Light bulb moment

I need some wheels. I had thought that I wanted them to be period correct for SB1988 so 1977ish. BITD (early 1980s) I had something with Mavic GP4 rims (red label). But, lovely as they were, they left me with a lifelong aversion to tubular tyres. Something to do with punctures, mainly.

I've been scouring "the Bay" getting progressively grumpier that the only 'right' wheels available seem to be sprints. No clinchers. The bike will only be ridden occasionally so my anti-tub resolve has been coming under strain. Or maybe I could get Record hubs and build them onto clincher rims. I've never built a wheel before. But I can true them and what could possibly go wrong?

Today I read this thread (thanks lewisfoto) viewtopic.php?f=12&t=268692&start=20 and it has a quote from a 1977 catalogue buried in I'd which at least explains why I'm having problems:
"1977 is the year of rim proliferation with many firms offering their best models in narrow, for 25-28mm tires, and normal for 28mm and wider tires. To avoid confusion in ordering, the typical skinwall tire which has been on the market for the last several years is about 31 to 34 mm wide. The Michelin Elan National Extra, Vittoria, Clement and others are 25mm which is the narrowest Clincher size made. To order the correct rim remember that you must use the narrow version for any 25mm tire."

So it turns out I'm looking for hen's teeth. I'll keep looking for now...

I know what you mean - for 'the look' you need to use sprints but I'm reluctant to use tubulars on my commuter because of punctures. I found a halfway house if you don't mind polished alloy finish, which are Velo Orange P-B-P. They look like a cross between an early clincher box rim and a narrow sprint rim, with rivets in the spoke holes. They've held up quite well for me and done 3 years duty with 23mm and 20mm tyres.

Here is one with a 20c tanwall clincher:

I might be able to help, maybe. What is is exactly that you want ?

Have you tried looking for Mavic MA2's ? they look quite "tub" like . Han Son do a nice rim too IIRC

Shaun

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mavic-MA2-rim ... 43c0cbec54

Shaun

Thanks for suggestions and offers of help. As it happens, it looks like I've managed to source a set of Mavic module 2 rims on Campag hubs which look like they'll fit the bill.