Alloy wheel question

I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is this
true? what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?

Ken

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Ken wrote:
I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is this
true? what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?


It's been a long time, but I remember steel rims as being pretty
fragile. They also don't brake well when wet.

"Ken" wrote: (clip) what other benefits are there between alloy and steel
rims?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1.) Steel is heavier.
2.) Rim brakes on steel don't work well when wet.
3.) Steel is used only on low end bikes, so the quality is likely to be
poorer.
4.) Steel will label you as a "low end" biker to people who stop to chat,
so may lead to endless discussions about who is a bigger snob, who is being
unfriendly or overly sensitive or overreacting. G

I met a rider on the trails recently who was riding on steel wheels--in
spite of this, he exhibited every characteristic of a strong, accomplished
properly equipped rider. He was on an old bike in pristine condition, and
was proud of what he was riding. He was concerned that one of his wheels
was slightly bent, and he was having trouble finding a proper STEEL
replacement. He told the people in his riding group that if he followed
their urging, and changed to aluminum wheels, he would have to move up to a
faster group, so they would no longer be able to ride together. I LIKED
him, wheels and all.

Ken wrote:

I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is this
true?

It's true for *most* alloy rims, because an extruded box-section is
stronger than a pressed steel rim. Steel can't be extruded.

Ken wrote:

I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he
showed me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step
up in strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is
this true? what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?

(Aluminum) alloy rims work well with rim brakes, even in the rain.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.

Ken wrote:
I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new
city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a
new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he
showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up
in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is
this
true? what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?

Ken

Steel rims are generally thinner and thus easier to dent. Back when
similar bikes were available with both (i.e. Schwinn Le Tour had steel
rims, Schwinn Super Le Tour had aluminum rims), I saw more dented steel
rims than aluminum. Of course, we sold more Le Tours than Super Le
Tours, too.

Rim material is almost irrelevant to wheel strength. How well the wheel
is built, tensioned, and stress-relieved has much more to do the
wheel's durability than any of the materials. At 35 (what? dollars?
marks? shillings?) the wheel is almost certainly machine-built and
trued. It will probably not be properly tensioned and won't be a
durable as the same wheel after it has been tensioned by a good human
wheelbuilder.

Jeff

In article ,
Peter Cole writes:
Ken wrote:
I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is this
true? what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?


It's been a long time, but I remember steel rims as being pretty
fragile.

Maybe the fragility you remember is that of the chrome plating?
On most of the old steel rims I've seen in recent years, the
plating was worn off in spots, with associated rust in the steel
underneath. I've also seen lots of blisters in the plating.


cheers,
Tom

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Above address is just a spam midden.
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Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
Peter Cole writes:

Ken wrote:

I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is this
true? what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?


It's been a long time, but I remember steel rims as being pretty
fragile.


Maybe the fragility you remember is that of the chrome plating?
On most of the old steel rims I've seen in recent years, the
plating was worn off in spots, with associated rust in the steel
underneath. I've also seen lots of blisters in the plating.

No, I kept denting steel rims (rear) on my bike boom (Raleigh Grand
Prix) bike until I got set up with an alloy rim, no more dents! It was a
beginning...

Ken Marcet wrote:

I was at the local bike shop today, spending some money on some new city
slick skins, and I asked the one helpful guy that works there about a new
wheel to replace the hoppy one that is on the back of an mtb, and he showed
me one for like 35, and said it was alloy and would be a big step up in
strength. Now I have read that alloys are lighter, but stronger? Is this
true?

Yes. "Alloy" (in the bike biz, that's usually a colloquial synonym for
"aluminum") rims are made by extrusion, while steel rims are folded out
of flat stock.

This makes "alloy" rims considerably stronger in terms of resisting
dents that might change their cross section.

Any superior material may be used to make parts either lighter or
stronger, depending on how much of it you use.

"Alloy" rims have a greater volume of metal, to make up for the fact
that steel is a stronger material.

However, aluminum only weighs about 1/3 the amount of the same volume of
steel, so aluminum rims wind up being lighter than steel.

what other benefits are there between alloy and steel rims?

They don't rust, and the brakes work substantially better, especially
when conditions get wet.

Sheldon "Nobody Should Have To Ride On Steel Rims" Brown
+----------------------------------------------------+
| A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of |
| explanation. --H.H.Munro ("Saki")(1870-1916) |
+----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Ken" wrote: (clip) what other benefits are there between alloy and steel
rims?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1.) Steel is heavier.
2.) Rim brakes on steel don't work well when wet.
3.) Steel is used only on low end bikes, so the quality is likely to be
poorer.
4.) Steel will label you as a "low end" biker to people who stop to chat,
so may lead to endless discussions about who is a bigger snob, who is
being
unfriendly or overly sensitive or overreacting. G

I met a rider on the trails recently who was riding on steel wheels--in
spite of this, he exhibited every characteristic of a strong, accomplished
properly equipped rider. He was on an old bike in pristine condition, and
was proud of what he was riding. He was concerned that one of his wheels
was slightly bent, and he was having trouble finding a proper STEEL
replacement. He told the people in his riding group that if he followed
their urging, and changed to aluminum wheels, he would have to move up to
a
faster group, so they would no longer be able to ride together. I LIKED
him, wheels and all.


Interesting, I know I am not the most seasoned ride, and my bike is not the
newest or the shiniest. But I don't really care. I don't ride to impress
others. But on the other hand if alloy is *stronger* I would consider this
to be the biggest selling point for me. I don't really care too much about
weight, and braking performance is not an issue either. About being a *low
end* biker. maybe it would keep the thieves from ripping the bike off.

Ken