I always wanted to do a rim. Some of these concepts have been floating
around in my head for over ten years. The primary aim of the rim is
to be VERY strong, a rim that will take the harshest riding, while remaining
close to the weight of some the lightest rims that are currently available.
Another aim was to try to put a stop to pinch punctures once and for all.
While a puncture caused by glass or nails is down to the tyre; pinch punctures
are all about the rim. By carefully detailing the design of the rim
section, we hope that a properly installed tyre and tube will be almost impervious
to pinch flats (A properly installed tyre should be well inflated, with chalk
between the tyre and tube). A lot of thought also went into the spoke
positioning. For many years I have called for spokes to cross to the
opposite hub flange, so obviously when the chance came up to design a rim
I incorporated this feature, but I also wanted the spokes to have a really
solid seat to avoid cracking around the nipple. The traditional way
to reinforce spoke holes is with eyelets, but eyelets do nothing for the
overall strength of the wheel and leach a small amount of precious weight.
Instead we developed the "ribs" that this rim is named after. These
ribs run all around the inside of the rim section and serve to strengthen
the wall of the rim against cracking. In addition to improving the
rim's overall strength, the ribs also incorporate angled shoulders to help
create a precision seat for the spoke nipple, thus further distributing the
load from the spoke. By keeping the spokes and the ribs close to each
other at the centre of the rim we have created a "spine" that runs all the
way around the inner circumference, and this consolidates the entire structure
of the wheel. The rim is now in the final stages of testing and should
be available in 36 and 48 hole towards the end of this year (if not sooner).
More information will follow at a later date.