Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Upgrading wheelset

Iam looking at upgrading my wheelset,and was wondering would the sram s30 wheelset be a problem.i weigh 280,and there going on my trek cronus ultimate.any help would be great.thanks

I would say that's not a lot of spokes... take that for what it's worth. There were a couple of S30s on the website but it looked like 18/20.

Iam trying to figure this out,I've done a bunch of researching and can not find any real answers.the bike shop said ill be fine,but just want to make sure.

if they really are a 18 front 20 rear set of wheels, and the bike shop is saying you will be fine at 280 lbs, I think you need to find another bike shop

I have four bike stores nearby. There used to be a fifth. The only one that wouldn't tell me, " you'll be fine" on anything I was willing to spend my money on, was the one no longer in business.

The others will all happily endorse the use of sub 1500 grm wheels for 250-300lb training mileage, then collect the service fee for replacing spokes and attempting to keep them true.

What are you hoping to accomplish with the wheel upgrade?

Will they be your only wheels? Your primary wheels? Or, event day wheels?

There are plenty of guys on here riding fairly light and low spoke count wheels on a daily basis. I'm not one of them. I definately advocate good durable wheels for clyde training. Generally, a fairly deep profile aluminum rim with 32-36 3X spokes. Then, a set of "event" wheels if you want.

However, if different wheels are going to make you want to go ride and you've got the money, go for it.

For what it's worth, I did look at the s30 Sprints as a possible alternative to the Zipp 101's (looking forward to justifing 'event' wheels for me). There are several different models of S30, with reasonable differences between them.

Right now they will be my primary wheelset.hoping to gain a little more speed with a pure road rim and tire.Right now aim running 700x35 Vittoria randonneur hyper tires.

On sunday i took my friends road bike for a ride and could not believe the difference in bikes,i don't want to get rid of my cronus,he said i should just update my rims and tires,and i should be fine.I just don't want to be going down a hill and crash because of the rims were not intended for my weight.thanks

To fit 35's you must have the CX cronus and not the GF road version. If that's the case, do you have 6700 Ultegra wheels? They're already a 1600 gram "pure road" wheelset. If not, what do you have for wheels? Chances are that a tire upgrade would make a much bigger difference than the wheels. Try some 28 or 25mm folding bead training tires (Maxxis Re-fuse, Michelin Pro4 Endurance or Optimum, Continental GP4Season, etc.)

And then, I would worry about paying attention to upgrading the engine/motor before looking at wheels lighter or more aero than what you already have, as long as those wheels are reliable.

I would worry about paying attention to upgrading the engine before looking at lighter wheels



this

... Chances are that a tire upgrade would make a much bigger difference than the wheels. Try some 28 or 25mm folding bead training tires (Maxxis Re-fuse, Michelin Pro4 Endurance or Optimum, Continental GP4Season, etc.)......

+1

On sunday i took my friends road bike for a ride and could not believe the difference in bikes,i don't want to get rid of my cronus,he said i should just update my rims and tires,and i should be fine.I just don't want to be going down a hill and crash because of the rims were not intended for my weight.thanks

What model of frame and wheels was the friend's?

If you want new wheels, you may wish to consider something like this:

http://www.boydcycling.com/vitesse-alloy-clincher/ (or you can also check out the roleur model). They're both available with 24/28 spoke options, and they're hand built so they're likely to hold up better. The price looks pretty reasonable to me.

Ride your larger wheels for normal rides and slap these on for special occasions, or do what fred suggested and build up a more sturdy pair.

Iam looking at upgrading my wheelset,and was wondering would the sram s30 wheelset be a problem.i weigh 280,and there going on my trek cronus ultimate.any help would be great.thanks

You do not weigh the 140 (assuming you're 5'10 - you get 2 pounds per inch) pounds which suggests a body shape conducive to winning in the mountains where 5 seconds an hour light wheels save might let you race off the front to an up-hill victory.

You do not have a team car following you to provide new wheels if you slightly bend one and need to pull it back into shape to finish your ride.

So get something like Velocity Deep V or Chukker rims, 32 or 36 DT 2.0/1.8 spokes, brass nipples, laced to your favorite Shimano cup-and-cone hubs. If you want something distinctive looking Velocity makes rims in more colors than you can shake a stick at - Black, Silver, White, E. Red, Yellow, E. Blue, Purple, Gold, Orange, Lime Green, Ti Grey, Pink, Celeste, Sid Blue plus the retro-reflective Halo coating.

The spoke count won't hurt aerodynamics much, but will mean you're more likely ride home after putting a slight bend in one and opening the brake release or that you're more likely to pull one back into shape so you don't need to call a cab.

The deeper profile will provide better aerodynamics with a small (but measurable) improvement in top speed. They'll also be fairly bend resistant.

The Shimano hubs will probably last for the rest of your life. As the bearings wear and develop play you simply adjust them instead of replacing them like in a cartridge bearing hub. Unlike the vast majority of boutique hubs the spoke holes are coined so they're strong. The unique freehub design also means a broken axle is unlikely.

The commodity parts mean rim replacements due to crash damage or worn out brake tracks are very affordable - about $50 a wheel if you're providing your own labor.

Read _The Bicycle Wheel_ and do it yourself. You will not break spokes or need to true the wheels until you crash them provided that you avoid spoke windup (a sharpie dot on each spoke or tape flag on a representative spoke front, rear drive side, and rear non-drive side works to see what's going on so you can undo it) You will also want to use a tension meter on such rims so you end up with the most collapse-resistant wheel that doesn't crack around the spoke holes.

Or find a good _individual_ wheel builder. Shops hire new people that aren't necessarily as good. Rim replacement will cost you a wheel build ($40-$90) and probably new spokes ($1 and change) on top of the rim.

thanks for all the help.

Sorry, if we didn't supply you with the simple "yes" "no" answere with regard to whether the S30's would hold up for you. But, when you tried your friends bike you change more than just the wheels and the percieved difference between the two could be attributed to any of them.

If you do in fact have the 6700 Ultegra wheels, I would consider them to be very similiar to some of the S30's. We would have to start talking about exactly which model to get more specific. But, I don't see that as much of an upgrade. For all I know, your friend may have lent you a set of $3000 race wheels.

Tires, would no doubt make a difference. I suggested lighter "training" tires which could easily save you 100grams per wheel and a significant reduction in width. If your your friends wheels had still lighter tires,..... they would feel even more different.

Third, the frame. If your friend's was a steep angled, stiff, sprinters frame, there won't be any comparison regardless of what wheels and tires you put on.

Wheels, always seems to be the default response at most bike shops, when someone looks to "upgrade" or spend some cash on their ride. They're a reasonably large ticket item that can have a pretty reasonably perceptible change on a bike. Then budgets come into play and not infrequently the "upgraded" wheels end up being not that much better than what was already on the bike. If your wheels are unreliable, it makes sense to replace them. If not, ..........

bigfred,you were right,i need to work on my motor first.

I'd skip the sram 30s and build up some custom Kinlin XR300's using either ultegra hubs or white indudtries (depending on how much money you want to spent $250 more for the WI). I have these XR300s on 28h version and they are stiff and responsive, add the sapim CX ray spokes makes them stiffer,stronger and more aero at speeds.

from Prowheel builder.com

FRONT WHEEL SUMMARY
Drillings
32
Rim
KINLIN XR300 FRONT 700C BLACK RIM $47.85
700c/29er
*No Rim Tape
Hub
SHIMANO ULTEGRA HB6700 FRONT HUB $73.00
QR 100mm
Spokes
SAPIM CX RAY J BEND SILVER SPOKES $2.88
Lacing Pattern
Radial
Nipples
DT SWISS SILVER BRASS 14G 12MM NIPPLE $0.10
Weight
781.96 grams
Price
$216.05

REAR WHEEL SUMMARY
Drillings
32
Rim
KINLIN XR300 REAR 700C BLACK RIM $47.85
700c/29er
*No Rim Tape
Hub
SHIMANO ULTEGRA FH6700 REAR HUB $128.00
QR 130mm
Shimano/SRAM 8,9 or 10spd
Spokes
SAPIM CX RAY J BEND SILVER SPOKES $2.88
Lacing Pattern
Three Cross
Nipples
DT SWISS SILVER BRASS 14G 12MM NIPPLE $0.10
Weight
988.96 grams
Price
$271.05
Total Price: $487.10
Total Weight: 1,770.92 grams

the last set i was looking at were the bontrager aeolus 5 d3 wheelset,because there light and dont have a rider weight restriction.

braking with carbon clinchers is scary, it bad enough with carbon tubulars @ 220# coming down steep stuff. When you overheat carbon clincher the walls can deform and pop the tire out of the bead. At least with tubulars, there is no bead to worry about if I cook them, which I did yesterday.

If you want deep clinchers, then you should really be looking at Mavic Carbone SL (52mm), in the same price point as those bontys an about 100grams more but BOMB proof. You can catch them on clearance for about 1000 if lucky, but usually $1200. They sell them at the local trek store too so if you have their CC, it would be 0 apr for 6months ;) Change out the cassette with a higher end one and you might get most of that 100gram difference back

I use Mavic Ksyrium SL SSC and Fulcrum racing 3 wheels at 275. They have both held up very well, are low spoke count, and both lightweight. I didn't spend a ton of money on either set as well. I would highly reccomend these wheelsets.

I have heard of lots of bigger guys (clyde's) ridding wheels "with no weight limit" that have had problems. I have personally had problems with broken spokes, . and blow outs that lead to riding down mountain roads with metal sparks flying all over the road. I just bought some 32 hole Hed belgiumswith DT Swiss 350's and put gatorskins on them. They are way better in every catagory than the lighter "race wheels" I have ruined and I can't tell and difference with a little more weight. Some guys above have said they like certain wheels and thats all good. I have seen them after a broken spoke and it's not pretty. I can now break a spoke, maybe 2 and still ride all day on my wheelset instead of sending my friends back to get a vehicle or calling a cab. :)