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@Black_Rainbow_Project
The Surly is intended for snow mostly, and to be used in races such as Iditabike. But it works very well on sand too.
Rims for snow bikes are extremely wide to give the widest possible footprint so as to not sink into soft surfaces.
The cutouts are there purely for weight saving reasons, and for their intended purpose are plenty strong enough.
Rims like this are not exactly new and are well proven. Punctures are also far less common due to the nature of the surface.
People tend not to take risks with their equipment when they're halfway through a thousand mile race in the middle of the Alaskan wildnerness at 4O below zero.
The tyres are designed to be run at very low pressures, also to help give a wider footprint and to allow them to deform over the terrain.
For people who live in areas that have snow all winter these kind of bikes allow them to carry on riding pretty much all year round.
They're also great fun on regular mtb courses too, and don't ride heavy like people always assume.