Patent ID: 8613485

Claim:
A bicycle wheel rim, comprising: a base portion including a proximal surface having a centrally positioned portion that is engageable with a spoke member and an opposing distal surface having flat bead seats engageable with a surface of a tire; and two opposing sidewalls extending from the base portion, wherein each of the sidewalls has an inner surface profile that matches a contour of a surface of the tire along the sidewall when the tire is engaged, further wherein the profiles respectively have an inner surface that extends inwardly and is curved at an intersection point of the flat bead seats with the two opposing sidewalls, wherein the bead seats are horizontally disposed with respect to an axial direction of the rim so that when the tire is mounted, beads of the tire are placed between the flat bead seats and the sidewalls to provide a socket fit, and wherein the sidewalls extend from intersections of the proximal surface and the distal surface, and wherein the point of each of the sidewalls most distal the flat bead seats respectively extends no further than 0.200 inches above the flat bead seats of the distal surface of the rim, a trough formed in the distal surface at a position intermediate the flat bead seats, the trough having a width between 0.300 and 0.700 inches; and the proximal surface including outer opposing walls that respectively extend from the centrally positioned portion that is engagable with the spoke member to intersections with the distal surface, the outer opposing walls being smooth and continuous so as to not contain any acute inflection points, wherein an open space is bound by the opposing walls so as to extend from one of the opposing walls to the other of the opposing walls, the open space curving along the trough.