Alasdair

Ok. I normally hang out in the Roadie forum, but I am a terminal clyde (250lbs in street clothes). I have a 2006 Fuji Team Pro with those cruddy Shimano 550 wheels (front 16h rear 20h) that sounds like they are coming apart when I hammer. I admit to OCP tendencies (in as far as I don't want to ride an ugly bike) and am worried about how the 32h Mavic Pro laced 3x to Ultegra hubs would look on my Fuji (granted, I'd get black). I also have heard others (not necessarily clydes) say that Mavic Aksiums (front 20h, rear 24h and can be had for between $160-190 for a set) are "bulletproof".
So, in general, on good roads, what is the lowest spoke count you have liked riding? As a bonus question, do any of you ride Aksiums?

A Clyde with Pride!

jaxgtr

I would not go below 28 at that weight on the back. I am having some Velocity Deep V's built as we type and while a little more stout, they will handle me. The LBS building them told me that the Op Pro's are good rims, but for people of size, they would recommend the CXP33 over the Open Pro's if you want to go with Mavic.

bcart1991

I had an old pair of Mavic Cosmic Experts (there is a set on ebay currently) that were 18F/20R and were completely bulletproof. I ranged from 210-250 lbs when I had them, and not so much as even a minor true was ever needed over about 8 years of ownership. Then one day I ran over my bike.

I tried the same wheel in Ritchey flavors (20-hole rear) and it just wouldn't stay true more than a week or two. In my opinion, the rim makes all the difference in the world, and Cambria Bike has Velocity rims in just about any spoke count you could think of.

I currently have a 20/28 Zipp/Velocity set that seem to be at least as durable as the Mavics, plus they roll really smoothly.

DieselDan

Mavic Open Pros with Ultergra hubs would look good on any bike. I've got the same, granted the hubs are old enough to say 600, and the rims and spokes are black. They make the bike look bad ass, despite the engine is in need of some more tuning.

jimblairo

I use a set of American Classic 420 with bladed spokes. 18 front/24 rear. I'm in the 230-235 lb area and I put 2000 miles on the wheels this year and trued them once.

Wogster

Technically any spoke count will work with any rider weight, however as the spoke count goes down, for a given rider weight OR the rider weight goes up for a given spoke count, proper spoke tension becomes more critical. The reason is simple, if your tension is too low, then there is some spring in the wheel, this stresses the spokes, with fewer spokes, these stresses may fall fully on one spoke, and this causes the spoke to bend slightly (maybe only .01mm, but it's enough), repeatedly bending a piece of wire can cause it to break. Now we come to the second problem with low spoke count wheels, and that is, the loss of one spoke can cause a wheel rim to bend into a taco like shape. If it's a front wheel, this will result in a rather nasty unplanned dismount of the face plant variety. The heavier the rider, the higher the stress level...

With more spokes, the stresses are spread among several spokes, and may not stress any particular spoke enough to cause it to bend. Which means fewer spoke pops with larger spoke count wheels, if a spoke DOES pop, it's less likely to cause a wheel failure.....

robtown

I bought a couple sets of Cane Creek Stados - semi arero 25mm, 28/24 spoke count black rim / black spoke. They are very strong and stealthy [almost silent even when coasting]. I'm 206 lbs, down from 221 lbs.

MikeLD

I'm about the same size as you and I use Mavic Ksyrium SL's on my go fast road bike. They're 20 on the rear and 18 on the front. Don't know if it has any effect, but the spokes are jumbo sized blades and the rims seem to be very stiff. I've had these wheels about 6 months and have 1500 miles on them ... so far so good, and they look nice (for the OCP in you). The downside is they're about 900 bucks a set.

mkadam68

I ride a pair of Mavic Aksium Elite's. No problems here. About 5-6,000 miles on 'em. One broken spoke, a couple times out of true--nothing more than a normal wheel. And the roads I ride are not nice: downtown L.A. (I weigh in at 255-ish). My 2nd wheelset is Mavic CXP33's (32h x 3X) with Ultegra hubs. They're out of true more than the Elites.

Edit: Make that Ksyrium Elites, not Aksiums.

jupiterboy

I purchased a set of Cane Creek Volos XL's this year and they work perfect. The spoke count is 24 / 28. I started at 220 lbs and I am down to 205. I used the wheel set for commuting 4 days a week this summer, and I stood up for hill climbs.

shog

At least 100 <G> - I rode a set of stock bontrager 20/24 wheels for over 1500 miles without at problem during that time I went from 320-290lbs. Amazingly the bike didn't explode or anything<g>. I'm pretty light on the wheels when crossing rough roads, RxR tracks, etc, I also stay in the saddle most of the time, and I am a stickler for proper tire pressure so ymmv.

Shog

KingTermite 

DEFINITELY not me with my 40h wheels, front and back.

Metaluna

I also weigh around 250 in street clothes. I have a set of CXP33's (36h, 3X) laced to Record hubs, with maybe 5000 miles on them. They have been really reliable (no broken/loose spokes) and overall I've been pretty happy with them. I have had to retrue them a few times though. This might be due more to my lack of skill at retruing a wheel than any problem with the rims. I recently gave them a good going over with a spoke tensiometer to even out the tension, so hopefully they will stay put this time.


They do have one design defect, which should not impact safety and hopefully has been addressed by now. There is a sort of metal sleeve that is used to pin the rim together before it is welded, and afterwards stays in the rim serving no structural purpose. This pin often comes loose after a while and rattles around in the rim (it's really very annoying). There are various tricks people have used to fix this, but if it hasn't been resolved by Mavic by now, it's really inexcusable, IMHO, as these are really fine rims otherwise.

One nice thing about them is they have a relatively shallow profile so you can use tubes with normal length valve stems. This works out well for me as I run 700x28 tires and prefer Michelin Airstop A2 tubes, which seem to only be made with a short stem. These are the only tubes I can find that are both sized for larger tires (rated for 25-32mm, IIRC), and have smooth valve stems (easier to get pump head on/off and makes a better seal).

surfjimc

I was at 285 (now 275) on Mavic Kysrium SLs. I talked to the Mavic rep at the Tour of CA and he said they were far stronger than the 36 spoke Ultegra/Open Pros I was riding. I took his word for it and have put a few thousand care free miles on them without even a small twitch in them. They are 20/18 spokes.

natbla

I'm at 225 and have just started using Reynolds Solitudes (today) with a 20 front 24 rear spoke count. They have double butted DT Swiss 14/15 gauge spokes and 31 mm semi-ereo rims. They are reasonably lite @ 1600ish grams and didn't flex a bit. The shop say they should be fine for a long time as long as I keep the spoke tension right. But we'll see how they do over time and rough roads. Price wise I have $149 plus shipping in them from ebay, but they MSRP around $599 and I can find them around $300-400 in a few places online.

Prosody

I have over 2000 miles on a set of Bontrager Race X-Light Aero wheels, 16 spokes front and rear. They haven't been touched. This is after I tore apart a 36 spoke rear wheel, Salsa delgado cross rim. 265 pounds.

dobber

My 99 Lemond Alpe Huez has Rolf Vectors, 20/28. They've stood the test of time carrying my ~240lbs on some fairly rough roads.

Alternatively, a QBP wheelset (~$150) $with 36/36 that I had on my singlespeed needed lots of tweaking, although the spokes never actually failed. A replacement set (~$200) 36/36 has been rock solid.

Probably the biggest factor is going to be component quality and build.

WheresWaldo

Not exactly clyde related but it does relate to heavyweight riding. I just built a set of wheels for our tandem. My daughter and I ride together every week and our combined weight w/bike is about 380 pounds. At that weight we can put a strain on nearly every part of a bicycle.

We are riding 32 spoke wheels and had been riding a 28 spoke front wheel with no adverse effects. This coming from 40 spoke wheels. Now on a tandem you have the weight going against you but one thing going for you. That is the fact that the rear wheel spacing is at least 15 mm wider than a road bike and 10 mm wider than a mountain bike. This almost eliminates the dish from the rear wheel. making it stronger laterally. But as others have noted it is not always spoke count that makes a strong wheel. Don't be afraid to try lower spoke counts than the often recommended Open Pro 36 spoke.

Alasdair

My LBS is offering up a set of FSA RD-220's as an option for me. I like the look of the Cane Creek Strados mentioned earlier but am becoming resigned to a set of CXP33's on Ultegra hubs since my LBS doesn't normally carry the Cane Creek line. Anyone have experience with the FSA RD-220 wheelset?

BarracksSi

My LBS pointed me towards some Rolf Prima wheels -- I think the Vigor RS model. They've got paired spokes, 16f/20r, and are marketed as being stronger than the Vigor and Vigor SL, being more clyde-friendly. I'm poking around for input on these.

Shayne

Just be carefull of light weight stuff, reguardless of spoke count. I went with some American Classic Sprint 350's this past fall. They're 28 spokes front and 32 rear and only weighed 1425g with the rim tape. Pretty light for an alum. clincher. They spun up super quick and climbed really well. However, they have a rider weight limit of 235. I thought I was OK as I bounce between 195 to 205. I can tell you that I weighed 202 on Nov. 3rd, the morning the rear wheel taco'd.

Now I have a bionic collarbone, want to see a picture of it. Not only was the rim just to light, but the light weight spokes flexed to much, which caused more load to go into the rim in my opinion. Of course AC came up with some lame reason why it wasn't thier fault, but they would rebuild with a new rim and spokes anyway, just because thier so nice.

So now I have these wheels for sale, but not to anyone in the clydes forum please.

lutz

Lowest Spoke Count Wheels for a Clyde ???

Well, do you really want to figure out the limits? Good luck!!

I had one nasty accident with a front wheel taco-ing on me. This one accident was enough for me personally and will keep me from testing the limits of the theoretically or practically possible.
If one is into competitive racing low spoke counts might be of real importance but I doubt it is for Clydes.
Have to agree with Shayne.

Shayne

I was in a race when my wheel taco'd. It was on a downhill run and after the wheel wedged up in the brake calipar, I skidded around 150 feet. Finally the road took a hard left that I couldn't make with the rear wheel locked up, so down I went. Of course it ruined the tire too, everyone behind me said they could smell the burning rubber and 3 riders said they could see that the wheel had failed.

ken cummings

I suppose, technically, a disc wheel has only one spoke. If a solid/disc wheel is good enough for the multi-ton Thrust II at trans-sonic speeds it should do for us Clydes. In the real world I took my touring bike loaded to 260 lbs down a lot of rocky single-track and have only broken one spoke in 3 years. Did bend the handlebars. I use Velocity Synergy wheels with 36 14 gage Wheels-smith stainless spokes.

Alasdair

No. *I* don't want to find out the limits - you guys already have for me. That was kinda why I was asking.