Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - 32h vs 36h

Going to order the Sun M13 wheelset from velomine. They're sold out of the 36h. Emailed ben and he said it'd hopefully be 2-3 weeks. They'll be used in the city for commuting but the roads aren't too bad here. I weigh 160 and will be running 25c tires. Will i be fine w the 32h? or is it worth the wait for the 36h. Did some searching around and found some mixed answers.

Thanks

I ordered the 36h but they were also sold out at the time (about two months ago), right now I'm the fattest i've ever been at like 185 and i'm on 25c RiBMos and these 32h Ben sent me are perfect. I'd say just go with the 32h.

The 36H are total overkill unless you're a clydesdale or doing tricks. I've even gotten away with some tricking with 32H wheels, although I'm only 140 lbs or so.

Hmm, That would explain my brutal wheels, i have a 36h i weigh 120

I was wondering about the exact same thing. thanks

The 36H are total overkill unless you're a clydesdale or doing tricks. I've even gotten away with some tricking with 32H wheels, although I'm only 140 lbs or so.

Quoted for awesomness

I weigh 200 and rode the 32 spoke M13's for a year with no problems.

+1, I'd like to see some sick TT edits set to some nasty hip-hop.

Quoted for awesomness

++ I wish TT was my grampa.

Yea, Im 195-210lbs depending on how much **** I eat, and only run 32h rims. Don't sweat it.

on my touring bike that I carry tons of **** on, including me at 190, I use 36h, for my fixed gear that is my work bike/ beat around the city bike I use 32h open pros, on my roadie which I'm pretty light on I use 24h front and 28h rear. assuming the wheel is decently built and you aren't jumping 6 sets you'll be fine with 32h

seriously brah? I'm 205lbs and I've ran 32h on 23's over potholes and cracks for a year now and they're still true

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=197734&d=1302718412

TejanoTrickie

Generally if you don't tour or if you don't trick, you don't need that many spokes. However, because the Sun M13 has a very shallow profile it might be a good idea to go for the extra spokes. I'm 185 and ride 28h semi-aero rims over really rough roads and they've held up.

sweet, ill go w the 32 then, now i can build my bike up a few weeks sooner too :thumb:

I have a question, why wouldn't you go with 36H anyways? Like in a "just in case" kind of mindset.
Why wouldn't you want the strongest wheels you can get?

I counted and I have 28H, 25c tires, I ride through semi-rough terrain (chipped up roads and such).
I'm about 190lbs total weight and now I'm getting kind of worried! haha.

well, OP says velomine is out of 36h. i would rather just grab them early with only 32h with little to no differences.

36 is total overkill. I was tricking and skidding and being rambunctious on a 28h rear for like 8 months when i first started with no problems at 140lbs.

even now i've bulked up at the gym and am at 155lbs, and when I build my light weight wheel set i'll go with 20h front and 24h rear. That will be just fine on rough roads with good riding skill.

36 is overkill in the majority of cases unless you're building the wheels with very thin spokes or putting it on a tandem (my tandem has 40 spoke wheels).

For general riding a well built 24 or 28 is plenty strong. You have to watch it a bit more because if a spoke loses tension the wheel is more compromised than on a higher spoke wheel but that shouldn't happen with regular maintenance unless you do something like catch a branch in your wheel.

I'm 6'1" 220-230 lbs and my road bike has 20 spoke Mavic Aksiums. Those wheels are practically indestructible and I'm not gentle. I race cyclocross with an older set of tubular Ksyrium SSCs, 20/24 spoke. My fixed has 32 spoke Alex DUBs laced to Formulas because that's what it came with. I beat the snot out of them, no problems. No tricks either unless you count the occasional speed bump/pot hole bunny hopping.

I'm sure I would have had problems with my fixed wheels because out of the box the tensions were all wacky. I loosened all the spokes until the nipples showed thread then tightened them all uniformly until the wheel started to come up towards proper tension. Then I broke out the tension meter (bike co op) and brought the wheel up to a nice uniform tension. I barely had to true it once I finished. Now I have a wheel where forces are distributed uniformly around the rim.

If the wheel has even spoke tension it will be strong with 20, 24, 28, 32, or 36 spokes assuming it was built with good components by a good wheelbuilder who took the time to get the tensions even. A 36 spoke with wacky uneven tension will break and go out of true because the forces are being distributed unevenly.

My Mavic wheels were all fairly uniform tension when I got them, even my Ksyriums which had seen a lot of miles before I got them. The only thing I've had to do to them is adjust the dish over about 2mm on one set of Aksiums (I have two) so I could swap wheels without adjusting my brakes.

I have a bunch of both, and a 28H front. One nice thing about 36H is durability! I'm running a 26" 36H front that's missing a spoke right now. It's barely out of true and I've put about 100 miles on it, jumped curbs, small bunnyhops, etc.

I'm 145 lbs and will probably wait a while before I grab a spoke for the thing.