PDKL45

I am 5’ 9’ & 253 pounds (176cm & 115 kgs) and I ride mostly on pavement, with some off road at times on double track/fire roads. I am looking around for a new bike (tourer/bike packer/commuter/long distance bike), and one of the leading candidates is the Specialized AWOL. While I may still build a custom bike, the easiest option for me is to buy a stock model Specialized AWOL Deluxe/Elite.

Rims: 29" disc, alloy double-wall, 32h.
Front & Rear Hubs: Specialized Hi Lo disc, alloy, RCC bearing system, QR, 32h.
Spokes: Stainless, 2.0/1.8/2.0mm.

Does any other Clyde have any experience with those wheels or with the same Hi Lo hubs and generic Specialized rims on other Specialized 29ers? Do they hold up under heavier riders? Also, how about the AWOL in general? I have never ridden a 700c/29er and am concerned about the larger wheels lacking strength.

Jarrett2

My info may likely be of no help, but I'll share anyway First, I'm around 280 lbs.

So I bought my AWOL in the spring. I immediately took the 42's off and put some 25's on at 120 psi and took it for a 65 mile ride. By mile 40, the NDS spokes had all gone mostly slack and the wheel was incredibly out of true. Luckily, on this ride there were mechanics at the rest stops and at that rest stop, they got it back as close to true as they could. 7 miles later, the NDS spokes were loose again and the wheel was getting really funky. I found someone that had a spoke wrench and I retrued it the best I could and finished the ride.

Took the bike to the LBS where I bought it and they warranted the wheel. They put the credit towards a set of Stan's Grails which are supposed to be these super strong cyclocross wheels, but they are not. I broke a spoke within 200 miles and the crappy cassette body was heavily scarred within that time frame as well. Avoid these as a Clyde, imo.

I then bought of a set of these from Velomine:
Sun Rhyno Lite 40H 29er MTB Commuter Wheelset 6 BOLT DISC [740429] - $149.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

They are ridiculously heavy, but they are strong as ox as they say. I've taken the AWOL gravel roading and mountain biking with these wheels and all is fine. Probably a little over kill on the build, but silly strong.

So I learned a few things on this deal. First, not all wheels are good at all pressures. Just because a MTB wheel is the same size as a road or cyclocross wheel and they are built to hold up to the rigors of MTB'ing, does NOT mean that they will handle high psi. So the stock AWOL rims may be fine for the stock 42's at lower pressure, I don't know as I only used them for that during the test ride, but I can definitely say they will not handle a higher pressure tire without taco'ing.

So if you plan on keeping the 42's on, I guess give the stock wheels a chance. But if you know you want to take them off and put something with a higher pressure on the bike, be prepared to swap wheels if needed.

Jarrett2

To your other question, the bike is awesome. I really dig my AWOL. It's my gravel road/touring bike and functions well at that.

In the same vein there is also the Salsa Vaya(which the AWOL appears to be ripoff of) and now there is this new Salsa ripoff out there with better groupo/price called the FitWell Riley Fahrlander 2 Road Bike. And it has the Nashbar 100% guarantee on it, so you can ride it and see if you like it or not.

Also, my LBS recently built up a custom bike from the AWOL Expert Frameset for a guy that turned out pretty nice and was reasonably priced. At $700 for the whole frameset, it makes for a decent deal and it is lighter and has better steel than the base model.

Bill Kapaun

I'm 250 and ride 32 spoke wheels (I built them) with 14/15 DB spokes on my hybrid.
The wheels "should" be fine, however-
To close the deal, have the shop PROPERLY tension the spokes.
Even spoke tension (per side) is the heart of a good wheel.

PDKL45

Thanks for the helpful replies. That Nashbar looks pretty good for the price and they ship to Korea these days, so I will go back and have a good look at the specs later. The terrible thing (it's a first world problem) is that the Surly LHT and DT are available here with 36 DT Swiss champion spoke wheels stock, so it is coming down to a toss up between the Specialized AWOL and the Surly LHT/DT.

MadKaw

Fitwell is having an end-of-season sale and The Fahrlander II is under $800.
Welcome to the FitWell Bicycle Company Dealer site

Jarrett2

Man, that's a lot of bike for $786!

PDKL45

Well, I bought the AWOL and I am really happy so far. I got a 2014 AWOL Deluxe, and I am lucky I was able to get it, as Specialized Korea (I live close to Seoul) stopped importing the AWOL after 2015. A touring bike shop I visited had one medium AWOL left, so I happily took it off their hands and it is waiting patiently to be ridden.

Right now it has a set of cheap plastic pedals on it with old school toe clips, but my mechanic at my LBS should have received my Shimano SPD pedals by now, so I will get the new pedals on it ASAP. I haven't taken it out for a proper ride yet, as the pressures of work, combined with family obligations (actually pleasurable time spend with my wife and child, not really obligations...), not to mention heavily polluted air this week, have conspired to keep me off my new bike. I can't wait to get a free day, wake up at 5:00 am and get in a decent shakedown ride.

I have a new set of Giant City Panniers for commuting and am tossing up various seat bags and top tube bags for my tools. I have a nice little top tube bag that is still new that I will probably use for now, the only thing is the velcro attachments that I would have to unstrap every morning, along with the new ride computer and lights. Hopefully, I can negotiate indoor storage at the office so I won't have to go through the hassle of unstrapping everything and looping all removable parts with my long locking cable.

Still, it is a great looking bike and I am looking forward to reporting back on the ride, as well as doing some gear reviews, not to mention getting involved in some Korean long distance riding in the coming year.

chriskmurray

Those are some pretty cool bikes for sure. I will add that even though the components they use for their wheels are of nice quality their build quality usually leaves something to be desired at Specialized, most wheels I see from them are very under tensioned. It is an easy fix if your shop is comfortable building wheels, and if they are a touring shop I am guessing they are. I would ask them to double check the spoke tensions and retension/stress relieve if needed since you are worried about wheel durability.

PDKL45

My LBS is actually a different shop; the owner doesn't sell new bikes, he performs magic on bikes bought elsewhere. When he changes the pedals, I am going to have him look over the spoke tension. Long term, I am thinking DT Swiss hubs and spokes with Rhyno Lite rims, but that will be in a year or two.