hi folks

curently building up, or transforming my curent mountain bike which ive used touring before but over time will transfor into a proper tourer, new frame, forks, wheels etc,

i will need to replace the rims i have curently as theve seen alot of hard abuse but not the loading of touring,
ive had good service out of mavic rims previously but wondering if there are any tour specific, or tour preferd rims out there that you can recomend,

also any preferences on sadles, i know they are a very personal issue but all info is good info,

cheers for now and maybe see you out in the world somewhere, someday,

iain the newbie

Hi Iain -and welcome to the forum!


Some members of the forum have recently reported bad experience with Mavic rims on touring bikes, especially with the lighter models (they don't seem to be suited for an overall weight above 85 kgs). To be fair, their good service is also praised, but then again this won't help you if you're stuck in central Siberia because of a broken rim...
However, (assuming you are not using disc brakes), the EX721 still seems to be a reasonable choice for most purposes.
Rigida rims (X-plorer, Sputnik, DP2000) generally enjoy a good reputation among touring cyclists, as they are said to be stable, durable and rather inexpensive (which, of course, makes them quite heavy...).

When re-building your wheels, you should also consider using 36 rather than 32 spokes (if you are not already doing so) to enhance overall stability and reduce the risk of broken spokes.

Saddles: yees, they are a very personal issue - ever tried Brooks Ltd., England ?

Greetings from Berlin

Bastian

Hi there,
since one year I use to traveller with the exal XL 25 rim. I am very satisfied. Cheap an robust.
http://85.10.200.53/exal.be/

I personally can recommend the Exal SP19's - they are also very solid but lighter then the XL's - just in case you don't need such a wide rim.

Saddles: if you got wide "sitbones" I can really recommend the Brooks B17. I tried several one's but from the ones without suspension it's the most comfortable one. Tried the B17 narrow as well - but this one was literally a pain in the a... ! But you a right - it's pretty much of a personal issue...


Cheers,
Andy