Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Wheelset Upgrade Before Century

Hi. I'm planning to venture into 3-digit mileage land for the 1st time this weekend. I know that I shouldn't make any drastic changes to my setup beforehand, but I have a new wheelset I'm itching to get rolling. Good idea, Bad idea?

It depends on how confident you are with your new wheelset. Was it made by your LBS? Was it home brewed? I've ridden centuries on wheelsets I've built with less than a hundred miles on them. If they've been built, stress-relieved, trued and set up correctly, then they're usually good for several thousands of miles without much attention, barring accidents, potholes etc.

So, are you feeling lucky, punk? ;)

- Wil

PS: Good luck with the ride!

PPS: Other thoughts - I bought a set of wheels for my MTB from eBay, and was surprised to find that the tension was about half of what I would have expected it to be. The wheels had been put together, and trued, and stress-relieved, but had not been brought up to tension. I'm sure they would have worked OK, even for a century, but I'm certain that spoke breakage would have happened sooner rather than later (or never). So, do you already have the wheels, or are you still waiting for them? You might want to check their tension.

I found a great LBS. So, yeah, I'm feeling lucky. Ha.

- I already have the wheels. The lbs trued them & whatever else, told me to put some miles on them & bring them back for a follow up.

I'm wondering if something as tragic as getting 60 miles out with a new uncomfortable saddle could happen, in you guys' opinion.

Two days before I was supposed to do a 300k, I was tuning up my bike and discovered a series of hairline cracks on the rim of my rear wheel. I took the wheel into my LBS (http://www.paramountbicycle.com/home.html) the next day and asked how long it would take for them to build a new one. They said three days due to backlog. I asked if they could have it built that day and explained that I had a 300k to ride tomorrow. The owner said, "well in that case, leave the wheel here so I can reuse the hub. Get you a new one built in three hours. If it's not ready by then, you can have one of my loaners."

True to his word, wheel was built and ready in three hours. I've put +3000 miles on it and it's been rolling true and strong ever since.

Everything went well. Thanks!