Can you elaborate more about the rim?

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I have these, they are fine for cheap rims. Slightly annoying to build, but once complete they roll nice enough. Knobby Nics when on super easy by hand.

 

Elaborate on what the problem seems to be?

I have been building with these for years, including a set for my wife's single speed about 2 weeks ago. They build fine, the tires mount up by hand, they inflate with just a floor pump.

Not sure what more one can ask for?

 

My only gripe is during building. The rims are wavy so it plays tricks on you when truing. They are also soft, so you can pull a nipple through if you don't use a washer.

Otherwise, yeah, just fine. (I also have arc24's, and I should note I paid like $20us each so I am more lenient than I would be with say, a DT).

 

I have a spare set that were OEM for my 5010. I pulled them off and installed ARC30/Onyx hubs! I have no issue mounting tires on either rim.

 

I also have a set as a backup and have not had any issues mounting tires up to them.

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2/10. Lazy effort.

 

To the OP, are you getting the bead down in the trough of the rim when installing/removing tires? I’ve never had a problem with any tires on those particular wheels

 

They’re cheaper OEM-quality rims that use soft 6061 aluminum. Most manufacture make equivalent rims.

Your rear will dent easily and they’re heavy for what they are. When you kill then lace over the ARC version of the rims that use better 6069 aluminum and have better joints.

Stan’s, DT, WTB, e-thirteen all follow this same pattern. OEM stuff isn’t great, the higher end stuff is good.

 

They’re cheaper OEM-quality rims that use soft 6061 aluminum. Most manufacture make equivalent rims.

Your rear will dent easily and they’re heavy for what they are. When you kill then lace over the ARC version of the rims that use better 6069 aluminum and have better joints.

Stan’s, DT, WTB, e-thirteen all follow this same pattern. OEM stuff isn’t great, the higher end stuff is good.

The arc isn't any better / worse to me, other than being welded. Both are soft and wavy.

 

Play cheap, soft rim games, expect cheap, soft rim prizes.
(gruesome flashbacks to building Araya, Alex, and even Sun Rims….shudder)

You kids these days have it so good.
However, I hate spoke washers too.

 

Been pretty happy with mine. AR35 front, ARC35 rear. Tires mount up easy and, I cant seem to destroy them.

 

Built up an ARC 30 for the rear of the trail bike maybe 6 months back...went together easy and the tire mounted by hand without levers. Been happily abusing it ever since. 🤷‍♂️

 

My AR30 Offset and ARC30 offset were both hard to seat the tire when I mounted the 2nd set of tires on it trying to reuse the old rim tape. The rim tape dimpled in where the spoke holes are and with the asymettic designthe bead of the tire seemed to rest on the spoke hole tape dimples and made it impossible to set with a hand pump. Had to use the compressor to set the tires when re-using rim tape.

Mine have been great other than that.

 

Glad somebody informed me that I’ve got crummy wheels… otherwise I wouldn’t have known.

Think I’ve got 4 or 5 ARC30s.
Also a pair of ARC45s and 1 or 2 ARC40s.
Of all these, the newest is at least 2 years old.

Certainly now that I know, I’ll start having problems with them. Thanks again.
=sParty

 

I have 4 of these rims in use right now. I ride both everyday. Both ARC 40. I used to have 2 AR 40s that belonged to a bike I sold today.

They have been the most reliable aluminum TLR rims I have ever used. Tubeless tires mount with ease and the bead seats with a floor pump and almost no effort on my part.

These rims are miles ahead of the crap we used to do for ghetto tubeless setup that would burp if you looked sideways.

Sorry your experience was different.

 

What was the tension at on the spoke that was about to pull through?

 

Too much obviously
I don't have a tension meter. It did not feel much different than the others.

 

I have had to mount tires to these on multiple sets. From Maxxis to Schwalbe and some Continentals. I have used forced air, a air can connected to a floor pump, and prepped the tires to mount easier. I am a mounting fool. These rims cannot seat to the bead, in fact the tire mounted RIGHT AWAY putting it on an I9 rim following this fiasco. People who say they have had no problem probibbly took it to a bike shop. EVERY bike mechanic I know HATES these rims but they still seem to get them on.One said they just need extra effort. I was not lacing them to a hub just mounting a stupid tire that should have taken a minute that turned into a mental feat of frustration.

 

EVERY bike mechanic I know HATES these rims

Best to type that as "bike mechanic" if this is the case because (to put it bluntly) they don't know wtf they're doing. I recently swapped on a Conti X-King on mine for summer with my bare hands and a floor pump. Good luck on that shoe tying thing.

 

The RF ARC's are the only rims I keep in my shop, and regularly use the 25 and the 30 for a lot of gravel or MTB wheel builds. The offset spoke bed allows for wheels with even or almost even left-to-right spoke tension. They do seem to have a hop at the weld but I haven't found that to be unique to RF rims. The spoke access holes on the back of the rim can extend pretty far towards the bead seat, far enough that on rims with used rim tape where the air pressure had dimpled the tape, they can really be tough to get tires to seat.

Overall though, tubeless mounting issues aren't unique to RF rims - issues with tires being nearly impossible to seat are just part of the current tubeless tire market. Sometimes they mount right up, sometimes it can take an hour. Rims with flat bead seat areas (as opposed to those with retainer "humps") are pretty bad in general, and non-offset rims can be easier but build weaker wheels.

I'd guess that tighter industry standards for tires & rim seat diameters would help with this, but that would require the industry to cooperate with itself -- doesn't currently seem to be a strong suit. The only thing that seems to be happening with rims is the move to "hookless" which seems to serve no benefit other than allowing carbon rims to be made more cheaply at the expense of rider safety.

 

I'd guess that tighter industry standards for tires & rim seat diameters would help with this, but that would require the industry to cooperate with itself -- doesn't currently seem to be a strong suit. The only thing that seems to be happening with rims is the move to "hookless" which seems to serve no benefit other than allowing carbon rims to be made more cheaply at the expense of rider safety.

This is the real issue, a total lack of standards between tire manufacturers and rim manufacturers. Overall though there is no tire that cannot be easily mounted if you use the right tricks. An extra layer of tape, soapy water, removing the valve core and a high pressure compressor will seat even the most stubborn rim and tire combination. My compressor goes to 175psi and can seat just about anything. Before that I had an 80psi Harbor Freight compressor and it struggled to seat many tires. If you absolutely cannot get a tire to seat, put a tube in and fill it up. Then unseat one side to remove the tube. That way one bead is locked and you can easily seat the other bead.

 

They can be hard to seat the bead. Air likes to escape from the dimple created by the spoke holes at the shoulder of the rim bed. I've had to manually seat a couple tires that wouldn't seat even with a compressor.

 

My AR30 wheel after it had had a tire on it inflated for months with no sealant.

This is the wheelset on the mmmbop right now with 2.8 nobby nics.

 

What tape is that? Stans will dimple.

 

If the rim seems too "big" to fit a tire, sometimes it just lacks spoke tension. It can change the ERD by a bit less than 1mm (between 0 tension and 100kgf tension), enough to throw off tolerances.

 

I currently have a set that came on a new bike - initially had my doubts about them but was surprised when the maxxis tires (brand new minions) went on tubeless with very little effort of drama. They will eventually be replaced only because I am not a fan of the overall system weight - but that's a me problem, not a major flaw of the rim.

 

ARC rims series were great. AR rims series, not as good.

 

Speaking of Race Face, I'm dealing with a unique scenario. I installed a RF Turbine crank and a RF 30mm BB as well. My BBinfinite ceramic BB showed up yesterday and I installed it. Now my crank spindle is way too long! I don't get it. It's an external BB! Everything is the same width.

I will need to measure the total length of the BB to figure out this spindle issue.

 

Speaking of Race Face, I'm dealing with a unique scenario. I installed a RF Turbine crank and a RF 30mm BB as well. My BBinfinite ceramic BB showed up yesterday and I installed it. Now my crank spindle is way too long! I don't get it. It's an external BB! Everything is the same width.

I will need to measure the total length of the BB to figure out this spindle issue.

I have to run a couple 1mm spindle shims (NDS) on a frame or two with Atlas cranks. Easy, peasy..

edit: if it's more than a few mm... check the spindle length, RF makes multiples and they're interchangeable.

 

I'm still pondering these dimples.

If a wheel is fussy (too loose usually) what I do it put some soap, or some sealant all around the bead. The viscous liquid fills tiny gaps, and had just a tiny bit of resistance to pressure. The lets the floor pump on high volume the setting push the beads outward enough to tighten on the rim/tape and then its is usually sealed from there enough to get seated. Obviously then you have to wash off the soap, which lets you clean the tire at the same time

I'm not sure how much that will help with those big divots someone posted. As mentioned by someone else, you should ideally be able to tug the beads to the side a bit more to clear those dimples. Some tires naturally want to close up in the middle though, while others will naturally flare out.

 

I'm still pondering these dimples.

Look up. There's no need...we were typing at the same time so you may have missed the reason you can ignore them.

 

that's because the orifice is restricted. Same reason I'm running 1" pipe from my compressor through my shop, not 1/2"

 

Exactly.

I think we have all explained this to death at this point, haha.