Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Advice on new rims

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jem3907
08-14-07, 06:50 AM
I bought a new bike this spring and after riding about 950 miles my rear spokes started breaking
one at a time (three total). My local bike shop says that fuji is replacing my rim with a new one.
The rim that came on the bike is an Alex R-500 double wall aluminum wheel 32H it has 32 spokes
14 gauge. I am about 6'2" tall and go about 250 lbs. I'm not getting a great feeling about my local bike shop as he doesn't think that my size matters. So I am asking my fellow larger sized bike riders should I
go out and get some new rims? If so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tom Stormcrowe
08-14-07, 06:52 AM
Velocity Deep V would be my suggestion, and a few more spokes.....say about 36 of them.
ang1sgt
08-14-07, 07:28 AM
+1 for Tom's suggestion. Add to that Brass Nipples and Quality Spokes. Size DOES matter as well as the proper spoke tension and stress relieving too.

BigDave
08-14-07, 08:07 AM
Mavic Open Pros are another hoop that comes up often that people consider "bomb proof". Others to look at, depending on the type of riding you do, would be DT/Swiss TK 7.1 or Sun-Ringle Rhyno-Lites.
Bob Loblaw
08-14-07, 09:21 AM
I'm 6-2" and 230. Mavic CXP-33s work great for me. 36 spokes rear, 32 front. They are very similar to the velocity deep-Vs.
Velo Dog
08-14-07, 10:29 AM
I have Rhyno Lites on one bike and Velocity Deep Vs on the other, 36 spokes in both cases, and no problems in at least 4000 miles. I weighed 270 when I got the Atlantis, and the stock Rivendell wheels (Bontrager Fairlady rims) lasted about 1000 miles. I'm about 235 now, which may account for some of the difference, but both those rims are pretty stout.
FWIW, I haven't had much success with road wheels using 32 spokes or fewer--32s are marginal, and fewer than that is just dumb for a big guy. And it's really common for 140-pound LBS owners or mechanics, even really good ones, to underestimate the stress somebody 100 pounds heavier puts on a rear wheel. One of our local shops is run by a guy who's wrenched for Lemond and Davis Phinney, among others, and he finally built me a wheel for free after two expensive, "This will do it for sure" wheels crapped out in hundreds, not thousands, of miles.