Ron Harry

Thought the clydes forum would be a good place to 'rant' on this subject. I'm 230 lbs, but I have two sets of wheels [about $750 a pop range per set], where rear rims have cracked on me [both were mavic, one open pro, the other ksyirium equipe]. I realize I'm 'heavy' for these class of wheels, but registered on the upper range of what they listed as being able to handle [well, maybe a little out of that range]. Thing of it is, I like 'performance', and so would love to sink some dough into a really high level, light weight wheel set...but as us clydes probably all know, such wheels are very exclusionary to the heavy set. "Skinny guys need only apply", thank you Mr. Zip and Mrs. Reynolds [or whomever owns those companies, j/k].

So, we spoke 'em up, and get the big guage metal wheels...and then even they break [as the mavics did on me]. Life is not fair, ha.

Ok, end of rant. Now I have two front wheels that are still good that are 'unmatched'. Simply replacing the rear won't do, cuz' of course if failed once, will surely fail again. It's mainly cosmetic I suppose, running front and back with two different wheel makes...but seems odd riding that way; and just throwing them in the closet seems like such a waste; and selling...who wants to buy just a front wheel [I guess there's a market for anything though if you know where to look; I don't].

Just for giggles, I was toying with idea of trying to build a rear wheel myself...use the hub etc off the failed rim wheels...mainly to see if I can do that [and the cost maybe just for a rim and maybe some spokes]. Both wheels lasted about a year before failing [several thousand miles], so I'd have that anyway. Just one thought.

Anyway, this mainly a rant I suppose, but wondered if other 'heavier' cyclists have come into this problem and if there are solutions I don't see. $700-$800 a pop for a new wheelset is a lot of bucks for me, especially if I must worry about another fail down the road. Just something about buying 'heavy' stuff...like I'm buying stuff for a tank rather than a sleek, high performance road buster. I guess the real match [or mismatch] is ME [ie being big ain't pretty in the cycle world]. It's the hubs; isn't that the fulcrum of the entire bike? Ah well, back to my DT 585's I guess...

TrojanHorse

a) Open Pros are not what I would consider particularly sturdy and they shouldn't cost anywhere NEAR 700+
b) Mavic wheels in general... seems like I hear a lot about cracking at the spoke eyelets and what not.
c) Zipp firecrest wheels have a weight limit of 250

I'm riding on mismatched wheels right now because I need to get the front rebuilt. I'm not that concerned.

If you want to rebuild the wheel, go for it - the hub is usually the most expensive part.

Ron Harry

Yes, mavic is now suspect to me, so hard to sink more $$$ for replacement simply on that aspect. I liked how they rode however. Dura ace hubs jacked the price up some on the 'open pro' build. My price point estimated on at least a dura ace level hub I suppose. That might be psychological though since performance gain is negligible [over, say, an ultegra hub] so it becomes mainly about weight of component I think [from reading; I'm no expert, that's for sure]. The hub seems to me to be one of the more important aspects of the 'feel' of a bike's performance. I mean, that's one is riding on isn't it [the bearings, mechanisms of that hub]. So, I'm willing to fork out more for the hubs.

I didn't realize zipp made something rated for that heavy; will have to take another look see, thanks. What caused the frustration [and thusly rant] was researching replacement with the idea of getting a sturdier rim, but everything seemed to point toward 'touring' or 'commuting' or that polite term for 'lower quality'... "training", ahem, ha. When I think 'training, I picture those two small beginner wheels one puts on a child's bike so they don't fall over, ha.

indyfabz

Both my Ksyriums failed. The rear rim cracked. A spoke nipple on the front one cracked due to a known design defect. The rear hub also gave me troubles within the first year or two. Mavic customer service thumbed its collective nose at me. When I sent the rear wheel in for repair at my cost (also paid for the front repair), Mavic suggested that I give them even more money for a new hub. I refused. I will never buy another Mavic product.

Personally, I would not ride on mismatched wheels for aesthetic reasons. Currently riding Stan's No Tubes. They have a sturdier road model. Can't remember the name, and I had the decals removed because they didn't match the bike color scheme. They ride great. The roll of tubeless is really nice.

thrllskr

I ride Mavic Open Pro 36 hole with Shimano 105 and Ultegra. Never a problem and I build them myself. I am 190 and 6'5 and I ride commute everyday with a heavy backpack on and I hit some big potholes. My advice, if you are a Clydesdale, learn how to build wheels.
Mismatched wheels...shows one that you are riding hard and would rather ride than fret over looks! Keep on peddling. Heck, this week I have been riding a Fulcrum 5 with a training tire in the back with Mavic OP on the front because I was too lazy to take the training wheel off.

MRT2

The stock back rim on my Salsa Casseroll cracked this summer. Now I am running an Alex touring rim with Velo Orange Grand Cru touring hub on the back, stock Salsa Delgado Cross Rim and Formula hub on the front. If the front rim cracks, I suppose I will buy a matching Velo Orange hub laced to an Alex rim so once again everything matches.

But frankly, I doubt anyone except me notices the mismatched rims and hubs.

mkadam68

Yep. I'm not a fan.

For the past year+ (8,000 miles a year), I've been riding a $600 pair of 55mm carbon clinchers. Got the no-name, 23mm wide rims off eBay ($200), hubs are Novatec from Bdopcycling.com ($200), and had my local master wheelbuilder spoke 'em & build 'em ($200). They're rock-steady, only a couple broken spokes that I replaced myself. Not even a slight wobble. (In any event, I highly recommend 23mm wide rims when riding 700x23 tires as pinch flats have--literally--become a thing of the past. Only flats I get now are due to glass or metal staples of slivers.)

Only downside: can't use 'em on extended, steep descents with a lot of curves (heat build-up from braking can destroy the rims). Brake pads are Zipp Tangente pads. They last a mighty long time before needing replacement, about 6 months or so, and they don't squeal like many other brake pads w/carbon rims.

+1

GravelMN

I had a cracking problem with a Salsa Delgado rim as well. Rear wheel, worse on the drive side.

I'm riding Open Pro 36h on my road bike, handbuilt wheels, zero problems after 2200 miles on that bike this past season. My all-rounder has Mavic A719s 36h, again absolutely no problems after a full season of gravel grinding and winter riding. I have heard that some have had problems with Mavic rims, but these double-wall, double-eyelet rims have performed very well for me. I'm a 5'11", 230# Clyde and ride a wide variety of road conditions and surfaces.

When I build wheels, I generally build a matching set and keep the survivor (usually the front) of the previous wheels as a backup. I have a pair of 32h wheels with Mavic CPX22 non-eyeletted that came with my BD bike that are now on a frankenbike I use on the trainer. Even they held up well for most of a season before I went to the handbuilt set with Open Pro. The CPX22 equipped wheels are still very ridable, true with no signs of cracking, and I'd put them back on the bike to keep it on the road if I ever destroy one of my handbuilts.

Wilfred Laurier

If you have a black front rim, get a black rear rim... if you have a silver front rim, get a silver rear rim. And get a rear rim that is generally similar in profile to your front rim. And use a hub the same colour as the front. Then you can only tell the difference when closely examining the bike from the side, so minimize the time you can see the bike from the side by ensuring you are always riding.

Seriously, I have been riding hard and breaking rims and wheels for over twenty years. I built my first set of replacement wheels after a bad crash in 1993, and had to replace the rear rim of that set a few months later, and I believe that was the start of a still running series of mismatched wheels on every bike I own. Sometimes the mismatched wheels bother me a bit, but never when I am riding. I generally see mismatched wheels as features on my bikes that were added because of one (mis)adventure or another.

MRT2

I made the decision to go with 36 spoke hubs on the back with the new wheel. Stock build was 32 spokes, but frankly, I see no reason for someone of my weight (fluctuates between 220 and 275 over the years, about 250 this season)

Too early to tell how it is holding up since the wheel failure happened late in the season. LBS recommended the Alex rim with the high flange hub. Time will tell how it holds up. I have a few hundred miles on the new wheel. I doubt with the weather I will get more than a couple hundred miles on the bike this year, so won't know for sure until next season when I put 1,000 miles or more on it.

Wilfred Laurier

In my experience, Alex rims are the cat's pyjamas.

TrojanHorse

Ah, well that makes more sense. DA hubs do have the advantage of non aluminum freehubs though, so it's not all vanity. All my hubs with an AL freehub are pretty chewed up.

I also have an OLD open pro rim that has held up just fine over the years (late 90s vintage) whereas the cracking problems seem to be an issue with more recent rims.

sstorkel

Agreed. The last wheelset I built cost me $815. Kinlin XR-270 rims, DT Swiss spokes (28f/32r), DT brass nipples... and a PowerTap G3 rear hub with matching PowerTap front hub! I think the weight came in around 1750g and $700 of the purchase price was in the hubs, so you could certainly build a reasonably light wheelset for much cheaper.

JamesRL

To be honest, I don't care if my wheels are mismatched. And I run Alex rims with 28 and 32 spokes, and I'm 220. As long as the rear wheel is sturdy the front can be lighter. I do recall in the old days, some TT bikes were designed that way from the start.

nymtber

I have Deep-V's on Tiagra hubs. So far, so good. If I was to do it again, I would have gotten Velocity Fusion rims to save weight, I dropped 40+lbs since building the wheels! But, the rims should last a long long time

Black wallnut 

My Secteur came with CXP22 wheels. The rear had problems early on and was eventually replaced with an Velocity Fusion/ 105 hub 36h build by my LBS and Specialized picked up a fair chunk of the tab. From then on I had a mis-matched set but wth both were black and the profiles are fairly close. I no longer have that bike due to impacting a VW. It has become my road back-up wheelset and the rear gets trainer duty in the winter, currently I have a 12-25 cassette on it.

Why a Clyde would choose a lightweight wheel just baffles me. Losing two pounds from the engine is a quicker way to better performance.

Null66

Well, walking is a good workout...

Black wallnut 

Your point? How does that fit into the discussion?

Null66

Light weight wheel is far more likely to fail, giving you a long walk home.

Though admittedly I've only had 2 wheel failures where it forced a walk, and 1 of those was a hub.
Most could be dealt with by road side truing, else loosening / removing brakes.

billyymc

Yep - my Tricross is on the 3rd rear wheel but still has the OEM front. No big deal unless you're OCD.

JamesRL

And if I'm not mistaken I've seen touring set ups the same way, same rim hub brands but different spoke counts front and back.

D1andonlyDman

This. I frequently swap out rear wheels that have different rear gear clusters and tires on them, depending upon the terrain. The wheel I use the least is the one that matches my front wheel, because it has the smallest rear cog and I rarely ride in flat terrain.

dr_lha

When my rear wheel assploded, I bought a wheelset, I'll admit, where there was clearly nothing wrong with my front wheel. That said, it did have horrible white spokes, so I was happy to get rid of it. Aesthetics are important!

arex

I'm 320, and I have aMavic XM317 and a 321 on my MTB...they've been doing okay.

OrionXavier

The first year my 32 spoke stock wheel on my Trek 7.2 started breaking spokes. One of the spokes broke on the hub and the other on the rim. But some of that was due to hitting a massive pothole at 35+ MPH.

My LBS replaced the rear wheel for free under warranty and upgraded it to 36 spoke. It's been on for a year and only had 1 spoke start to loosen. I weigh 250 lbs., but up to 50 lbs. more if I'm carrying groceries. So I'd definitely urge you to go with a 36 spoke rear wheel.

Currently I'm saving up for a Trek Farley 6, at my LBS. The first time I saw a fat bike 6 months ago, I immediately loved their design as a "daily driver". I bike for transportation primarily and not for racing or to get the best workout possible. They have LARGE wheels and tires which are VERY suited for someone like myself at 6' 250 lbs. (I'm not fat just stocky, 44-46" waist). I also like that it uses disc brakes instead of v-brakes. My v-brakes tend to rub a lot on the rim, or provide a lot less braking power when the rims are covered in rain or snow/ice.