark's site either, for some reason. My old bookmark no longer works.
Those are really nice rims, C-A. While I don't know the vintage of that decal, I would think they'de look right at home on a 50s bike.

crank_addict

Thanks for the feedback all. Found some old take-off Alpina db spokes, including matching nipples, cleaned off five decades of just the nasty portions of corrosion, laced up to a Brampton hub. I think these SC will do for the bike. Would have liked Robergel spokes, but those are difficult to source and I didn't want any new production. I think the old spokes kind help blend the patina that I'm after. Rims were just too bright against everything else + the old spokes.

The textured aluminum rims for tubular are an odd sight. Should be interesting how well they brake.