Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - time to upgrade wheelset... help please!

Hi everyone, sorry to bring up an old topic BUT...

I'm destroying every wheelset I throw on my bike.. I keep breaking spokes on my rear wheel no matter how I try to ride. I used to be a 320 pound lineman, and although I'm now at 215 (over the past year!) I think I'm still pedaling and have the leg strength of a college lineman. That being said, I have the opportunity now to upgrade my stock alexrims to a better set.. without compromising too much in the performance category, I would like to find a solid wheelset that I don't have to worry about.

I was looking at the mavic askium, and the vuelta corsa hd... from what I've read they appear to be a decent choice.

I also am considering building the wheel up if its worth it. I know having a wheelset retensioned makes all the difference, I just would like to find a wheelset that I don't have to baby, but still am able to ride as hard as I do. Any help would be great. Thank you!

Hi everyone, sorry to bring up an old topic BUT...

I'm destroying every wheelset I throw on my bike.. I keep breaking spokes on my rear wheel no matter how I try to ride. , I just would like to find a wheelset that I don't have to baby, but still am able to ride as hard as I do. Any help would be great. Thank you!

There are better wheel experts on here than me. I weigh more than you and ride "hard" I don't jump curbs or anything and don't have any problems breaking spokes. These tires you are looking at seem to be low spoke count. With that said, I'm not sure either is going to hold up to your riding style, from the sounds of it.

Road or Mountain Bike? If a road bike, I'd highly recommend the Velocity Deep V. 36 spoke and 3 cross weave for the rear and cross for the front. Have them hand built.

The Aksium is a decent wheelset, but one of the best suggestions I've got is to have a set built up. (Or build it up yourself, if you have the knowledge and skills.) I've been above 250 pounds, and ridden on exclusively 32 spoke wheels without ever breaking a spoke. I don't baby my wheels, either. Occaisionally drop curbs, run a pothole, dirt/gravel roads, etc. all on 700 x 28 tires.
I handbuilt my 32h DT Swiss RR1.1 wheels with DT Champion 2.0 spokes.

Thanks for the replies! I went over to my LBS and talked some things out. We hashed out some ideas and I did some research when I got home. I really liked what I saw about the dt rims. I hadn't really considered them based on my knowledge of pre built wheels. The rr 1.2's passed the look test for me, and from what we talked about, the semi aero 1.2's will give me a little more stiffness. Since I'm basically set on the 1.2's now comes the question of what hub to consider. I have heard nothing but good things regarding ultegra hubs, I have a 105 grouppo, but I think if I'm gonna go big on the hub I'd rather upgrade the hubs first. We also talked about Chris King and Phil Wood hubs, but they are probably out of my price range for now. Any other input would be greatly appreciated!

Hi! I'm 210-215 and have 6100mi on my Aksium wheels in the last 3 years.

The wheels have remained true the entire time, despite riding some very rough city pavement, doing some not-so-light touring, and riding year-round in Chicago.

Since these Aksiums have proven bullet proof, I'm seriously considering going lighter.

Good luck!

Dave

PS: Gotta change my sig file 'cause I recently upgraded the 105 to DA (recently got the DA gruppo for only $1800 at LBS)!

A lot of people will tell you that anyone over 200 pounds should never ride anything less than 32 spokes. That is far from the truth. At 270 last year I was riding Aksiums and they took all the abuse I could throw at them.

If you have the money burning a hole in your pocket, then by all means get some wheels custom built. If you are like me and don't have a lot of money to spare, get a set of Aksiums. They are on sale most places right now for $179.

BF member Psimet2001 (http://www.psimet.com) builds great custom wheels at extremely reasonable prices. He's a one-man shop, so lead times can be long but the results are worth it.

I'd go with a 32- or 36-spoke rim (maybe 32F, 36R?). Psimet likes Kinlin (http://www.psimet.com/aluminum-wheels.html) rims and after buying a set, I can see why. I'm also a fan of Velocity (http://www.velocityusa.com) rims, particularly their off-center (OC) rims for the rear wheel. I used a set of Synergy OC rims when building wheels for my touring bike and was amazed at how even the spoke tension ended up being on the rear wheel. OC isn't a requirement for a strong wheel, but I tend to think it helps improve longevity. The only problem with OC is they don't make very many models.

I'd spec brass nipples all around, a 3-cross lacing pattern for the rear wheel and whatever cross pattern you want for the front. I'd use 2.0/1.8mm double-butted spokes (e.g. DT Swiss Competition or Wheelsmith Double-Butted).

Shimano Ultegra hubs are known for being bullet-proof and are reasonably priced. The only downside is that they're also relatively heavy. The noise from a Chris King rear hub would drive me crazy, so I'd pass on them. Phil Wood makes good hubs, but they'll probably double the cost of the build and are overkill for most applications. DT Swiss makes good hubs, though I'd probably stick with Shimano myself...

BF member Psimet2001 (http://www.psimet.com) builds great custom wheels at extremely reasonable prices. He's a one-man shop, so lead times can be long but the results are worth it.

I'd go with a 32- or 36-spoke rim (maybe 32F, 36R?). Psimet likes Kinlin (http://www.psimet.com/aluminum-wheels.html) rims and after buying a set, I can see why. I'm also a fan of Velocity (http://www.velocityusa.com) rims, particularly their off-center (OC) rims for the rear wheel. I used a set of Synergy OC rims when building wheels for my touring bike and was amazed at how even the spoke tension ended up being on the rear wheel. OC isn't a requirement for a strong wheel, but I tend to think it helps improve longevity. The only problem with OC is they don't make very many models.

I'd spec brass nipples all around, a 3-cross lacing pattern for the rear wheel and whatever cross pattern you want for the front. I'd use 2.0/1.8mm double-butted spokes (e.g. DT Swiss Competition or Wheelsmith Double-Butted).

Shimano Ultegra hubs are known for being bullet-proof and are reasonably priced. The only downside is that they're also relatively heavy. The noise from a Chris King rear hub would drive me crazy, so I'd pass on them. Phil Wood makes good hubs, but they'll probably double the cost of the build and are overkill for most applications. DT Swiss makes good hubs, though I'd probably stick with Shimano myself...

I'll second this. I just got my Psimet-built wheels last night. I went with 24/28 DT Comp spokes, brass nipples, XR-300 rims, and White Industries hubs. They are absolutely beautifully built, and I have no reservations at all about their durability. I am 6', 200-205lbs and Psimet felt that these would be plenty strong. One thing to keep in mind is spoke availability. I know that if I ever needed a new spoke it is as close as any LBS. I've been using White Industries hubs for years, and the newest iteration, H3 rear, is VERY nice. I think it is quieter than past models, and it's very robust. And the price is very reasonable too...

210 pounds of gear mashing here. I had my local guy build up a set of Mavic 36 hole Open Pro Rims, with DT swiss double-butted spokes 4,000 miles ago. The spokes are triple crossed. I haven't any broken spokes or other issues. I like Mavic rims due to my personal experience with them. I had a set of first generation Ksyrium SSC SL's (won in a raffle). At 1000 miles the rim had 8 stress fractures at the nipple holes and still ran nearly true. Mavic replaced the wheel without issue and I promptly sold them to have my "Fat Boy" wheels built.

I am very pleased with my new psimet wheels, have just over 500 miles on them, would recommend them, 28/32 2x/3x kinlin 300 with White Industries hubs and Sapim CXrays. He makes a great set of wheels. I use them as training wheels in instead of zipp 404's.

Just ordered myself another set of Aksiums. Performance was having a sale offering 20% off everything until 3pm yesterday. The wheels were already on sale for $169.99, and I got 20% off that. Couldn't pass it up...

My Aksiums have been great for me, about 1500 miles on them so far. Never gone out of true or broke a spoke, and thats after hitting a pretty deep pothole that hurt everything but my bike.

Excel Sports built DT Swiss 1.1 rims and 340 hubs. I use 32 spokes front and rear. 2 years ~ 2500 miles on mine and no issues other than retentioning the spokes. Oh and I run 250 - 270lbs depending on the time of year.

- Fatbiker

How much do you want to spend is also a consideration. I'm a clyde and fromer rugby player(not pro) and at a peak of 235-240 have not had any issues with either of my low count spoked wheels. I know everyone here goes on about lots of spokes and for a reason but I have a set of Bontrager RaceXLites and a set of DA Carbon clinhers that have 20 and 18 spokes and have not even had to have them trued and thay have a combined 5500km on them. There is a price point I believe where you cross over from light and fragile to light and properly built strong wheels.

How good are the roads you ride on? Bad roads, get some well built 32 spoke wheels. Good roads, Mavic Askiums or Krysiums, no matter how you spell them.