fholt

Ok - the question first, then the background in case it matters to you.

Road rider, 220# (100 kilo) riding a Specialized Allez Comp needs to build a new rear wheel. Have purchased a 36 hole 105 rear hub, and am looking at double butted spokes, and a strong (and not too heavy) rim to build a sturdy wheel. I'm currently looking at Velocity Aerohead, Aerohead OC, Deep V, and Mavic CXP 22. Spokes should be 14/15? 14/16? 15/17 double butted? What's strong and still relatively light? Brass nips of course. My roads aren't all that bad, but I'm strong, and as above, kinda heavy.

Reccomendations on sturdy rims and spokes?


Background:
The Alex rims that came on my '05 Allez Elite kinda sucked, and the rear wheel was a 24 spoke bladed deal. Much trouble to limp home once those started breaking (exactly at 2000 miles). At this point I ended up with 2 new wheels. I ordered a Mike Garcia hand built set. The rear a 32 hole DT swiss R1.1, laced 3X, and really stiff. Also my lbs and Specialized, unable to come up with the correct replacement spokes, replaced my wheelset with a pair of 32 spoke 105/mavic cxp-22 wheels.

I rode the Mike Garcia one for about 18 months, until it started breaking spokes - and when I went to replace one, I noticed some cracking on the rim around the eyelets - decided to put that on the shelf and ride the Mavic. I've been on that for more than a year now, but I'm seeing a little of the same cracking now emanating from those drive side spoke eyelets.

I have the gear and have built a strong wheel for my touring bike (that I commute on). I'm ready to build a 36 spoke road wheel - and will probably take my existing 32 hole hub and build up a spare. Almost certainly I'll go with the Aerohead OC on that one - allowing pretty much equal spoke length, and 70%+ of the drive side tension on the other side. How about my new primary wheel?

Edit: Oh, and I ride about 4K mi a year.

operator

If you want strength, go for a heavy deep section "aero" rim. I'd suggest something like the deep v or better on double butted spokes built by a very competent mechanic. 36 spokes.

The aeroheads that i've seen come into the shop and being built leaves something to be desired in terms of rim strength and quality and I can no longer recommend them.

Jeff Wills

I'm about your weight (215 pounds) and I ride a Velocity "Aero"
https://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=580
(not Aerohead or Aeroheat) rim, 36-spoke, laced 3X on a Shimano 105 hub. It's on a recumbent and I've used it for loaded touring, so I've put way more stress on it than you have. It's never gone out of true.

IMO, the quality of the wheelbuilder is more important than the quality of the parts. I hope you're dealing with someone who knows how to build wheels with high, even tension. I've been building my own wheels for nearly 30 years, and since I started using Jobst Brandt's methods I haven't broken a single undamaged spoke and I've rarely needed to true a wheel. Most of the time I rebuild wheels when the rims wear out. Occasionally I wait too long.

dabac

One recommendation for good durability is to try to get the DS/NDS spokes evenly stressed. Start by looking at what proportional tension you get on the NDS side, then choose spokes whose cross sections DS/NDS has the same proportions.
A 1.8 mm spoke is 81% of a 2 mm spoke, 1.5 is 56% of a 2mm, and 69% of a 1.8 mm spoke. So for your spare a 1.8 DS and 1.5 NDS combo would be pretty much spot on.
Pick a few hub/rim combos, crunch the numbers and see which spoke gauges that'll match up best.
Same spoke length DS/NDS might be a little practical while ordering but doesn't influence wheel durability.

waterrockets 

+1

2.0/1.8/2.0 DS
2.0/1.7/2.0 NDS

3x all the way around. You'll get tired of the wheel in 5 years, wondering when it will die so you can finally buy a new one.

Make sure to carefully adjust that 105 hub once it's all built up. I've never seen a new loose-ball hub ship with proper bearing tension. You should have a tiny bit of play (lateral "knock") with the skewer 1/2 open, and that play should just vanish as the QR is tightened. That hub can be handed down to your grandkids with proper care and feeding

I'm sure I don't build anywhere near as many wheels as your shop, but I've had some nice Aeroheads go out to customers recently, and my 9-month-old OC is on full-time PowerTap racer-trainer duty, and it's been great (I weigh 180 lbs).

I still wouldn't recommend an Aerohead to anyone over 200 lbs for anything other than a racing-climbing wheel.

+1

cyccommute 

A much better spoke for both sides is the DT Alpine III: 2.3/1.8/2.0 The head fits in the hub better and is thicker and stronger for durability with only a marginal weight penalty. Every thing I build for me now is with Alpine. The first wheel I used them on - a mountain bike rear wheel - is still going strong after 5+ years of hard off-road use.

Laced to an aero rim and the wheel could be one the cockroaches will use

DannoXYZ 

I highly recommend the DT-AlpineIII !!! I came back to cycling after 10-years off and had gained an amazing 60-lbs to 245! The wheels on my bike having already took a beating 2-decades earlier simply wasn't up to the task (36-hole MA40 rims w/14ga spokes on Ultegra hubs). They were going out of true weekly and the final-straw came when I hopped off a kerb followed by a bunny-hop over a speed-bump.. >plink< >plink< of spokes snapping.

Rebuilt those wheels using the same hub & rim with Alpine-III spokes. Nice and tight along with some blue Loctite. Been riding them for 2-years without any problems. Although I'm down to 190 now.

deanp

CPX-33's are the way to go. I'm heavier than you and a set of these ended my wheel problems.