Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Cassette VS. Freewheel and a new rim.

I am a clyde rider in the lower 300's. I have a 2009 Trek 7100 with 700C rims. I have been having problems with the rear wheel, drive side spokes breaking. Now the wheel is bent. The LBS quoted me $48 to replace the wheel with exact same one and plus it has to be ordered. Since, I am going to have to go through all of this anyways, I am going to get a wheel that is more heavy duty with better spokes. I am going to go to another LBS tomorrow to talk about this. Is there any advantage in replacing the freewheel that came with it to a cassette? I figure now is the time to make any upgrades since I need a new back wheel.

Thanks.

Yes, exchange it for a cassette model, they are more robust, and freewheels in general become a source of trouble as weight of the rider goes above 200 lbs. For me personally, freewheels are a big red flag when looking at any prebuilt wheel. No quality manufacturer should use freewheel on modern bikes, since freehub and cassette is a vastly superior design, and only marginally more expensive in production (we are talking $20 difference at most for entry level components). And even an entry level freehub will stand up to heaviest riders the frame can take. So it is illogical and an completely missed cost savings measure to be so cheap in designing a bike as to use a freewheel on a new modern bike.

As for the rim, it's completely another story, most any quality double wall trekking rim will be ok, as long as the wheel is put together by a competent and experienced wheel builder. Machine built wheels as they most often come on many production bikes are easily destroyed by higher rider weight or by stronger riders. So just make sure it is well built and you wont have problems with it anymore.

Yesterday, I went to a different LBS and bought a new double wall rim with cassette and have it on the bike now. One of the tech's didn't think a double wall rim would help me, and was really pushing for me to go with the exact same rim that came stock with the bike. His thoughts were it was my riding habits with gears, and for the price that now have in the cassette and double walled wheel, I could of bought two or three stock rims.

Thanks.

It wasn't your riding habits. It was probably a combination of your weight and a poorly built wheel. Exactly what wheel did you buy, and who built it? Will the shop that sold it to you stand behind it?

Yesterday, I went to a different LBS and bought a new double wall rim with cassette and have it on the bike now. One of the tech's didn't think a double wall rim would help me, and was really pushing for me to go with the exact same rim that came stock with the bike. His thoughts were it was my riding habits with gears, and for the price that now have in the cassette and double walled wheel, I could of bought two or three stock rims.

Thanks.

You did good. If original rim was bent after some use, it obviously was not strong enough. Quality double wall should take care of that. It seems that the tech in question doesn't know his job all too well, since his advice was not good. You need one wheel that wont bend, not 2 or 3 more stock wheels that will bend again in short order.