Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Wheel concerns for clydesdale roadie?

I'm a 6'1, 190 lb recreational roadie looking to replace the wheelset on my 6 yr old Bianchi Veloce - current (original) wheels are developing the kind of hairline cracks radiating from the rim eyelets as described in a couple of recents threads here. I ride a fair number of miles (4 - 5,000 mi / yr) on mostly smooth rural roads.

Are there rules of thumb about which type of wheelset to buy? i.e., at my size should I steer clear from <24 spoke wheels, or paired spoke setups, etc? Note I'm not concerned with racing speeds, just reliable centuries. Thanks!

Just MHO, but I'd suggest a minimum of 32 spokes on the front and 36 on the back, and steer clear of exotic spoke patterns. Use vanilla three cross lacing pattern front and rear, and don't skimp on rim, hub, or spoke quality. I'm your size and ride on 36 spoke Campy Record high flange hubs, Mavic Open Pro rims, and DT Swiss double-butted stainless competition spokes, 3-cross, front and rear.

Yeh, I agree with Scooper. Stick with 32 spoke 3x wheels. Always use 14/15ga (2.0/1.8mm) DB spokes. At your height and weight, these will serve you well for centuries and long service.

I go about 6'3" 250-260, I run a 36 spoke wheels front and rear. I have to true them after every couple rides, Im planning on upgrading to some 48 spoke tandem wheels in the future.

I go about 6'3" 250-260, I run a 36 spoke wheels front and rear. I have to true them after every couple rides, Im planning on upgrading to some 48 spoke tandem wheels in the future.
It sounds to me like either the rim, spoke or initial build quality of the wheel is at fault. A well built 36 spoke wheel with good spokes and rim should be able to take quite a bit of abuse before going out of true. Unless you are dropping off curbs frequently, or doing rough trails on a rigid mtb.

I picked up the wheels from a local bicycle recycler, they are used, I hand checked the tension, and called them good.

190 pounds qualifies as Clydesdale now?!

Anyway, I'd think about a Mavic CPX33 rim, 36 DT 14-15ga. spokes laced 3-cross, and a Shimano 105 hub, painstakingly hand-built by a good local wheelbuilder. Ride it for a couple weeks, bring it in to its creator for a tension check, give it another month, bring it in again.

190 pounds qualifies as Clydesdale now?!

Anyway, I'd think about a Mavic CPX33 rim, 36 DT 14-15ga. spokes laced 3-cross, and a Shimano 105 hub, painstakingly hand-built by a good local wheelbuilder. Ride it for a couple weeks, bring it in to its creator for a tension check, give it another month, bring it in again.

+1, but I'd suggest considering Velocity Aeroheads (especially the OCR), or Velocity Deep Vs.

I ride 36H rear Deep V and 32h front Deep V. They may be heavier than most wheels, but I can assure you that most of my training partners would attest that they aren't slowing me down (it's not the equipment).

You can get Record Hubs on Open Pros for $240 at Performance Bike with their coupon
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile_combo.cfm?SKU=18877&estore_ID=&subcategory_ID=5320&CFID=43213249&CFTOKEN=51236220

190 pounds qualifies as Clydesdale now?!



It does while climbing - although I prefer Phil Liggett's description of George Hincapie's "massive carcass" !

Thanks to all for the suggestions - pretty much confirms what I had thought.

Not to be contrary, but I'm 230 lbs and I'm riding 16-spoke Shimano WH-R540 wheels. No sign of degradation and my LBS assures be that they'll stand up.

And no you're not a Clydsedale, but keep eating. ;)

Not to be contrary, but I'm 230 lbs and I'm riding 16-spoke Shimano WH-R540 wheels. No sign of degradation and my LBS assures be that they'll stand up.

And no you're not a Clydsedale, but keep eating. ;)

I'm 230 and ride on 24/28 a custom built wheelset from Mike Garcia. Niobium wheels on DT Swiss hubs. Nice and stiff, and spin smooth. I've only about 3,000 miles on them so far, so it's too soon to tell how they hold up over the long haul. They are still true, however, and I like them A LOT.

For smooth road riding, I disagree with those recommending 32 spokes or more. I weighed 280 and rode Campagnolo Vento wheels (24F, 28R with RADIAL spoke patterns!). I eventually broke a rear spoke and sold the wheels, but you're almost a hundred pounds lighter than I was. If you want light wheels, buy them. I believe that the combination of V-rim profile and better spoke technology will allow you to have both reliability and light weight if that's what you want.

For smooth road riding, I disagree with those recommending 32 spokes or more. I weighed 280 and rode Campagnolo Vento wheels (24F, 28R with RADIAL spoke patterns!). I eventually broke a rear spoke and sold the wheels, but you're almost a hundred pounds lighter than I was. If you want light wheels, buy them. I believe that the combination of V-rim profile and better spoke technology will allow you to have both reliability and light weight if that's what you want.

Yeah, it totally depends on how long you want to ride your wheels. If you don't care about replacing them every 5,000 - 10,000 miles, then buy whatever you want.

If you want your wheels to last 30000 miles or more, get a proper spoke count properly built -- you'll lose no speed, no ride quality, and you'll lower your wheel costs in the long run by an order of magnitude.

Yeah, it totally depends on how long you want to ride your wheels...get a proper spoke count properly built...

I must sheepishly admit that I don't practice what I preach - I ride 36 spoke wheels with a 3x pattern. Of course, I'm an uberclyde, and think that those closer to 200 have more options than I.

If I were to get a set of 700 wheels built for a road bike for myself, I'd go with Velocity Deep-V and nothing else. But I may be a little biased.

I had a Trek/Bontranger rep gaurentee ALL Bontranger road wheels will hold up to 350 lbs. (153 kg)

I had a Trek/Bontranger rep gaurentee ALL Bontranger road wheels will hold up to 350 lbs. (153 kg)
Yeah, thats BS. My 36-hole mavriks died after 2 weeks of touring (over 300lbs total but less than 350).
48-hole clydes however.
That said, any well built 36-hole rim with DT?wheelsmith spokes should hold you (and anyone sub 300lbs) just fine.
Oh and 190lbs is hardly a clyde ;)

I'm 6'1" 215lbs. Was riding OEM Bontrager Race Lites - hairline cracks and spokes pulled thru the rims after ~2.5kmiles. Went all out and bought Mavic Ksyrium SLs - not one problem or need to true after 3k miles. They look great; easy to keep clean.

http://mavic.com/ewb_pages/p/produit_roue_ksyrium_sl.php?gamme=route

I think Bontrager may be honest in that the wheel will "hold" 350 lbs., but the operating questions are:

-How long before spokes break?
-How long before the thing goes out of true?
-How long before the nipples are tearing the lightweight rims?

The old saying here applies as well:

Light, strong, cheap... pick two.

FWIW, I ride a lot of lumpy city streets. I'm 215, on touring wheels that are 36h front and back, with Mavic T519 rims (won't hold smaller than a 28, which is actually okay by me.) Wheel is about 500 miles since last trued, and the rear is showing a minimal wobble (not rubbing the brakes, going to give it another month or two and then whip it off and fix it up.)

I weight 207 and have two wheelsets that have held up very well:
- Shimano 105 hubs 32-hole with Mavic MA3 rims, not sure what the spokes are. I run 23mm armadillos on roadie
- Suzue promax high flange hubs 36hole with Mavic CXP21 rims, 34mm kenda qwest on my fixed gear

I bought a new set of wheels for my cross check last fall.

I purchased a set of wheels from velocity USA through Greg at "superspokes"

the velocity dyad is a nice solid touring rim, I had them built with double butted spokes , 40 spoke rear and 36 front

they have worked out very well.

my last set of rims were campys and were 36 rear 32 front they were ok but I wanted a wider tire so I had the new set built, Glad I did.

Ill be using the campy rims on a SS I want to build.

"John"

I think Bontrager may be honest in that the wheel will "hold" 350 lbs., but the operating questions are:

-How long before spokes break?
-How long before the thing goes out of true?
-How long before the nipples are tearing the lightweight rims?

The old saying here applies as well:

Light, strong, cheap... pick two.

FWIW, I ride a lot of lumpy city streets. I'm 215, on touring wheels that are 36h front and back, with Mavic T519 rims (won't hold smaller than a 28, which is actually okay by me.) Wheel is about 500 miles since last trued, and the rear is showing a minimal wobble (not rubbing the brakes, going to give it another month or two and then whip it off and fix it up.)
yeah, my generic spokes held up. It was a rim failure. And Mavs (which is the "touring" rim) are known on shops along the n. tier as big on failing. Most tourers are well under 200, so with the weight, its still on teh low side of a clyde.

It sounds to me like either the rim, spoke or initial build quality of the wheel is at fault. A well built 36 spoke wheel with good spokes and rim should be able to take quite a bit of abuse before going out of true. Unless you are dropping off curbs frequently, or doing rough trails on a rigid mtb.

+1

I weigh more then you do and ride a 32 spoke front and 36 spoke back. I bought the back wheel hand built from Colorado Cyclist, and have put 2500+ miles on it and it is as good as new. Mavic Open pro with Ultegra hubs

Bob

250 lbs- about 1500 miles on some mavic ksyrium elites, not sure the spoke count, it is stock. the rear needed a true, but theres a lot of railroad crossings around here. pretty happy, as long as the thing doesn't explode at 55 mph or anything. still wish I would have tried the velomax orions. the technology seemed really cool, but I guess that the mavics are hand built and tested and retested....

I'm about 250 and run Mavic CXP23s with Tiagra hubs. My original wheels (Alex rims/"alloy" no-name hubs) went out of true every time I sneezed, but these CXP23/Tiagra wheels seem to be bombproof. I've cleared 1000 miles with them, and they're still not out of true. They're 32 spoke wheels, for whatever that's worth.

On my fixie, I run Mavic MA3s with IRO hubs. They feel weaker than the CXP23s, and they already need some slight truing after only a couple of hundred miles.

I got the same assurance, and three years later, I popped a spoke climbing a hill. I had Colorado Cyclist build a set, Mavic open pro, Ultegra hubs, and DT stainless 14/15 double butted, 32 spoke 3X. $248 shipped. We put a lot of stress on our spokes, and going from 16 to 32 cuts the load in half?


Not to be contrary, but I'm 230 lbs and I'm riding 16-spoke Shimano WH-R540 wheels. No sign of degradation and my LBS assures be that they'll stand up.

And no you're not a Clydsedale, but keep eating. ;)