FordTrax

Trying to decide which rim to buy and I am not very well versed when it comes to rims. Here are the facts:

Bike: Steel Road Frame
700 x 28mm Tires with Tubes
Rim Brakes
Quick Release
Full Carbon Fork

Me: 215 lbs
13-15 mph rider

Due to my size probably 32 or 36 spokes probably butted since I think butted spokes ride a bit nicer than straight.

This is a very nice steel frame. I was planning on building up as kind of a retro build with friction shifters. I believe both the H Plus Archetype and Mavic Open Pro are welded rims from known companies. To me the Mavic Open Pros look a little more retro - kind of a box style rim I guess. Because of that I am kind of leaning toward the Open Pros. But I want the best rim for the money.

Any thoughts on these two rims?

DOS

I have used both. Both have been excellent. Both have stayed true and are easy to mount tires to. I chose archetype over open pro for my last wheelset because the archetype are wider (17.5 vs. 15mm). I have been very happy with them. Since you want to run 28mm tires, the Archetype would be better choice from and aero and air volume standpoint. You’d be able to run tires at a slighly lower pressure and probably get a rolling resistance benefit as well.

Bill Kapaun

Just speaking from a width stand point.
With either, you can go to the skinniest tire you want to use.
IF you wanted (& if you have room) the wider rim would be a bit more suitable for a larger tire.

You could consider 32/36 F/R.
I built a pair of 32S Sun Rims M 13II's (13.5mm IW) back when I was 250+ and had no problems.
I'm not a masher & try to ride "light".

rccardr 

You're not that heavy; a 32 hole rim would be fine. Either rim will work well enough that if you rode them back to back you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

You might also consider the H Plus Son TB-14 and the Mavic Open Elite. Both are excellent choices for the tire size you indicate, or even up to a 32, based on personal experience. Open Elites are pretty much identical to Open Pros except they are single eyetletted instead of double and usually much less expensive and easier to find.

I have ridden both TBs and Open Elites at Eroica, which is a good rought test for any rim.

Andrew R Stewart 

Mavic changed the extrusion and finishing of their Open Pro rims, it's called the Open Pro UST. I've run Open Pros on a number of bikes for years and really like them (although I ride light/spin and weigh 150lbs). Last season I picked up some for a pair of new bikes (for the wife and I). I found the new wider and stiffer design to not be what I wanted so went back to the "classic" Open Pro (now called the "C" version).

But for a bigger rider who will run 28+ tires the UST version is a very nice choice. The same well made product. All 4 rims I built up laced and tensioned up well with no issues. Of course the braking is so smooth.

I have built up a number of various H Plus Son rims and while I had no issues with any of them they don't create any passion in me. But I have to remember that rims are like tires, a wear item that has a finite life and are best thought as being a consumable. (Yes, I know this is so counter to the current trend of pricing wheel systems that are so expensive that only sponsored riders can afford my view point) Andy

davidad

At your weight I would go with a 36 hole rim with double butted spokes. I prefer the Open Elite over the Openpro because there is more aluminum in the rim and I had Open pro rims that cracked at the nipples.












elite

Russ Roth

At 278lb I run the open pros 32h and have had eyelettes crack and the brake track wear through but never had a lack of spokes be an issue. Although I don't ever use less than 32h except on my kid's bikes I don't feel that 36h has been necessary with any quality rim made in the last 20 years unless you're doing serious off-road stuff or a burly tandem crewm. From my experience newer, wider rims are nicer and any newer wheels I've built up I've gone wider in. The spokes have started to fail on my remaining set of open pros, when I finally get around to rebuilding them before the season starts again I'll be looking to a velocity a23 or quill or something from H Plus Son. Can't see on mavic's website if they've started making these wider in the non-carbon version but I'd look to see if any has a 23mm wide outer profile or not.

dim

H Plus Archetype are not tubeless ready rims ... get something like HED belgium Plus or Kinlins that are not hookless

DOS

HED Beligium + are great. A tad pricey

desconhecido 

And, there is an ebay listing which has been up for a long time offering silver Open Elite 32h rims for $25.19 each when you buy a pair and free shipping. Who doesn't like free shipping? The ad seems to be from a reliable and well-known retailer.

tFUnK

The open pro might make a better matching build for the frame but performance wise I'd go with the h plus archetype (due to the rim profile and width).

DOS

I don’t like that the seams aren’t welded on the elite

Andrew R Stewart 

DOS- Have you had a problem with the non welded seam on a Mavic rim? Andy

TheDudeIsHere

I second this motion!

At 230 pounds, I have had 3 Open Pro rims fall apart on me. 2 cracked at the nipples. 1 split on the brake surface.

All 3 different builders and different shops. I lost faith after that. Not one of them lasted more than 2,000 miles.

Also, the eyelets separated from the rim and were very noisy, hated them!

DOS

Yes. I had a set of open sport wheels (open elite predecessor) where the joints weren’t great so I could feel them when braking.

Addding: Otherwise, the wheels were fine. They stayed true and lasted a long time. It was just annoying. The other thing I didn't like about the Open Sport rims is that they were kinda hard to get tires on to. I never understood exactly why since my open pros were easy to mount tires to.

ThermionicScott 

And the OP asked for those features when?

Koyote

OP: Both rims are good, and either will work fine for you. If you want to keep the option of trying tubeless down the road, go with the H+ Son The Hydra, which is basically a tubeless version of the Archetype.

I, too, value reliability in a wheelset. You can probably get away with 32h, but a compromise might be 36h rear and 32h front, since the rear wheel takes more of the load.

Andrew R Stewart 

I agree that Mavic rims have generally opted on the lighter weight side and thus have thinner walls. hence quicker brake track wear through. I also agree that with a non welded seam some slight brake pad grab can exist. I guess it's my having so many rims in the past that didn't have any brake track treatment (machining) and that welded seams equated with cheap steel and single walled 27x1 1/4" stuff that I look at this through a different lens. Who here remember the buzz with Weinemann "concave" A124s being welded and that they had the industry's worst under cutting of the seam (meaning a vast "necking" down at the seam for the pads to grab on)?

What I would argue about is the reliability/in situ "strength" of a seamed rim being less (in a way that matters) then that of a welded rim. The seam is under compression from the spoke tension. If done well (and that's where I think Mavic is better then most) the seam is square in both planes and the rim has no wiggle (meaning spoke tension issues on build up) at the seam as well as minimal pad grab. Andy

jbucky1

I would go archetype but you may want to check out the H Plus TB14's, they are low profile classic look, double eyelet pretty wide and come in 32hole.

www.buckyrides.com
ig: jbucky1

desconhecido 

The Mavic Open Elites arrived today. look like decent rims, not as deep as Open Pro and non-welded joint. The joint is pretty darn smooth on the brake surface -- can't feel it. Measured ERD at about 609 mm and the irms are about 1mm out of round, not much. Better than Sun rims. My limited experience with the Open Pro rims is that they are round.

Drew Eckhardt 

H Plus.

At the same thickness, a 25mm deep extrusion is twice as resistant to bending forces as a 19.5mm one.

You'd also have to try very hard to buy a rim with worse aerodynamics than the venerable Open Pro.

Drew Eckhardt 

At 100 kgf, a 32 spoke rim is being compressed with a force of 7000 pounds. It's not going anywhere.

You can use a wet stone on the joint when it's not perfectly level to avoid an annoying ticking sound when braking.

Dan Burkhart 

The Mavic rims are just OK in my opinion. The H Plus Archetype are very well made. I have built a few of them, and the joint is almost impossible to even detect, let alone feel. They were always round and flat.