Originally Posted by
non-fixie
36/40 was a typical touring combo, BITD. A popular touring rim was the Weinmann concave rim. Not easy to clean, but very strong. NOS examples do pop up from time to time, but I wouldn't mind a used set in good condition.
I have two sets of 36/40 touring wheels. Both with Maxi-car hubs. One is laced to Mavic Module 4 rims, the other to a set of Super Champion Model 58's. Lovely, but harder to find.
Another related point is the Raleigh 3-speeds, which used 32 spokes front 4x lacing and 40 hole rear (SA hub, such as AW) laced 3x. When I replaced my steel rims with Super Champion alloys, the spoke calculator gave me the same spoke for front and rear. I also did a test calculation for 40/36, without the same result - needed two different spokes for front and rear. So I don't see any benefit to 40r 36f.