Cyclocross - Wheels!

My Poprad came with Bontrager Race wheels which have held up surprisingly well to both on-road and off-road riding (the Fullerton Loop in So Cal, if you know that route) until this past Saturday when I was descending a small hill and bunny hopped over a very wide rain rut. Unfortunately, my back wheel didn't clear and hit the lip of the rut at a 45 degree angle, which caused a pinch flat and threw my wheel seriously out of true.

So, while my Bonty wheel is out being trued, I want to look into a stronger wheelset. I'm a pretty big guy; 6'3", well over 200 (prolly close to 235 or so.) I ride mostly road, but lately I've been riding a lot of off-road on my local trails (again, the Fullerton Loop for those in the know.) I don't race, and I don't want tubular wheels.

Any ideas?

I've hear Mavic Open Pro rims on Ultegra Hubs are good and durable. I have no first hand experience with them, but every time I go to my local Performance, they seem to head in that direction.

I went Mavic CXP33 on Hope 11 and love 'em
The freewheel sounds like a fishing reel with a big fish on.
Anyway, they are light and tough!

Im going to guess that the wheels you have are a set of bontrager selects. Once you have them trued keep an eye on the spoke holes in the rims then have the bad habbit of cracking. The best thing about bontrager whhels is the 5 year warrinty.

Im going to guess that the wheels you have are a set of bontrager selects.

No, they're Bontrager Race (http://www.bontrager.com/model/02518/en) wheels, like I said. But thanks for your tip about spoke hole cracks; I'll keep an eye on 'em.

i just got some mavic aksiums for race wheels and they're pretty rad.

The races will do the same thing, They are supposed to have it worked out now I have a brand new set of whatever the selects are being sold as now on the wheel rack in the basement, I may use them but not sure. in the process of switching everthing I own over to 32 spoke wheels maybe evan a set of tubulars for next season.

One thing I didn't see listed here is if your wheels are disc or rim brake. That's going to change the suggestions for sure.

I'd guess that from what you describe that you'd knock just about any road wheel out of true. Having said that, a more durable wheel might be a 32 or 36 spoke open pro. Slightly, more durable would be a 32 or 36 spoke velocity deep v.
As usual with wheels, the build is very important. A well built wheel may be very durable while another wheel using the same components could be not durable at all.

One thing I didn't see listed here is if your wheels are disc or rim brake.

Oh, right, my bad. It's a canti Poprad, so they're rim brakes.

I've hear Mavic Open Pro rims on Ultegra Hubs are good and durable. I have no first hand experience with them, but every time I go to my local Performance, they seem to head in that direction.

I'd second these. I have a set on my touring bike and they are quite sturdy wheels while not being heavyweights. Great wheel for the price.

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=677

The Velocity Synergy rim is the right width (23mm), the right weight (496g), and best of all comes in an off-center version for a virtually dishless rear wheel, making it superior to the Open Pro for heavy-duty riding.

The Velocity Aerohead is almost exactly the same width and weight as the Open Pro (20mm, 410g), but also comes in an off-center version, again making it a better choice than Open Pro for geared bikes.

Check out chainreaction cycles, wiggle uk and probikekit when you're shopping around. Prices in the UK can be really good right now and those 3 places either have free shipping or free shipping once you reach x amount of dollars.

I'd second these. I have a set on my touring bike and they are quite sturdy wheels while not being heavyweights. Great wheel for the price.

I will 3rd these. I have two custom built sets from CC. Love them. I use them regularlaly for both road and some pretty serious off road riding.

i've ridden the loop and fairview park/sheep hills a few times on them and i ride my cross bike like a bmx bike on the roads; i.e. driveway to driveway gaps, small drops, and general antics...they were even used when i got them, been using them the past 5 months, back rim got a little wobble, mostly my fault from laziness, took less than 5 minutes to get it back to true. cant complain one bit about them. maybe i'll see you on the loop someday....i'll be the one breathing heavy and cursing, haha.

Id go more on the side of durability over weight and I would imagine the open pro being a little to much of a lightweight for what your doing. I have a 36h open pro/king hub combo and It has been good for light mountain biking and light touring with lots of road and commuting miles but Im about 175lbs and really try to take it easy on the technical stuff. I have managed to knock them out of true a bit and if I could do it again I would go with a stronger rim, hell I don't notice the weight in swapping tires so i doubt I will notice 50 grams per wheel or so.

I would have to suggest something like the velocity deep v or dyad rims laced to whatever your favorite flavor of hub is. If your looking for ideas there I love the hell out of my kings but they are pricey, another great hub is anything shimano, If your contemplating between an ultegra or dura ace hub keep in mind everything is almost identical minus freehub, same bearings and races, etc. One thing they do different on dura ace is they laser select the ideal bearings per hub shell on dura ace so I guess technically they might roll a tiny tiny bit faster but to most its not worth it and they will never notice the difference.

Hope this helps

I would have to suggest something like the velocity deep v or dyad rims laced to whatever your favorite flavor of hub is. Dyad would be a better choice because of it's width atmho. Synergy even better because of its off-center version for the rear wheel.

Dyad would be a great choice for singlespeed, but without OC drilling you essentially halve the number of spokes on the rear wheel.

For hubs, I think 105 would work great too.

Damn, wheels are expensive. :( Now that I look at prices on some of these, I don't know if I can afford them right now.

I have a set of CXP23s laced to Shimano Tiagra hubs that I used on my old bike for a while; they stood up well on the road. I'd be interested to know all y'alls opinions on them.

I have a set of CXP23s laced to Shimano Tiagra hubs that I used on my old bike for a while; they stood up well on the road. I'd be interested to know all y'alls opinions on them.Great. Won't win any weight weenie awards. Go ride the snot out of them.

You could probably rebuild these wheels with some Ultegra hubs and some lighter spokes and have a great wheelset.

You could probably rebuild these wheels with some Ultegra hubs and some lighter spokes and have a great wheelset.It would be silly to go to so much trouble for those rims.

There's nothing wrong with the wheels as they are.

Yeah, if I'm going to snag Ultegra hubs, I'd just as soon get Ultegra/Open Pros.

My CX bike came with FSA RD-60 rims and while a tad on the heavy side, I've found them remarkable to staying true. I'm 6'1 and 205 and have ridden these things over everything - and they never once went out of true. I would highly recommend them and even picked up a spare set that I switch out for road rides too. You can get a pair on the internet (Try EBAY) for around $225.

Yeah, if I'm going to snag Ultegra hubs, I'd just as soon get Ultegra/Open Pros.
If ya want OP/Ultegras look at Bicycle Wheel Warehouse (http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=37) -great price and built in CA by someone we know. I've got a set plus their OP/DuraAce. Great wheels at great prices.

It would be silly to go to so much trouble for those rims.

There's nothing wrong with the wheels as they are.

Sure, I'll agree with that, but it's a fun experience to build wheels.

Sure, I'll agree with that, but it's a fun experience to build wheels.Even so, if you're going to buy hubs and spokes you might as well spend a little more for new rims and end up with four wheels instead of two.

My Poprad came with Bontrager Race wheels which have held up surprisingly well to both on-road and off-road riding (the Fullerton Loop in So Cal, if you know that route) until this past Saturday when I was descending a small hill and bunny hopped over a very wide rain rut. Unfortunately, my back wheel didn't clear and hit the lip of the rut at a 45 degree angle, which caused a pinch flat and threw my wheel seriously out of true.

So, while my Bonty wheel is out being trued, I want to look into a stronger wheelset. I'm a pretty big guy; 6'3", well over 200 (prolly close to 235 or so.) I ride mostly road, but lately I've been riding a lot of off-road on my local trails (again, the Fullerton Loop for those in the know.) I don't race, and I don't want tubular wheels.

Any ideas?

As you know I just got a poprad of my own. I also want to keep two sets of wheels for it. (road and trail) I was planning on finding a light set of 29er wheels. Is yours a disc model? Isn't there a reason that the disc wheels are dished a little different and have an asymmetric shape?

I re-read this and found that you have the canti version. These bonty wheels do have a low spoke count. I have to agree that the Mavic Open Pro's are a decent choice (with a high spoke count) or the Velocity Deep V. My local shop that sells velocity laces them up like a BMX wheel, something to do with triple blah blah, it looks a little different but they supposedly can take a serious beating.

You don't need Velocity Deep-V's. They are strong but with strength come weight. Flargle gave you the best advise on rims here. Go with the Aeroheads from Velocity and use the OC in the rear. I only wish they made those in tubulars.

I only wish they made those in tubulars.+1

All lightweight alloy rims should come in an OC version.

Im am just getting ready to leave the house on a brand new set of Velocity rims Aerohead frt aerohead OC rear laced to 32 hole 8/9 spd Dura-ace hubs. It will be their Madain voyage.

As someone else said, what you did to your current wheel would probably have damaged any wheel. Not being accusatory, as anyone can fail to clear an obstacle.

If you have those Tiagra/CXP 23 wheels, I see no reason to not ride them. If anything, the CXP23 wheel will hypothetically be more durable and maybe somewhat aero than the Open Pro wheelset as the CXP is a shallow V rim.

I ride on a pair of Ultegra/Open Pros that I pick up used for 'bout $150, they've survived trails like the McKensie River in Oregon ( 26 miles and lots of lava on the top half) no complaints here!

I went ahead and put my CXP23/Tiagra wheelset on my bike, gonna give that a try for a while. I can already tell just from my rides around the block that it's a stiffer wheelset than the Bonty Races.

Here's a pic:

http://absolutelymental.us/images/popradmavic.jpg

Nice-looking bike.

32-spoke wheels definitely feel stiffer than minimal-spoke wheels to me, too, but I think that's because I weigh #180 and generally I think it's something us heavier riders are more attuned to.

[QUOTE=thirdin77;8526435]Nice-looking bike.
QUOTE]

+1. Very nice. I lusted after that frame for months.

I've hear Mavic Open Pro rims on Ultegra Hubs are good and durable. I have no first hand experience with them, but every time I go to my local Performance, they seem to head in that direction.

+1, I just got a set of these for my Salsa for Xmas from here: (~$250)
http://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=37

Whatever wheelset you choose, I highly recommend handbuilt over factory-built. I have a set of factory-built 32-sp. 14ga. Ultegra-Open Pro's that I bought from Jenson USA a number of years ago. The rear wheel had some immediate and serious spoke-breakage / truing issues until I got it rebuilt at a LBS.

Since that time I've only purchase hand-built wheels (of varying type) and never had the problem repeart itself.

Good luck!

The only practical difference between machine built and hand built is the final tensioning, destressing, and truing.

Learn those final steps yourself, and Bob's your uncle. It's not rocket science but does take a bit of patience and gumption.

^Agreed. I've bought a few of those wheel sets before and I always go over them. Plus those wheel sets are significantly cheaper than buying the parts individually.

Nice-looking bike.

32-spoke wheels definitely feel stiffer than minimal-spoke wheels to me, too, but I think that's because I weigh #180 and generally I think it's something us heavier riders are more attuned to.

Is 180lbs really that heavy? I'd think the average American adult weighs more than that. I'm right at 5'10", 190 and never considered myself a big guy.