Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - wheel advice

New wheels. I'm well on my way to my first goal and my reward is a new set of wheels. I'm currently on bontrager select 700c. I will be 250 pounds on the new wheels. I was looking at Neuvation M28 aeros. Any other recomendations? My price range is $500 and under.

Velocity Deep Vs, 36 in the rear, potentially less in the front, with a high-quality hand build. With Ultegra hubs, figure about $400.

Had mine for over 3,000 miles now. Only went out of true when I flew off the trail at about 15 mph and took out several bushes, flipped over and discovered my bike about 10 feet beyond where i landed, on my back. Rear needed a little truing. I needed a lot.

Other recommendations you'll hear include Mavic Open Pros. Search is powerful here, as are some of the core clyde threads.

New wheels. I'm well on my way to my first goal and my reward is a new set of wheels. I'm currently on bontrager select 700c. I will be 250 pounds on the new wheels. I was looking at Neuvation M28 aeros. Any other recomendations? My price range is $500 and under.

One thing you can do, to save money, rear wheels take between 65 and 75% of the weight riding, so maybe just get a new rear built, keep the bonti on the front. You want a hand built 32 or 36 hole rim, the Velocity deep V is the Clyde rim of choice it seems, laced to a Ultegra hub, with 2mm (14 guage) spokes, this must then be hand trued and tensioned by a good wheel builder....

I'm getting the Deep-V, 36 14/15 double butted spokes on an Ultegra hub from Harris Cyclery, should be here in a week. Little north of $200 but I won't have to worry about a rear wheel again and that's worth the surcharge ;)

Now, at 250 lbs and dropping you could even go with Mavic Aksiums - I rode those (at 270#s) and are great, light, and cheap. Have to get another when a rag got stuck in the rd, ripped it off, tweaked the rim, popped some spokes and bent the dropout. Bad day.

Wow thanks for the advice. I have 400 miles n the bontis and they only needed to be trued once after a bad spill. Will the velocitys be quicker and stronger or just sronger?

They'll be different and stronger. Less lateral flex, better aerodynamics. They mass more, so require marginally more effort to roll out, but the flywheel effect is more dramatic on a steady ride.

I don't mean to hijak, but want to as a question;

Being a clyde @ 6'0 weighing in at 245-250 and riding 150 miles or so a week, I just broke 3 spokes on some Alex rims and need to replace them pretty quick. Here are the options that I am pondering...

Option 1: The Open Pro / Ultegra combo

http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=37 $275 after shipping

Option 2: Easton EA90 SL- Less spoke count but good reviews from other clydes

http://hi-techbikes.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1456&CatalogId=39&Variations=4589&alert=OK& $430.00 after shipping

Option 3: The Deep V / Ultegra combo

(I havent found solid pricing on this yet if anyone would like to assist me with a link ;) )

Also... everyone suggests the ultegra over the DA hubs, why?

Thanks for the help

Also... everyone suggests the ultegra over the DA hubs, why?

Thanks for the help

The cost to performance ratio between the Ultegra and Dura-Ace hubs is not worth the price jump unless you are a TdF (Tour de France) level racer.

A set of Ultegra hubs cost about $149.98 and weigh 611g (including Quick Release skewers)

A set of Dura-Ace hubs cost about $354.98 and weigh 516g (including Quick Release skewers)

The difference in price is about $205 for a 95g weight reduction... to most people 95g is NOTHING, so they opt for the ultegra hubs.

I am another user of the Velocity Deep V's 36 front and back with Ultegra hubs and 14G spokes. Uber strong and stiff.

I don't mean to hijak, but want to as a question;

Being a clyde @ 6'0 weighing in at 245-250 and riding 150 miles or so a week, I just broke 3 spokes on some Alex rims and need to replace them pretty quick. Here are the options that I am pondering...

Option 1: The Open Pro / Ultegra combo

http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=37 $275 after shipping

Option 2: Easton EA90 SL- Less spoke count but good reviews from other clydes

http://hi-techbikes.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1456&CatalogId=39&Variations=4589&alert=OK& $430.00 after shipping

Option 3: The Deep V / Ultegra combo

(I havent found solid pricing on this yet if anyone would like to assist me with a link ;) )

Also... everyone suggests the ultegra over the DA hubs, why?

Thanks for the help

A friend got some Mavic cxp33's on COLORADOCYCLIST.COM about a month ago. Ultegra hubs built for about $250. Not sure if it was a sale or regular price, but good deal.

Wheels Mr.Beanz is referring to:
Front: http://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/kit/SSFCCUDS
Rear: http://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/kit/SSFCEUDS

$125 for the front, $150 for the rear... $275 for the set.

Just a comment - clyde and butted-spokes is a no-no. Straight-gauge handle the load better because they are less 'stretchy' under dynamic loads - and if the spokes are moving, they fatigue and break.

Just a comment - clyde and butted-spokes is a no-no. Straight-gauge handle the load better because they are less 'stretchy' under dynamic loads - and if the spokes are moving, they fatigue and break.

Sheldon Brown (http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#spokes) would disagree.

+1 butted spokes are better. Spokes almost always break at the elbow or head, and extra meat there helps.

Wheelsmith DH13 (can be cut & threaded to any length) or DT-Swiss Alpine III (no longer in production, there is some stock around, but limited lengths, and can't be cut down). Have the rear laced half-radial...helps prevent the left side from going slack and fatiguing. See Sheldon's wheelbuilding article for an explaination.

As always - I can't find the reference I was after :mad:

If you read Sheldon closely, he talks about stretchy spokes protecting the rims, not being more fatigue resistant themselves. The only spoke he describes which would be less prone to break is the DT Alpine III, which is triple-butted and is thicker at the hub end than a regular spoke.

Zinn outright says straight-gauge for heavy riders, but gives the reason that butted spokes stretch and loosen more easily than straight-gauge. But the online shops advertising wheel building and having spoke options listed show straight gauge spokes as being the choice for heavy riders (> 230lb). Velocity built Deep-V training, Dyad touring and Tandem wheels all have straight 14 gauge spokes - only the road racing rims come double-butted.

And lastly - from personal experience of having had a wheel (Sun CR18 rim from memory) rebuilt from straight gauge to DT Swiss double-butted - the wheel became 'flexy' around corners when heavily loaded, kind of like riding with a flat tyre. And it still broke spokes. When it was straight-gauge, it broke a spoke at the thread, which is supposed to be unusual, but it never gave that flexy feeling.

Edit: O.K. - there is some wheel testing info on Harris cyclery showing that all things equal, a straight-gauge spoked wheel is stiffer than a double-butted spoked wheel. But I also found a recommendation for heavy riders from a professional wheel-builder, and he claims that a triple-butted spoke will last about three times longer than a straight-gauge spoke. So - skip double-butted and go triple-butted :)

another good option is spin lite. though they don't list 36s on the site, they will build them for you (they did for me).

http://www.spinlitecycling.com/road_wheels.htm

As always - I can't find the reference I was after :mad:

If you read Sheldon closely, he talks about stretchy spokes protecting the rims, not being more fatigue resistant themselves. The only spoke he describes which would be less prone to break is the DT Alpine III, which is triple-butted and is thicker at the hub end than a regular spoke.

Zinn outright says straight-gauge for heavy riders, but gives the reason that butted spokes stretch and loosen more easily than straight-gauge. But the online shops advertising wheel building and having spoke options listed show straight gauge spokes as being the choice for heavy riders (> 230lb). Velocity built Deep-V training, Dyad touring and Tandem wheels all have straight 14 gauge spokes - only the road racing rims come double-butted.

And lastly - from personal experience of having had a wheel (Sun CR18 rim from memory) rebuilt from straight gauge to DT Swiss double-butted - the wheel became 'flexy' around corners when heavily loaded, kind of like riding with a flat tyre. And it still broke spokes. When it was straight-gauge, it broke a spoke at the thread, which is supposed to be unusual, but it never gave that flexy feeling.

Edit: O.K. - there is some wheel testing info on Harris cyclery showing that all things equal, a straight-gauge spoked wheel is stiffer than a double-butted spoked wheel. But I also found a recommendation for heavy riders from a professional wheel-builder, and he claims that a triple-butted spoke will last about three times longer than a straight-gauge spoke. So - skip double-butted and go triple-butted :)

Holy crap this is getting confusing... I thought the only real decision I was going to have to make was do I shave my legs or not?....

The scenario you spoke of is how I broke 3 spokes; going 17 mph or so around a turn, crankin my way through it than all at once the rear slid out like I had a flat. I slowed down and saw the spokes dangling. I called AAA but they were no help... so my wife had to come and pick me up.

If you do some searches in the Mechanics forum you'll get plenty of threads to confuse you even more ;)

Thank you everyone, I still have 10 / 11 more pounds to lose before I getthe wheels, I'll check in with everyone again before I buy. I'll get some more advice in a bit. Sorry that my thanks is delayed but I couldn't get on to the forums last night.

No worries! The advice won't change all that much. If you check my sig there's a section 'De-evolution of a wheel' that chronicles my wheel issues - lots of good advice in there.