Bicycle Mechanics - I need an xtra tough wheel!

What is a good tough wheel for under $250. I am not concerned about weight. Just that it can take a beating! What are some tough rims.... hubs....? I have been told to look for 32-36 hole rims that are double-walled, but I'm having trouble locating them. Can anyone help?::beer:

Need much more info!

MTB or road? Complete wheelset or just front or rear?

If it's for MTB, are you running disks or rim brakes? Do you need toughness for potholes, for XC or for launching your bike off of rooftops?

Also, in which part of the world do you live?

You probably need a handbuilt wheel. Better bike shops can build them according to your weight and application. 36 spokes will built into a stronger wheel than 32, and for loaded touring over rough tracks, some heavier people use 40 spokes.

One good wheelbuilder has a lot of info at
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Wheels.asp

$250 is plenty enought to get a pair of bomb-proof wheels. You may not get the flashiest components, but the build quality counts for more. If your current hubs are of reasonable quality, you may be able to have them rebuilt into a stronger wheel.

Originally posted by MichaelW
You probably need a handbuilt wheel.

Ditto that. Even if you buy factory-built wheels, it's necessary to have an experienced wheelbuilder with an tensionometer go over them, stress-relieve the spokes, and re-true and tension the wheels.

Might as well have the wheelbuilder make them for you from the get-go. Your budget is sufficient.

My experience touring and commuting tells me that build quality trumps parts every time; a very ordinary rim with nothing-special spokes and a good-enough hub will give you many thousands of trouble-free miles if it's built and prepped correctly. It's only under extreme conditions -- XC and downhill type riding -- that the inherent strength of the parts really matters.

If that sort of extreme use is what you have in mind, I don't know what to tell you. Keep asking people who do that sort of riding what works.

RichC

You have been given some crap advice...get a Sun Mamoth rim its about 150 rear and 100 front....its the only way to go for strenth and price. forget custom building a wheelset as it will cost twice that

If you want xtra tough go with the Atomic Laboratories TrailPimp Wheels. www.atomlab.com if you want an all around heavy duty wheelset you can get the Aircorp. Very strong and very schawanky!

L8R:beer:

hes right.....get th trail pimps......they are aparently indestructable......but very costly

We still dont know if (s)he is looking for a road / touring or mtn wheel... :)

Originally posted by trialsin
You have been given some crap advice...get a Sun Mamoth rim its about 150 rear and 100 front....its the only way to go for strenth and price. forget custom building a wheelset as it will cost twice that

If you are going to dismiss the sound advice of many experienced cyclists as crap, can you explain why?

Are those prices for the Sun Mamoth rim only, or for a complete wheel. Who builds the wheel ?

Wheelbuilding at a good shop usually costs $30-$40 in addition to the materials. A good strong reliable set of wheels can be had for under $300. I call that remarkably good value.
If you want to understand why a wheel is strong there is a good book by Jobst Brandt called The Bicycle Wheel.

A Sun Mamoth can be bought factory built ona Deore hub for $150 rear and $100 front almost anywhere(in Canada). To get a rim built at a bike shop , as you said, would cost 30-40 $ more. Why get a rim built if you can but one factory built? Thats why I think its crap advice. sorry to offend.

Well Grasshopper, most factory built wheels are built up on machines. They may be true when they leave the factory, but few are pre-stressed (you do know how to pre-stress a wheel I hope), and the spoke tension is often not even.
The $30 you pay for a good wheelbuilder is probably the best $30 you can spend on a bike
I still think you should educate yourself about wheelbuilding and not be so quick to dismiss the skill needed to build strong reliable wheels.

you may know an expert wheel builder, but this guy may not...My point is that SUN hand builds rims at the factory.....and i trust them more than your average bike shop mechanic. I have hand built, tension tested, and trued over 20 wheelsets, and I do know what I'm talking about....That $30 or $40 might be a rip off if the builder isn't skilled. Furthermore to build a wheel from scratch you have to buy the components individually, which adds more cost.... I think this guys looking to spend less not more.

as much fun as it is to argue with you, why don't you suggest some products rather than just telling him to go custom build a wheelset...I think (s)he may need some direction in terms of which rims , hubs, to use. ( again I suggest a SUN Rhino lite or a Mammoth if you want super strong. Sram 9.0 hubs seem to be really strong and durable or Deore if you want value);)

I think it's time everyone settle down a bit... ;)

here's my take on wheels (how do I know? I've built a few ;) )

custom hand built will 99% of the time be much stronger then factory built. why? there are a few reasons, for one a machine cannot see if a rim is built slightly out of true, nor can it tell if the spokes are twisting when tightened. When a wheel builder puts a wheel together, he/she not only is trueing the wheel but is also carefully watching the tension on the spokes, if they get twisted they can "untwist" themselves when you ride, and therefore create a hazard. I know this is really really rare, but it is a fact. a machine just cannot compare to carefull work of a human, and this indeed makes the wheel stronger.

and yes having a wheel build will cost about $20-40 more, but who says you cannot do it yourself.... I did.

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

just get some old crappy wheels to practice on and after a few tries you get the hang of it. :D

This is one of those times when the first response/question was the most thoughful, and went unanswered, and most of the rest are validating "George Carlin's treatise on why we go to war". There's a bunch that needs considering, including the unmentioned but very important spoke pattern and gauge, volume & air pressure of the tires that'll be mounted and whether they're kept inflated, etc. (For instance most any well maintained wheelset built with decent hubs, quality 36H rims, X4, and 14 gauge spokes & brass nipples can be ridden long and hard and then willed to someone - Given the quality of modern day wheel components, I'd even be willing to suggest the same could be done with 32H rims, X3, and 14/15 gauge spokes & alloy nipples - I've got several personally built 16 year-old road & mountain wheelsets with Kingsbery hubs, 32H Sun rims, X3, 15-17 gauge Wheelsmith spokes w/alloy nipples that are still going strong). And another thing ... handbuilt doesn't necessarily mean custom, and experienced wheelbuilders can produce excellent wheels for a fair price, and you help someone make a living in a good business.

handbuilt doesn't necessarily mean custom
Very true. Most wheels built for custom bicycle builders here are built by hand ... in prisons.

Cheers...Gary

Originally posted by gmason
Most wheels built for custom bicycle builders here are built by hand ... in prisons.

Is that really true? Man, that would be creepy. Having prison-made license plates on your car is one thing, but wheels... your life could depend on your wheels!:confused:

RichC

True, according to the guy who built our bikes, and he has been doing it for many years.

I suspect that it is good industrial training, and a way for them to make a few bucks. Besides, I think they are probably tuned by the bike builder after he gets them. Ours are certainly in great shape.

Cheers...Gary (whose wheels were a steal)