In article <[email hidden]>,
41 said:Tim McNamara said:In article <[email hidden]>,
Mike DeMicco said:"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:
> Sun CR-18, half the price of a Mavic Open Pro, at least as
> durable, and a whopping 50 grams heavier (probably less than
> the Open Pro's manufacturing tolerance).
It only has single eyelets.
Get used to it. Few rims have proper spoke nipple sockets these
days. They are too expensive to fabricate and install, and cut into
the profit margins from selling $60 rims plastered in meaningless
tech jargon to fool the punters.
I can't believe that cost per se has anything to do with it. The goal
of the manufacturers seems to be to inflate the cost with useless
features that cost money but detract from value. The MA2 was not an
expensive rim, in constant dollars it is much cheaper than an Open
Pro.
You're being very nice to the rim makers. The useless features are
generally done in the extrusion or anodizing tank, so these can be done
very cheaply with little or no extra time and little or no extra labor.
Installing nipple sockets requires a machine to form the sockets,
another to install them in the rim, and the people to run those
machines. I would bet that removing that step cuts the cost of
producing a rim in half. It probably costs $5 to produce a $60 rim now.
Quoted message said:Instead, it seems to me that the only selling point of them is
durability. That has zero market value, and so the cost cannot be
passed on to the final purchaser. On the other hand, value detractors
such as machined sidewalls and welded joints can be sold, because
they supposedly give you a better experience.
They're hypable and marketable. Durability is a cost center. If you
can get the punters to buy a new rim or two every other year, zoom goes
your profit margin.
Every decision made about rim design is about the money, and how to fool
John Q. Public into parting with ever more their wallet contents. The
utter lack of critical independent testing (e.g., by bike magazines,
motivated by ad revenue) is complicit in defrauding the public further.
Thus we end up with break-o-matic rims and fragile plastic frames that
can't withstand the normal bumps of daily life, all touted as "progress"
to a gullible public who wants to Be Like Lance (except for the
training, discipline and diet part). I love seeing fat guys on a Madone
in full Discovery team kit...
We need a resurrection of the Technical Trials in which equipment is
subjected to rigorous, real life testing.
