Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - May I ask, any Advice / Warnings for Clyde LHT Wheels / Dynamo ?

May I ask for advice? I'm about to replace my wheels on my Surly LHT and I'd like to ask for recommendations / warnings.

I'm a heavy guy and I carry a lot of gear. I've always run 700x32 tires. Any guidance on hubs, spoke count, spoke type, lacing pattern, rims? My current wheels have XT 36-spoke hubs, DT 14 gauge spokes in a 4-cross pattern, and DT Swiss 7.1 rims.

I'm contemplating putting a dynamo in the front wheel.
If you asked me, what's your primary goal in this purchase, I'd say: I never want these wheels to go out of true.
If you asked me, what's your lowest priority concern, I'd say: lightweight is not a concern

thanks in advance!

Peter White gives this kind of guarantee. http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/

If you never what them to go out of true find the best wheelbuilder you can and have whatever wheel you buy built by him/her. Spoke count isn't nearly as important as a good wheel builder. 36 or 32 spoke wheels should give you many thousands of miles of enjoyment.

I've had a Schmidt dynohub since 1999 and it works great. Peter White built that set of wheels for me. He is a premier wheel builder if you can get past his somewhat grumpy disposition.

If you asked me, what's your primary goal in this purchase, I'd say: I never want these wheels to go out of true.

Can I ask why? Truing a wheel is actually pretty easy! Obviously not the sort of thing you want to be doing on a daily basis, but now that I've seen how easy it is to true a wheel I find that I don't worry about it so much...

As far as recommendations, I'd suggest double or triple butted spokes (ex: DT Swiss Competition or Alpine 3), 3-cross lacing, brass nipples. The number of spokes should depend on total weight of bike+rider+gear. I use 24f/28r on my road bike and 32/32 on my touring bike. If you're an uber-Clyde or haul lots of gear think about 32/36 or 36/36. I'm a big fan of Velocity's off-center rims. I used the Synergy OC rim for the wheels on my touring bike and I've been pretty impressed so far. The off-center drilling leads to more even tension between the drive and non-drive sides, which seems to reduce the need for truing... so far.

Can I ask why?

Two things happen when spokes start out too loose and get looser as your weight or a bump unloads the bottom spokes

1. The nipples no longer have enough tension on them for friction to keep them in place so they unscrew and the wheel goes out of true

2. The wheel is unsupported laterally and can collapse.

Assuming your front wheel doesn't collapse (This could be a good thing though - after I folded the front wheel in a poorly tensioned pair I started building my own wheels) such wheels are going to go out of true repeatedly until you fix the underlying problem and achieve sufficiently high and uniform tension.

Unfortunately when wheels are that messed up it can take more time to fix them than it does to build a wheel from scratch (I felt lazy and didn't feel like rebuilding a wheel which began life as a 3 speed IGH as an 8 speed when we put together a bike for my wife so I delegated to the bike shop for $70. It didn't stay true and it did take more time to get right because instead of starting roughly uniform and staying that way tension was all over the place).

It's better and safer just to build wheels right so you don't need a spoke wrench until you bend a rim in a crash or need to replace it because you've worn out the brake tracks.

Nice hubs, lace them to heavier rims.

You could hunt down a set of tandem wheels...

If the current rims aren't worn, then I say go with just respoking your current front around a dynohub. If you're looking for a super bling hub, then go for the SON28 in mirror polished chrome. I've got a handbuilt SON28 front on my rando/commuter bike and I'm on my second rim after having worn through a DT RR1.1 in around 8500 miles. (bad winter roads up here)
Now I'm rolling a SON28/CR-18 on 3-cross Champion 2.0 spokes and 32mm Panaracer Urban Max tires. Similar sounding setup to what you need, slightly less heavy-duty for rando loads instead of heavy loads.

If you're looking to save some bucks and still have an awesome wheel, the Shimano 3N80 hub is about half the price of the SON28 and still pumps out the same performance, both power output and similar drag resistance. You'd be hard pressed to go wrong with a setup like that.

For even more savings, if you can score a Shimano 3N72 the performance is still really good; slightly higher drag resistance than the 3N80, but I've got one and comparing it to the SON28 I don't notice a difference in the feel of the wheel when riding except on slight downhills where I may need to pedal a bit instead of coasting to keep the same pace.

Both the SON and the Shimano hubs are available in 36h drillings.

Two things happen when spokes start out too loose and get looser as your weight or a bump unloads the bottom spokes

I think you misunderstand: I wasn't suggesting that the OP buy a crap wheel set. Merely that he doesn't need to pay a 2-3X premium to buy wheels that never need truing from Peter White or someone of similar caliber. I buy good wheels, for about half what White charges, true them once/year (if that) and enjoy having some extra cash in my wallet to spend on other toys...

I have my wheels built by a local guy who recommends Velocity Dyad rims. 32-spoke should be fine, but why not go with 36? Pretty much any quality hub will do the job. I have a SON28 on one bike, and just sold a bike with a Shimano Alfine dynohub. No problems with either.

I have a set built with a dyno hub, and came to the following conclusions:
SON28 - too rich for my blood
3N72 - pretty good
3N80 - considered to be slightly better than the 3N72 (probably unnoticable) BUT because it doesn't support disc brakes like the 3N72, there is even dish. That is theoretically stronger, so I chose that one.

For rims, in addition to strength, watch the width. Wider rims like Mavic A319 / A719 take a minimum 28mm tire. Something like the velocity deep-v is likely too skinny for a 32mm tire, etc.

If you asked me, what's your primary goal in this purchase,
I'd say: I never want these wheels to go out of true.

to be more realistic, consider dropping by your favorite bike shop
and having tension and truing checked occasionally..

my 700c loaded touring bike has a 48 spoke rear , and a 40 spoke front.
I have Sun Rhyno Rims now (not the rhyno light) 622-40 tires.

Ran a set of Mavic Mod 4 rims for a decade .. brake track was not wide ,
and that prompted the building of wheel set #2..

somebody is still riding on the other wheels , probably.

Handy is my having the wheel builder under my Hat.