Lou Deeter wrote:
>
> I got a bike today with Mavic MA 50 CRD rims on Record hubs. The rims are
> silver machined sides with black on the inside, where the spoke holes are.
> These are very substantial clincher rims. Are these rare? Were they made for
> racing, touring or training? What does the CRD mean?
Introduced the end of 1988, the MA 50 Cr.D was Mavic's top clincher rim (Size - 700C, Seat Dimension - 622, Drilling - 28, 32, 36, Average Weight 430g). I believe they were only offered for a couple of years.
Catalog quote: "A different approach! For narrow tire from 19 to 25mm. Double eyelet, visible eyelet in stainless steel. Rim coated with hard chrome with thickness of 50 microns. This treatment gives incomparable rigidity and makes the rim completely resistant during braking. A polyurethane paint covers the visible inside parts, thus offering a very attractive two-color appearance. With its handling characteristics and hardening treatment, this rim responds perfectly to the demands of sporting riders and tri-athletes of very high level."
The sides of the rims weren't machined, that's the hard chrome ("hard chrome" is not the same as "decorative chrome"). This was before Mavic machined the sides of their rims. Best brake pads to use were the sintered Mavic/Modolo pads or the sintered Campagnolo pads. The reason being the hard chrome surface (remember the notoriously bad braking characteristic of steel rims when wet). Sintered pads where designed for wet weather braking.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
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