General: 36h rims

Araya ct-19n is what you want.

Posted By: r.p.rAnyhow: does anyone have any thoughts on which rim might pull of that classy low-profile look and still be a clincher? Something shiny/chrome would be nice.

Do you mean a currently manufactured rim, or an old/NOS rim?

New rims:
Velocity Glider - might be wider than you want, depending on the tires
Velocity Razor - not completely box-shaped; more of an Open Pro profile, but shallower than a Mavic OP
Velocity Synergy - similar profile to Razor; wider; offset rear rim
Velocity Twin Hollow - rectangular profile, pretty rugged-looking

Mavic Open Pro - beloved by all (including yours truly), but not rectangular
Mavic A119 - similar profile to Open Pro, but shallower; looks like a more rugged rim, with tubular channels at the inside edges

Old rims are a much longer list: Mavic, Ambrosio, Super Champion, Weinmann, Fiamme, Nisi, Araya, Ritchey, Sun, Campagnolo, Wolber among others. There used to be a lot more little component manufacturers than there are now; a lot of companies have been devoured by other companies. Mavic MA2 is the classic silver touring rim; Mavic MA3/MA40 are the later variants.

There's a set of NOS Torelli Master rims (made by Ambrosio) on eBay right now; they close on 11/01. I've got a Torelli on the rear wheel of my cyclocross bike, and a pair of Ambrosios on my Bianchi; they're perfectly fine. But older Ambrosios run on the large end of 700c, so it can be a struggle to get tires on and off.

http://www.velo-orange.com/vopari.html

Posted By: eaglerockMavic A119- similar profile to Open Pro, but shallower; looks like a more rugged rim, with tubular channels at the inside edges

One downside: "pin joint," not the Open Pros' welded joint.

For any particular reason? 40h seems like overkill... Unless you are an elephant.

My '86 Bridgestone T700 came out stock with 36/40s. These have served well for over 50K miles. I would expect anyone who's doing loaded touring would want the same setup. I can't think of any wheel problems over that period of time with them and some of those miles would make a mountain biker think twice. Even my light tourer ('88 CD ST700) will have 36/40s when completed.

Secondly, getting back to the thread at hand, I don't know why you would shy away from tubulars.. The rims aren't usually shiny and I wouldn't think of skidding on them because of the price, but they are very resiliant and the training type tires make for some great, strong, reliable wheels.

Posted By: latronBy the way, am thinking about making the leap to a 32/40 front/rear setup. Can imagine there will be some sourcing issues....

There has been an animated thread on this very subject on the Classic Rendezvous list for the last few weeks. They're interested in oldie-style rims, 'cause they're oldie-style guys. The current idea is talking Velo-Orange into making up a group buy's worth of 40H PBP rims, but VO wants a 100-unit minimum order.

Might you be willing to try something more aero-looking?

The Velocity Dyad is a rim frequently recommended around NoCal for clydesdales. My main riding buddy is 6'5", 350 pounds, and he busts spokes on factory-built rear wheels like toothpicks. He always needs to get rear wheels handbuilt; his LBS almost always pairs a Velocity Dyad (or a Salsa Delgado) with an XT hub. The Salsa isn't available in 40H, but the Velocity is.

40H hubs are likely to be harder, though; unless you're willing to spring for Phils.

mavic open pros, with a little work they can be nice and chrome. and look and feel fantastic.

Posted By: RuffinitSo... General, what would you offer for a set of Phil Wood/Mavic MA/36 front, 40 rear wheels with 14g spokes?

What - you mean me?

Your question presumes two built wheels in an unusual configuration. If they were new, the question's pretty simple:
Wheelset value = rims+hubs+spokes+build charge+token markup

New Phil hubs are $130 front, $160 rear freewheel, $410 rear cassette. Figure about $75 for the rims (NOS), $0.75 each for name brand spokes/nipples, about $100 at an LBS for the build. Prices assume you're forced to pay MSRP for everything (is anyone here punching bag enough to do that? Never pay retail). So, $130+$160 (let's assume)+$75+$57+100 = $522 for a set of hand-built new wheels, 36T/40T, 7-speed freewheel (126/130mm). Call it $540, to allow for a panhandler-sized profit.

That a theoretical retail value. I wouldn't pay that under any circumstances, even if I was shaking the hand of the wheelbuilder. But I'm a cheapskate.

The problem is, without knowing the type of rear hub (track/freewheel/cassette; if track or freewheel, one-sided or flipflop), we don't know the price of the hubs. But given the fact that the config is unusual, the MA rims are oldies by definition, and Phil doesn't currently offer 40T rear hubs (freewheel or cassette) as a standard configuration, we're already in the more speculative realm of used gear, where there's considerably more room to deal. If the seller didn't pay shiny-new prices for all the components, he doesn't even have an irrational reason to ask for what he paid (he doesn't have a rational reason either, as long as the wheels have been used).

As coincidence would have it, I got a used Phil/Mavic MA 36T wheelset (Mod E front, MA2 rear, 126 FW rear hub) in July for $100. That seems unusually low; I got it from a guy from whom I also bought a frame, he thought the rear axle was bent (it wasn't), and he sold me everything for pretty cheap. OTOH, I live in the land of high-priced everything.

If you're bargaining for something, you have to leave yourself someplace to go. If the rear hub is appropriate, and the wheels are true (EDIT: and it's pretty-lookin'; ugly-looking stuff means the seller should get less money as punishment for his laziness), I would start at about $140-150 for a freewheel wheelset, $200 for the much-rarer (and pricier) cassette wheelset, depending on age and condition. Phil wheelsets have sold in that range often enough that a seller has no business being offended at such an offer, particularly when the buyer doesn't know how the wheels have been used. How much higher you're willing to go should be controlled by circumstances, obviously. I'd probably bail out at $200 for a freewheel/$250 for a cassette unless I needed the wheels immediately to escape from being mauled by bears, but others would go much higher.