Tubular Rim suggestions for a 1986(ish) track bike?

[james_from_stoke]

Hi,
I'm just putting the finishing touches on my 1986 Swinnerton track bike, and was wondering if anyone could suggest any suitable tubular rims. I've taken off the mishmash of random old european parts and replaced everything with some nice new NJS parts that feel a bit less sketchy. Only things left now are the seatpost and the wheels. I'm not bothered about it being exactly period correct, just something with that late 80s/early 90s look, that I can trust to work reliably (planning to take it to my local track league this year, and I'm not the smallest or lightest person ever)

I think I'm pretty much decided on using Dura Ace large flange hubs, but I'm struggling to find any Japanese rims to match to keep it all in-house. Part of me is tempted to just chuck some Open Pro Ts on and be done with it because they're only 40 quid, but I'd ideally like to keep it all matchy matchy if I can. Anyone got any good ideas?

Here's a picture of the bike last spring once I'd swapped the first few bits, if that gets anyones juices flowing (it came to me with Cinelli XA stem and Criterium bars, gipiemme wheels, Tange headset, selcof seatpost, Mavic cranks and a Record Pista BB, and I've currently got some borrowed Dura Ace/Ambrosio Nemesis wheels in there). It now has a nice Brooks Swift Special on there too for extra retro
Thanks!
James

 

[Jonny69]

If the rest of it is NJS, why not go NJS with the rims too? Araya Gold are the usual ones. Probably find a pair on LFGSS, eBay or buy a set straight from NJS Export. NJS Export sells on eBay as Phillthepowertaylor iirc. Avoid Track Supermarket though, I quite often hear bad reviews about them with parts taking ages to arrive, low quality parts or just items not as described.

 

[4th in the devil]

Back in 1986 most people were still on silver Mavic or similar sprint rims. My regular race wheels back then were 28 spoke Monthlery Pro on large flange Record hubs with tubs glued on with shellac. Regular round spokes but tied and soldered. The rims were pretty cheap so easy to replace if you crashed and weighed less than GP4s and other dark anodised rims. By the early 90s we moved to skinny 19mm tubs (conti Olympic for big races) and these needed skinny rims such as Wolber Profile 18mm or Assos. Flat spokes were popular in that era which made a great noise when hitting a headwind on outdoor tracks.