Author Topic: H plus son TB 14 rims  (Read 2616 times)

Blodwyn Pig

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H plus son TB 14 rims
« on: 19 October, 2016, 11:08:41 am »
Anyone here running these? Will be going on disc hubs. They are 3x the cost of say Exal lx17, are they 3x better. Will be used for everything, general, audaz,ruff stuff, possible tour. Should last forever with discs. Thoughts please.

Torslanda

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Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #1 on: 19 October, 2016, 11:16:07 am »
Paging Mike Conway. Mr. Conway to the white courtesy telephone, please . . .
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

MalRees

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Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #2 on: 19 October, 2016, 11:31:01 am »
I've used these on my 30ish year old steel tourer, which I rebuilt this summer. In silver they look fantastic. Too early to talk about longevity, but the wheels they have built into are really strong.

Blodwyn Pig

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Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #3 on: 19 October, 2016, 12:03:13 pm »
I've used these on my 30ish year old steel tourer, which I rebuilt this summer. In silver they look fantastic. Too early to talk about longevity, but the wheels they have built into are really strong.

Are they comfy or harsh, and how durable do you think the unprotected polished alloy will fair,thro the winter

Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #4 on: 19 October, 2016, 02:12:27 pm »
http://hplusson.com/node/15

Quote
Colours: Hard Ano, High Polish, Black Ano,

Rims are anodized after machining.

Is the polished version anodised? I think anodising doesn't protect against salt corrosion anyway. Rinse off with clean water after riding on salted roads.

It seems the rim is a replica of old rims like the Mavic Module 3 or Super Champion Mod 58. I have Mavic MA2 (must be 20 years old) on my bike, which is a bit narrower at 20mm, with 25mm tyres. I also have the older Mavic Module E and E2 but I don't use them much. So there's nothing wrong with the design, if the TB14 rim is well made, it should last as long as any of the old rims.

Re comfort, the old style shallow box section rims are supposedly less stiff vertically when unbuilt compared with deeper section rims (eg Open Pro), but after it has been built into a wheel, I'm not sure there's much difference, the suppleness and pressure of the tyre, will make a much bigger difference.

Biggsy

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Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #5 on: 19 October, 2016, 03:55:09 pm »
Anodising of decent thickness does provide good protection from salt and corrosion.  I don't know what it's like on the products in question.  Anodising on rims in general varies from barely anything to good enough for anything, I've found.
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Blodwyn Pig

  • what a nice chap
Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #6 on: 19 October, 2016, 07:18:03 pm »
yes ...Paging Mr. Conway!! ;)

Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #7 on: 19 October, 2016, 08:29:54 pm »
The high polish ones aren't anodised. I have had high polish rims from h + son for a couple of years, they survive the winter fine, albeit with a few very minor white spots. They have not been put through absolutely hideous abuse though, I clean them after they get filthy. H + son rims are very well made and finished in general.

Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #8 on: 19 October, 2016, 08:36:56 pm »
I have these on my 20 year old Merckx in classic mid-90s hard anodised grey finish. 

I bought them mostly for the looks, but they are top quality rims, very well made and round out of the box.

They are very comfy on account of being 23mm wide, so you get a fatter tyre profile and greater volume of air for the same tyre width (i.e. 25mm tyres come up bigger on a wide rim than a narrow rim).

They're not light - 510grams per wheel and might be flexy as the profile is so low.  I don't stress wheels, as I'm only 64kg, so can't really determine how flexy they will be.
If you want something that definitely will be stronger then the Archetype is also available in polished silver.  This is a bit lighter (490 grams I think) and has a triangular profile so will be stiffer.  Not low profile, so it depends if you are solely concerned with looks.

I've also had Exal LX17 rims - heavier again than the TB14 but completely bombproof.  I had them on a cross bike and went on some terrible surfaces at a good speed on them.  For the price they are excellent.

Re: H plus son TB 14 rims
« Reply #9 on: 20 October, 2016, 01:19:25 am »
I have a set that are used as occasional/spares (switch outs for enve 3:4 when the weather is crappy.) I'm very happy with them.

I ride in Bermuda that is insanely humid/salty and they have fared well.

An illustration of how abusive the climate is here. Chris King spacers were pitted after 18 months and needed replacing.
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