Commuting - (very) Overwight commuter wanting tire/wheel advice

I've been digging thru the archives and have noticed a trend; most of the advice given to heavier people like myself (330 lbs) is to ride with as high of a psi as possible, make sure the wheels have plenty of spokes (I believe it was 36), and ride on good tires that can handle the additional weight.
My bike is a 2004 Trek 7100, it has Matrix 550 rims and Bontrager Invert Select wheels 700x35 which handle up to 65psi.
I've seen you guys mention >100psi many times. I've also seen mention of getting slightly larger tires that what I currently have. I'm happy with my purchase, have ridden it a few times, but am now concerned about what *might* happen when I start commuting to work (11miles each way starting at 4:00AM).
My questions are as follows:
Should I look into purchasing better tires than what I currently have, something that can handle 100psi to possibly 120psi?
Should I consider the kevlar lined tires I've seen mention to?
If I do purchase new tires for one of the above reasons, is it (in your opinion) a good idea to step up to a slightly wider tire than my current?
And with the increase in tire pressure, will my rims be able to handle it? I can not find anywhere a listing that tells me what psi my rims can handle.
Thanks

EDIT:
The roads I'll be traveling on are fairly nasty roads, winding, thin shoulder of gravel and debris if any shoulder at all, NO bike lanes, and riddled with potholes ranging from golf-ball dimples to the crater out in Arizona.

While I can't offer you specific tire recommendations or pressure ranges I will definitely advise you to go with strong heavy tires and wheels. At 280 I also exceed the normal range of bicyclists weight and I have killed off several rear wheels. The roads and trails I ride on are far smoother and better maintained than those you describe. Also you will want to avoid those potholes, I can tell you from experience that at our weight bike wheels don't like potholes. I would also suggest that you have your LBS check to make sure the wheel is true and properly mounted, since any significant variation can lead to bent axles and other problems (again the sad voice of experience). Higher tire pressures will help you avoid pinch flats that plagued my early months of riding. Good luck in your quest.

first off, I weigh more then you do,and routinly ride 15 miles through pretty bad roads to get to the local rail trail .15 miles includes the trail,but 4 miles is city streets. 65 psi in a 700x35 should make for a pretty cushy ride, and I would try it to see if it works for you and your riding style. it might be ok.

for me I ride 700x28 @85-90 psi and (knock on wood) havent had any problems yet. my wifes bike has some cheap 26x1.5 slicks and I run them @65psi when I ride it(500 plus miles last year). I have recently built up with mostly used ebay parts a trek 730 hybrid with drop bars. it has 700X32 panaracer paselas that I have been riding for a couple days now @100psi. I only mention the 32 to referance the fact that these 32 are not as wide as my 28 on my everyday bike(an old haro hybrid). either my 28's are real wide for 28's or my 32's are real narrow for 32's. its common enough practice for differant manufacter'ers(?) to label their tire how they see fit,no matter what the actual size is.http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

also there is a little bit of give in the psi of most tire. I think I saw 10% once ,but I generally feel safe putting 10-15 psi more then the stated max psi. take that with a grain of salt, but thats what I have done frome time to time.

as if your current wheels will handle the psi? probably,but a quick email to trek might be the easiest way to find out for sure. my wheels that have the 100 psi paselas originaly had 65 psi 35's on it when they where new, and lbs guy who I really trust(hi joe) said no problem.

I'm 200+ and recently bought a Mavic 700c 40-spoke front wheel designed for tandems for my commuter bike because I've had problems with broken spokes and rims before on 32 and 36 spoke wheels. I don't notice any difference in weight, only been riding it about 2 weeks. However, on the back I'm riding a 32-spoke Mavic rim that I built myself because I'm too lazy to build up another 36h, need to find a rim first. And the 32-spoke is holding up fine.

Yup,
there is simply NO reason to run a huge tire at a high pressure.
When I got back into cycling a few years ago, I had a hybrid with 37c tires that were really 40c tires. They were massive. So trying to get an excuse to replace them with lighter tires, I ran them over glass, debris, you name it. They survived. Give the tires a try. There are higher quality tires out there, if there is a need you can always get them later.

Those are decent quality tires, you can try increasing the pressure a bit but it may make the ride too uncomfortable. The higher pressures you refer to are for thinner tires. When the rear tire tread wears out you may replace it with a 38 mm wide one.

For long wheel life take the bike back to the shop hand have them retension the spokes as they settle in during the first few rides. I dont know what the construction of your rim is, but double walled ones are much more robust. If it doesnt keep its shape, get your shop to replace or rebuild with a double walled rim.

I started at 250 (230 now) and am on a '04 7100 with the same wheelset and tires.

I have been through about 10 broken spokes on the piece of crap rear wheel.

I'd advise replacing the wheelset pronto.

I appreciate everyones advice on this matter.
Now to add another question or two to my conundrum, what is a good economically minded rear wheel for this situation? Everywhere I look, and can not seem to find many places, tend to sell wheels in pairs only and at a cost of more than what I paid for the entire bike in the first place. Is it possible to just purchase the rear wheel only? And if so, does it come with gearing or will I have to take it to a shop and have then transfer my gears to the new wheel?
I'm trying to get all this info now so that I can have this done when I leave work today, which is in just a few more hours.

Should I look into purchasing better tires than what I currently have, something that can handle 100psi to possibly 120psi?
- As long as they aren't that myc thinner than the tires you usually use (as it will affect the ride quality and possibly durability) then I would sugget yes.

Should I consider the kevlar lined tires I've seen mention to?
Yes but this has more to do with the road conditions you described. Also if you don't mind a little more rotating weight you may want to consider putting some slime in your tubes as you really want to minimize/avoid the need to fix tires on dangerous roads

And with the increase in tire pressure, will my rims be able to handle it? I can not find anywhere a listing that tells me what psi my rims can handle.
Call/email the manufacturer. That was the only way I found the PSI ratin on my AM rims.

One more thing you mentioned which I'm hoping you are well prepared for is the fact that you are riding bad roads at 4 am!!! Do make sure you're lit up like a christmas tree, back light, headlight and maybe one of those illuminite jackets and ofcourse the usual tire changing gear.

Well, you read my mind on that one bro.

My LBS gave a one-year service guarantee and have fixed all the spokes no charge, most of them while I waited. They're a good bunch of wrenches in there.

Now the problem seems solved, I think they've tensioned everything well and the weak spokes are gone.

(and of course I stuff the 'Pizza Fund' jar on the service counter, I'll take the free service but I'm not totally a cheap bastid :p )

I appreciate everyones advice on this matter.
Now to add another question or two to my conundrum, what is a good economically minded rear wheel for this situation? Everywhere I look, and can not seem to find many places, tend to sell wheels in pairs only and at a cost of more than what I paid for the entire bike in the first place. Is it possible to just purchase the rear wheel only? And if so, does it come with gearing or will I have to take it to a shop and have then transfer my gears to the new wheel?
I'm trying to get all this info now so that I can have this done when I leave work today, which is in just a few more hours.
You can get a rear wheel only through www.nashbar.com; cheapest 700 they have is $60. If you get a new wheel I recommend 14 gauge spokes (2.0 mm). You will have to get your gears transferred, LBS shouldn't charge much for that. Another option is not to worry about the wheel unless you actually pop some spokes.
As for the kevlar tires, a cheaper and durable option is tire liners (Mr. Tuffy or Slime). The Mr. Tuffy liners can cut the inner tube where they overlap. On another thread the advice is give to sand the ends and use rubber cement to attach them to the tube. I've actually gotten flats on kevlar-lined tires, but never through a tire liner (except for the aforementioned tube-cutting problem).
Good luck with your cycling and commuting!

The Nashbar site doesnt mention the internal width of their rims. You want them about 21 mm wide. Ones drilled for Presta valves are stronger, because the hole is smaller, but you will have to buy a 25c adapter to be able to inflate them with a gas station hose. Dont buy new rims of tires till you have to. The Tuffy liners are good. When you have to buy new tires the Specialized Armadillos are bombproff, but they dont roll as easy or handle as nicely as some lighter tires. I go with the lighter tire and the Tuffy liner.

Your rims should be able to take much higher pressure than 65psi, it is not a limiting factor.
I have had one rim fail on me due to wear (in 30 years). As the braking surface thins there comes a point where it can't take the pressure of the tyre and folds out or comes apart into a hoop.
Proof testing of rims involves pumping up your tyres 50% beyond the max. If they dont collapse or bend out then they are find.
Recomend you use safety glasses for this test and deflate back to normal pressure before riding. This is a test that you only need do on old wheels.

Your tyres sound fine but you could probably add and extra 10psi without harm. When they wear thin you can think about replacing them and you will have a good idea if they are tough enough for your roads.

When you do need a new rear wheel, ask your LBS to build you one. They should be able to take your hub and lace it to a new stronger rim, and a good hand built wheel should lbe stronger and last longer then the machine built wheel you have now.

When you do need a new rear wheel, ask your LBS to build you one. They should be able to take your hub and lace it to a new stronger rim, and a good hand built wheel should lbe stronger and last longer then the machine built wheel you have now.

This is the best answer yet. It will give you stronger, more reliable, wheels with higher, and more even spoke tension. If you want to move directly to strong trouble free wheel sets, have the shop hand make up some tandem hubs with 42 spokes (or so) to tandem rims.
See what they have to suggest. This should pretty much stop any wheel problems.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=131&subcategory=1197&brand=&sku=6367&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Sheldon Brown has an article on tire inflation pressures that might be helpful:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure

Try the Specialized Infinity Armadillo tire. A bit higher pressure, but is rated to run at the lower end of 75psi. You get a tough tire with good flat protection. You can get just a rear wheel through an LBS, or order online, like through Performance. You might check on getting a tandem rear wheel, but it might cost more. I see Harris Cyclery will build a 48 spoke wheel.

My Bontrager Select Invert 700x38 tires can go from 60 to 80 psi. Double-check the PSI range on your tires.

My advice? Ride Lightly. I have to. Avoid potholes and irregular parts of the road like the plague. Don't even think about hopping curbs or dropping off anything more than an inch or so (if that). The idea is to ride smooooothly. Don't shock the wheels. I weight 320-325 right now and this is how I ride, and I've been riding single wall 27" wheels with 1 1/4" tires for a couple of weeks now and they're holding up fine.

BlastRadius you were right, on a double-look I saw that my tires were rated much higher than what the manual I had read, a mis-print I am sure, but my tires are rated to handle 80psi.
I'll have my wheels/spokes checked soon to make sure everything is looking good. Looks like I'll stick with the stock components until somethin breaks, then I'll head the advice given.
Thanks everyone.

Wight? So you're like a zombie or something?

I'm ~285 at this point, I was up around 295 when I first started riding road. I have 32hole Alex DA-22 rims, and I have yet to have any problems in several hundred miles. I trued them once after about 50 miles and haven't had to since. My roads aren't perfect, and the bike trail I occasionally ride on has lots of roots breaking up the concrete.

Broke another rear-wheel spoke yesterday. LBS telling me I need to look into a better rear wheel. I begin to see that much of the price of better bikes is the better wheels. Doesn't seem right though. Ought to be able to buy any Trek and expect the wheels to be reasonable quality.

Update: A few more broken spokes since this thread got buried. I have now ordered a double-wall set from Harris Cyclery (Sheldon Brown). Hope my wheel woes will soon be a thing of the past.

I have yet to break a spoke, though I've only put on ~250 miles this spring, maybe I lucked into getting pick of the litter wheels?? dunno
But I am happy that I've lost a little over 15lbs thus far, and not just water weight either! I can feel my pants fitting a bit looser and am almost able to fit into a few shirts I've had sitting around for a while.
Hopefully, by the end of this month I'll be in the sub 300lb group, things are looking up and it looks like I'll start commuting as early as next week, can finally afford to get a light and some cargo packs.

For us heavier guys (I am 225 down from 250) the wheel build is important and stock wheel sets on most bikes I have seen just aren't meant for us. 32 or 36 spoke wheels with a 3X lacing pattern is much better for us than these paired spoke or radial laced or low spoke count wheels. I just took the Xero XR-3 wheels (16 spoke 1X front 20 spoke 2X rear) off my commuter in favor of HAND built (this matters too) Salsa Delgado Cross rims laced to Shimano 105 hubs with 32 spokes. The ride it smoother and I am willing to bet that I am going to have to do a LOT less truing of my wheels. Look into hand built and 36 spokes and you should be all good.

Update: A few more broken spokes since this thread got buried. I have now ordered a double-wall set from Harris Cyclery (Sheldon Brown). Hope my wheel woes will soon be a thing of the past.

Did you look into tandem hubs and rims with 42 spokes ?

Did you look into tandem hubs and rims with 42 spokes ?

Budget very tight here; thus the 7100 to start with. I just wouldn't put the price of the entire bike into new wheels. Got a good price from Harris. I'm not hard on the wheels (at least I think not), but I think I climb in too high a gear for the wheel's comfort. Hopefully the double-wall with 14g spokes will do the trick.

Budget very tight here; thus the 7100 to start with. I just wouldn't put the price of the entire bike into new wheels. Got a good price from Harris. I'm not hard on the wheels (at least I think not), but I think I climb in too high a gear for the wheel's comfort. Hopefully the double-wall with 14g spokes will do the trick.

You may be fine, it will be a big improvment for sure.

Budget very tight here; thus the 7100 to start with. I just wouldn't put the price of the entire bike into new wheels. Got a good price from Harris. I'm not hard on the wheels (at least I think not), but I think I climb in too high a gear for the wheel's comfort. Hopefully the double-wall with 14g spokes will do the trick.


Grasschopper has it right. How the wheels are built makes a big difference. Hand built is the way to go with someone that knows what they are doing. Just rebuilding the old wheel with new spoke may do the trick.

Having just a couple of spokes with too high a tension on a new wheel can cause alot of trouble. First the 2 spokes snap which will then overstress the other spokes. Then one by one the other spokes snap until you rebuild the wheel with new spokes. had to do this with a new bike with nice wheels once. The main problem was that the wheels were originally machine built.

If your spokes broke in the middle, then straight 14g will help. If the spokes broke at the bend for the hub, then straight 14g will not make a difference over 14/15 double butted.

Hopefully my stock wheels on my 7100 will last me long enough. Like PainTrain I too am on a strict budget, after mortgage, family, bills and everything else in life I barely was able to save up enough money to get me a couple of cateye HL-200 lights for my commute, now I can finally start.
Custom built wheels are way way way down on my list of things to get.

If your spokes broke in the middle, then straight 14g will help. If the spokes broke at the bend for the hub, then straight 14g will not make a difference over 14/15 double butted.

They did in fact break right at that bend, though a couple broke at the nipple.

The wrenches at the LBS tell me that the stock wheel has now been out of true so many times it's essentially worthless.

I weigh at 250 and have been running a pair of Specilized Rockhopper MTBs since November. One 19 inch frame belongs to the government and is my work bike. The 21 inch frame is my personal ride and commuter bike. I have been very lucky as I ride them hard, jump a lot of curbs and have yet to suffer any problems except for thorns popping tubes. Tuffy liners have stopped that problem.

My bikes are stock otherwise with the original tires and wheels. I hope they continue to provide excellent service.

I do not know the veracity of this advice but was told at the LBS that my MTBs were the best option for my weight and method of commuting. The tougher frames and tires will hold up better for me. So far they have been right on the money. :)

FotoTomas:
At first I considered a mountain bike but my LBS did not have one that would fit both my size and my budget, thus I went with the Trek 7100, and have no regrets. Today was my first full commute to work on it and it was a great commute.

PainTrain:
I don't know what to say man, maybe you are much tougher on your bike than I am. I have yet to have a single problem out of mine and I think we have the same year/model of bike, a 2004 Trek 7100. Ever since reading your posts about it I've been on the lookout for issues and have yet to encounter one... see, now you've gotten me all paranoid! ;) Though I guess a little paranoia is a good thing.
I feel for you, I know if I had all the problems you've been having with the wheels I'd get pissed, scrap the whole thing, and either buy a new bike or quit all-together.

Update: A few more broken spokes since this thread got buried. I have now ordered a double-wall set from Harris Cyclery (Sheldon Brown). Hope my wheel woes will soon be a thing of the past.

Broken spokes tend to lead to more broken spokes if the spoke is simply replaced and re-tensioned. I have found that the only reliable way to cure broken spokes is to rebuild the wheel with double butted spokes and make sure the tension on all the spokes is equal and properly tight. I haven't had a problem with any wheel once I had done this.

Either I've been incredibly lucky or I don't ride as rough as you guys. I'm not quite as heavey as you, but at 220 and another 40 lbs of stuff I'm no lightweight. I've got a set of mavic 36 spoke rims/campy mirage hubs on a light touring bike with 700-25 (120 psi) tires and a set of alex DH-19 32 spoke double walled rims with alivio hubs on a hybrid with 700-38 85 psi tires and neither of them has given me a problem (where's the wood to knock on?).

As far as the inflation/tires thing. the less contact your wheel makes with the ground the less resistance there is to rolling, so the faster you can go for a given effort. The flip-side to this is that your ride is more harsh, and you get to feel every jolt. This is minimized if you have supsension, but still.

Personally I have come to like the fatter tires on my commuter (still prefer 700-23 120 psi for road-cycling). The ride is much more comfortable on the crappy pot-holed roads I ride on to commute (much worse than most of the country roads I ride my roadbike on). My speed penalty for the fatter-tires, more upright position, heavier bike and 40 lbs of crap is about 2-3 mph. This just isn't enough to worry about over a 5-10 mile commute (~5-10 minutes different vs the roadbike...13 vs 16 mph for a nice easy spin). The difference between the hybrid & light touring bike is only 1 mph (unless its really windy).

My suggestion is that you keep the fatter tires on your bike, and when they need to go (probably 1000-2000 miles unless they are cut) you replace them with similar width tires that have very little tread and some sort of kevlar liner. My advice on wheels is to go with what you have unless they frequently break. If you keep popping spokes ask the LBS if rebuilding your current wheel would help (probably $20-$30) or if you need to spring for a new one. Then worry about what rim/hub to get.

PainTrain:
Ever since reading your posts about it I've been on the lookout for issues and have yet to encounter one... see, now you've gotten me all paranoid! ;)

D'oh! Now I've gone 'n done it!

My office sits in a river valley and I have to climb to the top on the way home every day. That's why I'm convinced it's the climbing that's hurting the wheel. That and the fact that the last one went as I stood up to take a hill, *poing* I heard it let go. That one was on the nipple.

I try to focus on cadence and gear down as needed, but I'm always pushing for better time and so stay in as big a gear as I can turn at 90 or so.

Also, I have around 2000 miles on the thing. Really, I'm putting a hard commute on a bike that was made to fit a price-point. I will be very glad to get the new wheelset on; but I'm sure it will be a while before I stop looking down to see if I'm wobbling again.

I took my bile in to the LBS yesterday to get a rack/panier installed on it and the guy doing the wrench work was sort of astonished that I hadn't had any problems out of my wheels. At first I thought he was just trying to see me something, but after our discussion I was convinced that he was legitimately concerned.
He said that my wheels were actually pretty good for your average rider, but with my weight I would have done better to pick a bike with better ones, but not to go out and purchase anything but rather to wait until my wheels starting giving out and that he'd rebuild them for the price of some better spokes and no labor.
After all was said and done, they had installed my rack/panier, trued my wheels for free, and threw in a couple of reflective leg bands for free... best shopping experience ever.

pj7

Let me tell you a little story, I was out of biking for a while and gained a LOT of weight. I bought my 7700 in 2003 at 300 pounds. After a year of riding and 2500ish miles, 50 pounds later. I had NO issues at all with any components on the bike including the wheels. And that bike was through HELL & BACK with me, including some trails with mighty large gravel that I NEVER should have done, but I was in an adventurous spirt. I was alittle concerned about the spokes holding up, but I haven't even had to have them adjusted let alone pop a spoke or anything else that people eluded would happen. Came in late on the post so I don't know how much you weight, but I would advise you not to worry about the wheels, and do as you have been, ride it till something happens and you have to repair/replace it. From your most recent post it sounds like you have an AWESOME/supportive FRIEND in your LBS trust him, and don't totally disregard what others advise you, but take all accounts into consideration.

On my 3rd bike since 2003, not including my 520 from the late 80's which I ride on occassion so it doesn't get too jealous, and still have the 7700, may trade it in for a MTB I can mount a rack on this year to do some back country touring though! ;-( Wife won't let me put another bike in the garage or I would keep it!

From your most recent post it sounds like you have an AWESOME/supportive FRIEND in your LBS...

A good handful of guys in that shop. There are 3 bike shops in my general vacinity and this is the smaller of the three. I had been to the first two, that is where I got my bike and a few other things and was reluctant to go to this one since it was smaller and, to be honest, had less flashy signs which led me to believe that it was sub-par as compared to the other two I had visited.
I was riding by it one day about a month ago and stopped in just to check it out. Just like the outside hinted to, it was small and their variety was not as abundant as the other two shops. I yacked with the fella a little bit about commuting and the traffic and the kick-ass Olds 442 that just raced by on Gratiot and wot-not. And to be a good sport I picked up some chain lube and a few other small items. Before I paid for the items the guy was like "you know you can get bike lubs and stuff prett cheap online". My reply was "yeah, maybe, but I earn my money in here and I'll spend it here, not too many small businesses left these days". Now every time I go back the fella treats me with respect and curt, unlike the other places that made me feel like I really wasn't more than someone with money to spend. Needless to say, I'll be spending more of my money in that shop as the years go by. I don't mind paying 10%-20% markup to get something locally, support local businesses, and actually get to look someone in the eye when I spend my hard earned cash.

Update: Rear axle finally has broken in two. I now have a set of double-wall road wheels and new cassette being installed. Truly, this 7100 was not designed for the job I make it do. Oh well.

We just won't let this thread die eh? ;)
My rear wheel finally took a crap on me, popped some spokes and warped the rim pretty good, that was a few weeks ago. Got a loaner wheel from one of the LBS dudes and I egged it within two commutes. Now they are building me a Velovity Dyad 36 spoker, can't wait to see how that bad boy holds up.
Everything else on my 7100 has been awesome! Just that damned rear wheel.

Like many of you I am a heavier biker and have killed off the rear wheels of several cheap x-mart bikes. I bought a Fuji Supreme in February and since then have put about 350 mi. on it. When I bought it the LBS owner commented that her tandem had the same rear wheel and they rode with about 340 lbs on it. Its got the stock 36 spoke wheels.

I just broke my first spoke on the rear wheel last week. I'm hoping that it will not be the first of a string of breaks. I do not ride that hard (no curb jumping, mostly paved trails and roads, etc.) Probably the biggest strain on the wheels in the first mile of the bike path I use which is unpaved and full of loose stone and gravel and gulleys. Heavy rains and no maintenance have left that section of trail rutted and in bad shape. My guess is that bad trail + heavy biker = premature spoke death.

Hopefully as I lose weight things will get easier on the wheels. My LBS fixed it for me for $16 so I'm happy and will be back to my normal long ride next week.

If you want to move directly to strong trouble free wheel sets, have the shop hand make up some tandem hubs with 42 spokes (or so) to tandem rims.
See what they have to suggest. This should pretty much stop any wheel problems.


see above ......

Well, for alot of us spending $200 or more on a single 40+ spoke wheel is totally out of the question, especially considering we had to scrape for months just to afford the $400.00 bicycle.
Guess I'm lucky enough to have a LBS with guys who know what a pinch I'm in when it comes to money and are happy to help out with whatever they can.

I was 330lbs at 6'2 now I'm 240-250. I bent a couple of rims on a hybrid bike and then bought a GT Palomar mtn. bike. The bike came with 36 spoked rims and rides perfect for my size! No problems with the rear rim. If your heavy, I suggest getting a nice mountain bike with slicks (contitoptourer)and ride as rough as you want. I did it and doing it with no problems.

In retrospect I would have chosen a 26" MTB with 36 spokes, but unfortunately the past is the past and I am, for lack of better terminology, stuck with my current bike.
Maybe in the coming months I can save up enough to "upgrade" to something better, that is if I feel the need to. But for now I'll be happy if I can get a full week of commuting in without have issues.

But for now I'll be happy if I can get a full week of commuting in without have issues.
Hope everyhting works out for you. Enjoy the commute.