Sleeved vs Welded rims
Other than a minor weight difference and the bling factor of a welded rim, seems like there isn't much of a difference?
Was looking at DT swiss rims and seems like saving $100 for two sleeved rims w/ the same specs isn't a downgrade in anyway from their welded rims and the weight penalty is like 70g, which is nothing when i'm running 1200g tires.
I also own a couple of E532 rims to XT hubs and it's been very reliable.
3 replies
The welded rims are a LOT stronger at the join. Pinned rims tend to get damaged and misaligned at the splice. If you're running tubeless, they can also spring a leak.
Often the damage will be a twist where the rim sidewalls no longer align, you cant true that out. Another way they get damaged is for the gap to open up over time and mileage.
I would not recommend pinned rims for technical mountain biking UNLESS you build your own wheels and are willing to replace them yourself. If you're paying for labor and planning on keeping the bike its a waste of time and money to custom build wheels with such low quality components, just go buy used wheels on pinkbike.
If you build the wheels yourself, normally pinned rims are never straight in the join area. Right from the factory they will usually have a warp / hop / low area in the joint.
They might stand up to endurance and lighter XC on smooth trails. For technical riding they will last about a year or less.
But yes, the actual extrusion can be otherwise equal. Many manufacturers used to make a cheap pinned rim and a more expensive welded rim from the same exact extrusion but then getting two models of rim. If you only care about weight, rim profile, looks, etc it saves money.
Not pinned. Sleeved. Pinned rims are like $50, an entirely different price class. DT sleeved rims are $125, the welded rims are $175. They don't make very many pinned rims, and the ones they do are like $45.
As far as I can tell the only difference with welded rims is like 30% lower cost, but 10% higher weight.
i already destroy welded rims after 1-2 years.
To me, they are similar technology, which is that its a press fitted mechanical joint. A "sleeve" is no more than a pin with a fancy shape. Some people call sleeved rims "pinned" also or they write "sleeved/pinned vs welded". As in a recognition that a sleeve is a specific kind of member of the classificarion of pinned rims.
https://youtu.be/kHr2ppclsWw
Which two rims / what models are you comparing here?
What's the failure mode? What causes the destruction?
What kind of riding do you do, and what is the terrain like? What your weight? Do you run low tire pressure? Do you run tubeless or with inserts?
I'm kind of going back to your original comment where you suggest that "welded" has a bling factor, like this is something completely invisible.
Like, that's simply not WHY they are more expensive or higher end.
In my first sentence, I mentioned how they are always categorically much stronger. (And also straighter at the joint, more uniform, lighter, air tight etc.) Then you summarized your stance that they really are no different. Maybe the difference is not meaningful to you?
Do you build wheels?