The first bicycle wheels were from a horse drawn cart, made of wood
with a metal band round the bicycle rim, very hard and very
uncomfortable to ride. Then a man called Dunlop (Scottish) invented the
pneumatic tire, this along with Macadam (another Scot) inventing the
tar road surface made cycling a lot more comfortable.
The bicycle rim, like the bicycle frame hasn’t changed much in
design, its still round and always will be. From the first wooden rims
the next were made of steel, then alloy and now if you can afford it,
carbon. Of all bicycle parts the bicycle rim can make a big difference
to how your bike handles. First the weight of your rim affects your
sprinting and climbing as the weight will low you down, for a long,
flat effort the weight isn’t so important as when you get the wheels
rolling the weight can help to keep them going. The shape of the rim
can be important also, a flat rim is best for climbing as aerodynamics
are not so important on a hill, a deep section, aero, rim will help you
cut through the air, but in a cross wind could cause you handling
problems.
Bicycle Rims Materials
The different materials used for rims are very important also,
steel is heavy and if damaged can be difficult to pull back into shape,
but because its so strong it is quite difficult to bend in the first
place and steel is cheaper than all the other materials. Alloy is
probably the most popular rim, it can be made in any shape and profile,
flat or aero, but not too deep as it would then weigh too much, most
deep section rims are of a alloy braking section nearest the tire which
is then mounted to a carbon deep section for lightness and aerodynamics
and a very beautiful looking bicycle rim. As with most things if money
is no problem you can go for the best, this would be an all carbon rim,
strong and very light, but there are a few problems with these rims,
first they don’t brake so well in wet conditions and you must use
special brake blocks for carbon and they can be expensive, also the rim
has to be perfectly round and not have any bulges in the rim wall as
this will make !
braking quite erratic, carbon is a difficult material to work with and must be well looked after.
Types Of Rim To Consider
There are also two types of rim to consider and this depends on
which kind of tire you want to use, first there are tubular tires these
are glued on to the bicycle rim, cost more and are difficult to repair
after a puncture, but for racing they feel and ride wonderfully.
Clincher tires have improved a lot recently and are nearly as good as
tubulars for performance and are easily repairable and more reasonably
priced. Most manufacturers make all styles in both systems.
So which should I buy? Not an easy answer, as there is so much
to choose from, years ago you went to your local bike shop, picked out
which hubs, spokes and rims you wanted and he would build your wheels,
but now most rim makers also manufacture there own wheel sets, Mavic,
Shimano and Campagnolo are probably the best known, check out there
web-sites for all there new goodies, there are other brands and if you
go to your local cycle shop or look in the bike magazines you’ll find
them. There is a lot to choose form, but they are all round.
