I have a friend who is trying to convince me I need stainless rims, anyone use these? I assume they would polish up nicely with the stainless spokes? I don't see them listed at Buchanan's, but there is a local place that can get them for me. I did a search on this forum, and nothing came up. Why aren't these more popular? I would have thought they would be...

If I was going to go to the expense of new wheels, it would be for alloy wheels and not stainless. Just for the weight savings with unsprung weight
That and the alloys look so much better.
But that's just me...

pbmw wrote:If I was going to go to the expense of new wheels, it would be for alloy wheels and not stainless. Just for the weight savings with unsprung weight
That and the alloys look so much better.
But that's just me...

+1

I have a set of these drilled and dimpled for a 1967 BSA that come with a project bike. I think they are manufactured in India and the drilling work is very rough looking. The dimple pattern looks like a one size fits all concept and the drilling (maybe and end mill) was used to fit it to the application. Just guessing at this point by looking. I would be asking a ton of pointed questions if getting a set for a Commando because of the unique dimple pattern needed for our bikes. One little bit of inaccuracy on this work could lead to an un-lace-able wheel that will not true up and have the right offset at the same time. Buyer beware type of thing.

I have no experiance with them,but was asking a local wheel builder about them one day and he hated them, aparently the join is usually very distorted and he had one crack, so that would probably put him off for life.

Funnily just put a rear wheel away to my Wheel builder yesterday, I prefer the flangeless alloy rims with stainless spokes, they follow the same pattern as the original Dunlops and look excellent. It's a matter of preference.
When I had the wheels rebuilt on my touring Commando about 10 years ago my wheelbuilder advised me against stainless as at the time he had a few problems with them, fine for shows but not for serious mileage so I went with chrome rims and plated spokes, now they seem to be OK ( he gave me the exaple of a guy and his wife who took a year off and put 25K miles on a old brit bike touring Europe fully loaded and when they returned the bike neede one spoke replaced) . Now mines need done again!! Despite regular cleaning the rust is taking hold mainly internally so next winter I think a rebuild will be in order.

Stainless is too brittle. Hit a bad pot hole at speed and it could fracture. Mild chromed steel rims will bend, alloys will too but never reset. Good chrome steel rims will last for ages if you apply a corrosion proof primer on the inside and regular auto wax on the outside. Stainless spokes are OK in my experience, I have Borrani alloys with heavier gauge SS spokes.

Mick

I think stainless rims are like anything else, if you buy cheap and nasty ones that's what just you'll get, but if you buy high quality (and fairly expensive once landed in OZ) ones like the Devon rims from the UK you'll be very happy. I've just received two sets of the Devon rims, one set for a Mk2A and the other for a Mk3, and they're a very impressive product. The dimples are the correct pattern for each wheel and the spoke angles are all perfect. Devon make their own rims in the UK (I believe they're the only people who do so) and definitely know their business. I certainly think they would be made of an appropriate grade of stainless for the intended puspose. Personally I like the idea of stainless rims, as they keep a high shine, last forever, and any marks can be polished out. All that said though, if someone else would keep them clean and polished for me I'd love a set of flanged alloys - as they just look the business.