Originally Posted by cyccommute

Let’s begin with the Dyads. No, their 18.6mm internal width isn’t at the upper end of being suitable for 38mm tires. I use 55mm mountain bike tires on 17mm internal width rims without issue. I use 38mm tires on 14mm wide Velocity Deep Vs without issues. The charts for “suitable” tires for a given rim width are extremely conservative…almost to the point of being useless. For your purposes, Velocity A23, Dyad, Deep V, or Fusion would all work for your tire size.

Second, everyone makes a big deal about “strength” in rims. A heavy rim isn’t a “strong” rim…it’s just heavy. The Dyad, for example, is a 535g rim. The A23 is a 450g rim. That’s an 85g difference. That’s 31ml or about 2 tablespoons of volume difference in the aluminum used. That volume is taken up in the size difference of the two rims with the Dyad being 1mm wider and 1.5mm taller. Since we are talking about aluminum, that’s not much of a strength gain. In other words, opting for a lighter rim won’t be a detriment.

Since this is a front rim, the issue of strength is mostly moot any way. Even with the disc rotor, the front wheel is stronger than the rear because it is more symmetrical. That said, it would be better to build the wheel with a triple butted spoke like an Alpine III or Sapim Force because the spoke is where the real strength of the wheel lies. You can make a really strong wheel with the lightest (and supposedly weaker) rim as long as you use really strong spokes. Personally, I would have no problem riding on a $30 Alex rim with Alpine III spokes.