[El Diablo]

I ran into this little snag while ordering a new rear wheel for my Giant Faith. I have some mashed up 729`s on my bike now and I need to replace the rear quickly and perhaps the front by next season. I wanted to get a new black 721`s but my LBS said that they only got the old style CD Ano 721's in now. Since they are a distictive grey color I should buy front and back to match right away but this is going to go over my budget since I will also be getting Hadley hubs to lace them to.
Will it be worth it to go over the top and buy 2 grey 721`s now or to stay with what I know and get 1 ex 729 and delay buying a new wheel until next year?

Since I don`t want to base this decision on color alone, I gotta ask....
1) Is there a noticable difference between the feel of 729`s and 721`s?
2) Are the Ano 721`s better than the newer black/silver ones?
3) Anyone ever try running a ex 729 in the front and a 721 in the rear?


Thanx

 

[El Gordo]

Just wait bro not worth spending the money just to match colors..
Depending on your weight and riding style etc etc.. The 729 are stronger than the 721's , 721's are a bit lighter, but as you know I dont think there is any real feel diff.. Usually I see 721 in the front and 729 in the rear. I mean if you wanted to save weight and thats why you were getting new rims then I would say go 721's and there is no diff in the balck to the grey, but since you smashed up a 729 I would think you are hard on your wheels, I would stay with the 729's just my .02

 

[evolutionbike]

The CD rims are much stronger than the non-ceramic rims.
The 721's are lighter in weight and give the tire a more rounded profile than the 729's the chance of pinching on the 721's is higher though.

I have run both over the years and found myself primarily running the 721's in CD.

 

[big-ted]

The CD rims are much stronger than the non-ceramic rims.

CD and ceramic are two different things. CD = "couch dure" which is French for hard anodized. Funnily enough the rims are hard anodized. In theory, the CD rims have a stiffer sidewall. So harder to bend, but also harder to bend back should you ding one. The ceramic is purely a coating applied to the sidewalls to increase the effectiveness of rim-brakes.

I currently run a 729 CD front, and an 823rear. I've also mated the same front rim to a 721. I actually like having the wider rim on the front as it means I can run a larger tyre up there and keep a similar profile front and rear. As to whether you want to blow your budget on matching your rims for the sake of looking pretty, that's up to you. Plenty here will laugh, but they still do it themselves.