Road Cycling - Wheel Suggestions for Clydesdale

Can anyone suggest a strong, light road wheelset that will be able to handle a 220#+ rider? I see so many sweet wheels with so little spokes, I'm scared to invest in them and mash them on the first ride.

Thx.

Ive got Mavic Cosmos on mine. They are very strong, and relatively light. They can be had on closeout now too.

Here's a pic.

Hi,
is this for fun riding, commuting,touring,racing? Makes a difference.

"High-performance training"...whatever that mean.

Basically a solid training wheelset that could double for the odd duathlon next year. I don't want to skimp, but I don't want to break the bank either. I don't mind paying a bit more for quality, but I definately don't need a ultra-light weight set of racing wheels.

Thx for the pics longrider. :beer:

Originally posted by Dipper
Can anyone suggest a strong, light road wheelset that will be able to handle a 220#+ rider? I see so many sweet wheels with so little spokes, I'm scared to invest in them and mash them on the first ride. Thx.

I am 6'3" tall and weigh 240lbs and have done some research on this. For as many clydesdales you will get as many answers. The one dominant theme, from Uncle Al's rants on roadbikericer.com, is Mavic MA3's with 36 14 gauge spokes.

Mavic e-mailed a 280lb rider and that the Ksyrium Elites were suitable for 280lb rider, but he'd be better to get the Ksyrium SL's, as they are even a bit stronger than the Elites.

Bontrager said the Aero Light would easily support a 260lb rideer, as did Velomax about the Tempest II.

Spinergy said their Xaero Lite wheel set would be perfect. In their e-mail, they said the spokes used are 5 times stronger than steel spokes at 1/3 the weight. However, Spinergy reportedly has horrible customer service.

From two other clydesdales: "At your weight, a 36 spoke rim in the rear, 32 front, would be my choice, Mavic MA3's, or something of equal width and spoke count, double butted spokes, eyelets, etc... hand built by someone who knows what they're doing; and
Mavic T520 with 36 hole hoops put on some Xt hubs with 2.0 spokes (6’9”, 320lb rider)

I have found that initially almost any wheel will support me. It is after about 6 months when the spokes begin to stress out. All of the spokes on my previous wheel that broke, 11 of them, broke at the elbow.

I am considering the Mavics with 36 spokes myself.

Hi,
sorry, I should have asked before, what price range? The MA3 is a fine rim.
Mavic makes a couple other rims worth looking at. One of the most popular rims is the Open pro. It's light, fast, reliable....the only problem is that you are just a little heavy for it. If you used 36 spokes on the rear, and 32 on the front , you might get away with it. Personally, I am the bull in the proverbial china shop. If you're graceful, that is a good option (also, with that level of training you'll be losing a few pounds). I use the Mavic CXP33 rims. They are about as heavy as the MA3; but much stronger. Regrettably, the have a rougher ride. One thing that really complicates this choice is that price does not always correlate to performance. This is especially true of the less expensive high end wheelsets. Becasue the rims are so beefy (to allow the low spoke count)...they wind up being no faster than the tried and true Open Pro. Another complication is that exotic wheels often require exotic spokes that can be tough to find, and may require special tools. You are rarely very far from a bike shop, but you may be along ways from a shop that carries ReallSpiffyWheels WonderSpokes.........

I've got Mavic Ma3's with over 1k miles - no problems. I'm 6'6", 260

I forget what I used to have, but I kept popping spokes, not cool when you're at the back end of a 50 mile ride. Wife threatened not to come get me after the second time. Thank God for cell phones.

I'm about 250 and I can handle most bicycles with ease