Classic Clinchers Curriculum
 

Hi everyone - I mostly ride my vintage bikes with tubulars and have my own well developed theory about quality rims with that technology. When it comes to vintage clinchers I need some education.

A few of my bikes have clinchers. I have a couple of sets of 80s Abrosio Elite Extra 19s but I am not convinced they are that great. I also have a set of Mavic clincher rims (on DA hubs so assume they must be decent). Here are my questions:

1. What other rims should I be looking out for, here in the Near North of Ontario, for both 70s and 80s vintage road bikes?
2. Is there already a vintage clinchers thread that I have missed in my search of this subject?

Regarding those Ambrosio rims you mentioned, I have a wheelset with those rims and they are really decent if you can get tires on them.
They can be incredibly difficult to mount tires to. But, I recently discovered that with some pre-stretching on other rims, I am able to get Vittoria Corsa G2.0 tires on the Ambrosios with not too much difficulty. Which is great because these Vittorias have become my favorite tire.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dec43feaf7.jpg

Wolber Super Champion
Mistral M13 or M14

Gray anodizing was all the rage in the mid 80's

mavic MA40

Araya 20A is a nice, strong, light Mavic-inspired rim.

I've got a set of the Ambrosio Elite Extra 19's too, and they have a fairly well deserved reputation for being a tight fit. If you can live with that, they have served me well. I do recommend using a tire jack for getting tires onto rims without risking damage to the inner tube. A somewhat new tire jack is the EZ Clincher, which I've been packing in my seat bag for about a year now.
https://ezclincher.com/

I also use Mavic MA-2 and MA-40 rims, which have a good reputation. Mavic Open Pro rims are good too.
Modern folding tires seem to be smaller than those of a few decades ago, and I find myself using a tire jack on most rims on my bikes.

Steve in Peoria

Old mavics for me as well. If you need new and reasonably priced sun m13II looks pretty right and isn't too heavy. I love the mavics though because they are socketed.

If you are not a stickler for originality or period correctness, a more modern rim with machined side walls brake much better. For example, you can find silver color Alex DA22's on Ebay for $50 apiece.

Mavic , and Wolber Super Champion / Gentlemen.

Some other vintage inspired modern offerings:

H Plus Son TB14
Pacenti Brevet
Soma Eldon and Weymouth