Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - broken spokes! bad wheel?

I broke a spoke on a 40 mile ride last weekend and not a week later I broke another spoke on a short 15 mile ride....A couple weeks before that also I broke one. My wheels were trued by a good bike mechanic and they've been true each time. I'm 255 and ride 12-14 avg on mostly smooth roads on a Trek 2100 with 700cx23. I got to thinking that maybe I got a cheap wheel. I went to a LBS and asked for a "cheap" wheel. Did he do just that, give me a cheap wheel? Should I buy a bettter wheel? Wider tire? Any advice is appreciated.

You best need 36 spoke wheels.

How old is the wheel? I had a solid wheel, well trued and maintained, start popping spokes every few weeks. The wheel mechanic at the LBS suggested that if it kept happening, I might consider rebuilding the wheel and replacing all the spokes.


...I got to thinking that maybe I got a cheap wheel. I went to a LBS and asked for a "cheap" wheel. Did he do just that, give me a cheap wheel?

Ummm...yeh...any reason to think that you got more than you paid for?

Um, considering that you've told us absolutely nothing about the wheel in question, other than the fact that spokes are breaking, it impossible to answer your question.

There's different kinds of cheap. I have 3 pairs of cheap wheels:

Pair 1 - IRO house-built customs. House brand rims and hubs on Sapim spokes. $150 for the pair.
I beat them like they insulted my Mom. I've raced a season of cyclocross on them. They've needed minor truing here and there. They needed an initial tension increase, but they were round, true, and tension balanced.

Pair 2 - IRO house brand hoops and hubs, DT Champion 2.0 spokes, personally handbuilt. $98 plus my time. Commuter and long distance wheels. They don't get the harsh torture that the race wheels get, but they see more frequent use and I use them as my roller-wheels in the winter (easy abuse, but still consistent miles on them).

Pair 3 - SUN CR18 rims, DT Champion spokes 2.0 and 1.8, IRO house brand rear hub, SON28 front (so these aren't "cheap" all-around) but the hoops are only $25 each and the spokes are $0.45/ea
Randonneuring and commuting wheelset. Sees plenty of rutted chipseal, gravel, hardpack dirt roads, grass paths here and there, and I throw CX tires on them to commute through the snow. They're heavy, but they're nigh indestructable.

Cheap components like sub-$30 rims and hubs don't mean that the craftsmanship of the part is bad. There are good, inexpensive components out there.
The place you can't be uncertain is the worksmanship of the build. You could buy a HED Belgium rim, lace it to a DT 240 hub with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, and wrap it in a pricey UST tire full of Stan's and have the whole $300+ shootin' match fall apart after 5 miles if the build quality was crap.

I got to thinking that maybe I got a cheap wheel. I went to a LBS and asked for a "cheap" wheel. Did he do just that, give me a cheap wheel?

Let me rearrange that for you:


I went to a LBS and asked for a "cheap" wheel. I got to thinking that maybe I got a cheap wheel. Did he do just that, give me a cheap wheel?

Sounds like you are a satisfied customer - you got exactly what you asked for. :)

Sometimes it's just a case of bad spokes. But, in this case, you asked and you probably received.

I needed an inexpensive wheelset to start longer rides. I just didn't have the $$ for a good set. I picked up the Vuelta Corsa HDs from Nashar for $128 ($159 with an additional 20% limited sale discount). The are working out great and the only downside is the weight, they are heavy. The trade off of not worrying about spokes is worth it. Now I can go on long rides and have peace of mind.

I don't know if this is an option for you....but just wanted to mention it.

Good Luck

Lenny that was helpful, thanks. I was looking at those wheels.

Here's one thing don't like; I went into a LBS and said I need cheap wheel. Which means I don't need the top of the line racing wheel, but I would hope the shop would notice I'm "not little" and they would say "you might need a sturdier wheel".

So would a more expensive wheel actually be stronger and able to handle my weight?

I have been looking into wheels for a while (since I upgraded my bike) and I am finding price has nothing to do with it The spoke count, types of spokes, type of rim, hubs and of course the wheel build itself, are what seem to be important. You can spend $1000 on wheels that wont last for someone over 200lbs.

That is why those HDs are working for me. They got a lot of good reviews on Nashbar and on these forums.
I am happy with them, they work great and bought me time.....to save and decide.


Good luck

Lenny that was helpful, thanks. I was looking at those wheels.

Here's one thing don't like; I went into a LBS and said I need cheap wheel. Which means I don't need the top of the line racing wheel, but I would hope the shop would notice I'm "not little" and they would say "you might need a sturdier wheel".

So would a more expensive wheel actually be stronger and able to handle my weight?

If you only asked for a cheap wheel, you got exactly what you asked for. At around 250 lbs I've known people that could easily destroy nearly any wheel that wasn't built like a tank, and other people that could ride a cheap 24 spoke machine built wheel and not even need it trued after 2,000 miles. Maybe the person at the LBS thought you were one of the latter, due to you only requiring a "cheap" wheel and not qualifying your purchase with anything else.

Have you talked to the shop that sold you the wheel? Maybe see what they have to say about it. Maybe they'll take the old wheel back and get you into something a little sturdier.