Should I be worried...?

[Crandoggler]

Well it will be. A rear wheel is around £50, whereas a pair are around £60-70. The spoke profile is pretty standard, they're tough wheels and yes they will take an 8 speed cassette. As for width, without even seeing your bike, I think you'd be fine.

 

[Tom B]

I had a damaged split rim on my commuter just before I was due to do a tri on it and had the LBS build me something cheapish, cheerfull and hard as it is basically a utility bike. They supplied a "flyer"rim and a shimano fh m615 hub. I've never heard of the brand but the LBS said they never have any issues and said if you do bring it back!

It's now done over 6k and is pretty straight despite being off rosded, smashed through potholes and down steps. It's a 32 spoke jobby. I run at 90-100 psi on 28c marathon + tyres. The Alex rims from tyre has a few wobbles in it and I'm not sure about the join (point of failure on the other)

Despite its weight I can get into many of the top 10%-20% on strava.

 

[ChrisEyles]

All sorted now!

I took the bike into the LBS in the end, and they had an ideal wheel in their back room, 36h Mavic A119 rim on a Deore hub, at a reasonable price. They also fit the wheel for absolute peanuts while I was at work and have offered to true it up should it develop any wobbles while it beds in - result!

Weight-wise it seems similar to the old one, and I didn't notice any difference in the ride on the way home (but I guess a few grams on a wheel wouldn't make much difference when I've got full panniers, Marathon Plus tyres, and a 14kg bike to start with!)

Thanks all for the help - if not for the useful advice I would probably have ridden that rim until a spoke popped out either 25 miles from home or at just the right time to make me late for an important meeting!