Alex R390 Rims Information & Opinions Wanted

[Deva]

Hi,

Does anyone have any knwledge of the Alex R390 rims that Nashbar has on sale for 14.99? How are Alex
rims for durability and finish? They are not too heavy (480g). I am thinking of making a pair up
with 36 holes lx or xt hubs for commuting and touring. I purchased a used Trek 520 that had alot of
mileage on the original wheels.

Thanks

John

 

[Johnless]

Check out MTBR.com for reviews. (Past word of mouth was that Alex stuff is bottom of the line, good
for light duty but not very durable.)

 

[Tom A.]

Deva <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi,
>
> Does anyone have any knwledge of the Alex R390 rims that Nashbar has on sale for 14.99? How are
> Alex rims for durability and finish? They are not too heavy (480g). I am thinking of making a pair
> up with 36 holes lx or xt hubs for commuting and touring. I purchased a used Trek 520 that had
> alot of mileage on the original wheels.
>
> Thanks
>
> John

Actually, I just built my first set of wheels using those Alex R390 rims about 2 months ago for a
general set of training wheels for my "vintage" (1986 Bianchi Sport SX) road bike. I laced them up
using Sapim 14/15 DB spokes (black) and brass nipples. For my first experience in wheelbuilding
(following Jobst Brandt's book to the letter) they seemed to build up just fine....no unexpected
problems with truing them and getting them up to proper tension. I've put at least 500 to 600 miles
on them since then and they are as true as they were first built...of course, I think that's more a
measure of the build technique than the rim quality. The only minor problem is that there tended to
be a slight radial "step" at where the 2 ends of the hoop are connected with the plug, but I can't
feel it in the ride at all. The "step" was less than 1 mm. Although my experience with bike rims is
somewhat limited, the R390s with their double stainless eyelets, machined sidewalls, and black
powdercoat finish appear to be pretty good value for the money. I'll see how durable they are in
the future.

Interestingly, since my son is just getting into BMX racing, I've noticed that a lot of mid to high
end bmx bikes come with Alex rims, and the R390 rim section is a very common 20" rim spec.

I guess I could consider my wheels 700C BMX rims!

Tom (not gonna ride this bike on the BMX track) Anhalt

 

[Ant]

Deva <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi,
>
> Does anyone have any knwledge of the Alex R390 rims that Nashbar has on sale for 14.99? How are
> Alex rims for durability and finish? They are not too heavy (480g). I am thinking of making a pair
> up with 36 holes lx or xt hubs for commuting and touring. I purchased a used Trek 520 that had
> alot of mileage on the original wheels.
>
> Thanks
>
> John

this wont be that helpful, but ill post anyway..

i just bought one of the rims you are asking about. it came today. it feels strong, has eyelets that
are anchored on the inner part of the rim, which i hear is desirable, and i dont know what you mean
by 'finish', but it looks great, as far as im concerned.

when i decided to buy this rim, i didnt care much about durability, as it will be an around-town low
speed im-just-having-fun-on-my-track-bike wheel. i will never hit a pothole. the rbt responses abotu
this rim, IIRC, were that it was hard anodized, and more likely to crack at the eyelet holes. there
were also some stories about this cracking phenomenon. perhaps the double eyelet will alleviate that
problem, but i dont really know.

so for me, for 15 dollars, it is a fine investment. one day i will have more money, and if it blows
out by then, ill buy something by mavic. but it doesnt look like a POS right now, and im satisfied
for the price.

anthony

 

[Ant]

[email protected] (ant) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

<drivel snipped>

i check news on google, so i probably woudlnt have posted if i knew others with more info had
already posted. i will make a few retractions, though-

first, i checked the archives again. folks had said they were hard anodized (hard, instead of
cosmetic, based on the black color). i took this as gospel, but now i hear powder coated? i admit
that i woudl be more likely to believe that they are anodized, but i dont know, and am not an
expert. trying to scratch the inner rim bed yields no paint. who knows.

anyways, the post i remembered that had said their rim holes cracked, that was another rim by alex,
not the r390, and may not have have nice spoke eyelets.

finally, my rim has a very clean join, such that i will be very surprised if there is a 1mm radial
step when i build it up. but we shall see.

cheers,

anthony

 

[Tom A.]

[email protected] (ant) wrote in message >
> when i decided to buy this rim, i didnt care much about durability, as it will be an around-town
> low speed im-just-having-fun-on-my-track-bike wheel. i will never hit a pothole. the rbt responses
> abotu this rim, IIRC, were that it was hard anodized, and more likely to crack at the eyelet
> holes. there were also some stories about this cracking phenomenon. perhaps the double eyelet will
> alleviate that problem, but i dont really know.
>

Actually, the black finish on the rim is NOT hard anodize....if you go to the Alex rims website
(http://www.alexrims.com/), you'll see that the specs for the rim state that the black finish is a
powdercoat. This is not a brittle coating like hard anodizing and should not make it more likely to
crack at the eyelet holes (powder coating is a type of plastic).

At the Nashbar sale price of $15, it seems to have a lot going for it.

Tom A.

 

[Ant]

[email protected] (Tom A.) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> At the Nashbar sale price of $15, it seems to have a lot going for it.
>
> Tom A.

music to my ears.

thanks, anthony