Price Paid:  $100.00 at supplier for bike sh

Favorite Ride:
long fast jaunts on rolling country roads

Summary:
Ten years back when I worked at a bike shop in high school, I bought a wheelset with 105 hubs, 32 straight 14g spokes, and MA40 hard-anodized rims. Box section rims, more durable than aero, passable weight. Pinned construction, rim joints weren't perfectly smooth but were never a problem. The front rim has always been great, still no problems.
I broke a few spokes on the non-drive side of the rear rim (spoke tension was too low) after 4 or 5 years, so I rebuilt the wheel again with 14g spokes. Rode that for 5 more years with no problems. In all, I put 7500 miles (I'm mainly a runner) on the wheels in 10 years, until the rim started cracking at one of the drive-side eyelets. I'm a big guy (6'5", 180#) and a strong rider who can sprint hard although I don't do it often, and the wheels had been rebuilt once and maybe weren't properly tensioned, but part of the crack may be due to the hard anodization, which engineers don't like because cracks in the anodizing can propogate to the aluminum itself. This rim has double eyelets (a.k.a. sockets) and the rim was cracking on the outer and inner wall, 3 levels of cracking actually. I suspect an MA3 (single eyelet) would have cracked a lot earlier, but am not sure.

Strengths:
* Relatively inexpensive
* durable by most accounts
* non-machined braking surface
* double eyeletted (a.k.a. "rim sockets")

Weaknesses:
* hard anodized for looks and bling - hurts braking *and* makes rim more likely to crack
* a bit on the heavy side, which isn't necessarily a drawback - these aren't racing rims

Similar Products Used:
Mavic Open Pro (the replacement, hasn't been ridden much yet though).

Price Paid:  $0.00

Favorite Ride:
Angeles Crest Highway

Bike Setup:
Schwinn Paramount w/ Dura Ace -- itself an indestructable bike.

Summary:
I've ridden on the same two 36 hole MA40 rims that I built myself, for the last 13 years. They've really held up well; the front is still perfect other than sidewall wear from braking, while the rear is finally starting to show some stress from the occasional potholes, railroad tracks, cattle guards, etc. that conspire against me; I'm ready to replace it. I've rarely had to true them, and the spokes have held up as well (last year I had my first spoke breakage after which I respoked the rear wheel).

The experts say that the hard anodizing leads to cracking at the spoke eyelets. I haven't detected any in my thorough inspections.

I'm a strong, heavy rider (175-195 lbs, depending on the year) and I do lots of hill climbing. These rims sure seem tough! No complaints here.

Strengths:
Tough, strong rims that keep their true, are gentle on spokes, and last for a long, long time. Stainless spoke eyelets don't rust from my sweat.

Weaknesses:
Braking roughness when the seam goes through the brake pads. Perhaps a bit on the heavier side by current standards.

Similar Products Used:
A long string of rims prior to these.