Rigida Andra Carbide rims

[Wowbagger]

It had been said that these were not being made any more, but SJS have some in stock.

They are worth the extra money over the normal Rigida Andra in my view as they are terrifically hardwearing.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/rigida-andra-30-26-(559)-mtb-css-rim-black-36-hole-regular-drilling-prod18846/

I have them on the front and back of my solo and the tandem and, judging by their hard-wearing nature, I would expect them to see me out so far as normal wear and tear goes.

[andrewc]

+1  ,   I have them on my Nomad and they show no signs of wear yet.   Heavy, but very tough.  Good braking performance and they are very _clean_   , no aluminium oxide to make a mess of everything.

[PH]

It had been said that these were not being made any more, but SJS have some in stock.

I would have been one of those saying that.  It would have been sometime ago when Rigida ceased to exist, became Ryde and moved production to China.  Ryde didn't have any CSS rims in the new catalogue, though the good news is they do now;

http://www.ryde.nl/en/products

I've had a pair of the 26" Andra and  have two pairs of the 700c Grizzly.  They've all been great except the one wheel Harry Rowland built, his reaction to it splitting after a few thousand miles was that it's a poor quality rim.  Though that hasn't affected the builds from SJS and Spa which have done many more miles.

[chillmoister]

Hi folks ....just wanted to bump this thread as I an due to change the rims on my Thorn Nomad and I am toying with the idea of upgrading from the regular Rgida Andra rim to the CSS version.  My only hesitation is reports of poor braking peformance in the wet?  Anyone have any experience to share?

[hatler]

I'm still running ceramic rims on my road bike and am still a fan. They're performance in the wet isn't particularly more striking than a plain rim, but it is my perception that they are better, just not by much.

The principal attractions for me are that the braking surface really really lasts, AND, when you have to handle the wheels they are not covered in that horrible black alloy dust gunk.

[julk]

I had sun rhynos with salmon pink koolstops on a  bike which was stolen.

My replacement came with rigida andra carbide rims with blue swissstop pads.
Braking in the dry was phenomenally good, braking in light rain was ok but in the heavy rain was not as good as the rhynos and slowly became worse as the rims/blocks bedded in.
I changed the blocks to koolstop black for rigida carbide - this improved the wet weather braking somewhat. These blocks feel softer in operation than the swissstop blue.

I still have the carbide rim with koolstop black on the rear but I have reverted the front wheel to a standard rigida andra with koolstop black/salmon dual compound.

[chillmoister]

thanks for the feedback folks ...maybe a combo of Andra CSS on the rear and standard on the front is the way to go.  Other option is to convert to disc on the back with standard Andra rim and CSS on the front ...but that a much more expensive option with hub cap replacement, rotor and brake kit.

[P Walsh]

I have a pair of ancient Rigida Grizzley CSS rims that are still practically unworn, with flat braking surfaces. I have rebuilt one onto a new hub after the original hub expired!

To answer the question, braking in the wet was an issue in the first 10, 000 miles of use, but not since. They improve enormously when they have worn in. I used the recommended Swisstop blue pads at first but did not find them any better than cheap Clarkes pads for alloy rims. I have since been told that Koolstop salmon pads work well. Whichever pads you use, they will last much longer than on plain alloy rims.

My tourer now has these old rims and they look set to go on and on, and wet weather braking is fine. But to get over the initial phase safely you may be best advised to have one non-CSS rim, probably the front.