Guillermo

I will be commuting short distances around campus this fall, and would like to have a nice wheelset that will withstand the rigors of college life! This may involve getting banged around by other bikes while at the rack - is there a road wheel so durable?

I would like these to be used for winter riding as well - so maybe a rim that can take a slightly larger tire will be good.

For reference, they will be accompanying a campy 10sp group.

I was thinking about having the LBS build a set rather than factory built wheels.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Dax

EDIT: I was hoping to spend less than $ 250, but it looks like my choices may be limited trying to find a 10sp compatible hub??

mechBgon

What type of brakes does the bike have, caliper or cantilever? One very strong road rim is the Sun RhynoLite 700C... but I wouldn't try using it with any tire smaller than a healthy-sized 700x38! And that would require a lot of brake clearance, both for the tire and the wide rim.

Another rim I always liked was the 26" Weinnman ZAC19, and it's produced in 700C also. The rim is fairly strong and quite cheap, and it's narrow enough to use with normal caliper brakes and tires down to ~28mm nominal. Link and link #2

For raw strength and abuse-resistance, I'd use straight 14ga. DT or Wheelsmith spokes. Any chance you'll be building them yourself?

Bikes-N-Drums

I had a similar issue... needed tougher wheels. I got 700c Sunrims CR18 - kind of lower-end price range ($35-40 per rim) but a very strong and durable rim. Very likely some people may frown on this choice as there is much more out there of higher quality, but these get the job done efficiently and economically. I had the same problem finding a 7 speed rear wheel that was of any quality, so I had the rim spun up on my old rear hub. Much cheaper than brand new wheelset.

mrfix

I ride mavic 519 and now 520, 14/15 DB spokes and ultedra hubs, 36 spoke. on my touring bike, and road bike for weekend rides. On the touring bike I have damaged one of these rims while carrying a full load but it was my fault. they build into a nice straight wheelset. If you're going to have a shop build you a set of wheels, ask them for references, and try to talk to someone that had wheels built there, ask how long they kept their mechanical itegrity. Most parts work well, even the lesser expensive stuff if speced carefully, the wheel builder has the most impact on performance, dependability and longevity of a wheelset, They need to be round, true, laced and dished properly, and tensioned correctly and evenly from the start.

MichaelW

Are you using Campy calliper brakes? What is the max tyre size these can take.

I recently changed my old heavy Rigida rims for a lighter stronger set of box-section Mavic MA-3. My Shimano 105 calipers are long drop, so can take 32mm. I tried a wider hybrid rim, but it wouldnt fit between the brake blocks even when opened wide.
MA3s are a bit wider than OpenPro, and fit 28 and 32mm tyres very well.

Campy 10 speed (2x10) seems a bit of a thief magnet for campus travel. Consider a cheaper set of hubs and keep your current ones for racing. Marchisio sprockets can solve the spacing problem and allow you to use any hub, Campy or Shimano.
Even better, use a hack bike for daily travel.

Guillermo

I don't have any hubs yet, but was looking at a veloce set for a good price. The campy brakes are caliper, though I'm not sure what the largest tire they can take would be. Is this usually limited by the frame or the caliper?

One day I would like to build my own wheels, but I don't think I'll try to be so crafty yet. The bike I'm building will be my first, so minimizing the tougher tasks first time around would probably be best.

The sun cr-18 looks like a decent rim - I like the tire size range they specify: 25-35. Ideally I would like to be able to go that low if I felt like it. I also found a good price on the Mavic cxp33, in blue to match my bike! But the widest I could probably use would be a 28. Is it likely that I would want to go wider than that? Also, can anyone comment on their durability? Though I pedal at a high cadence, and weigh 175, I seem to mash on my gear pretty hard for some reason :confused:

Unfortunately, it hadn't crossed my mind that campy 10 might be a thief magnet. I think thiefs usually go for wheels and seatposts first. Removing any of the centaur parts would be more of a chore. Hopefully this won't become an issue.

Sorry for length, but thanks everyone for the help so far

Dax

Anders K

I would use 36 spoke wheels built with Shimano mountainbike hubs for the better seals. I canīt recomend the Sun Rhyno rim if you run rimbrakes.

Anders K

MichaelW

I couldnt recomend a road racing frame with racing components as an all-weather commuting bike for Chicago. You just dont have the tyre clearance neccessary for winter setups. The frame clearance is matched to the caliper drop, and both are designed for narrow clearance with at most a small 28mm tyre.

MTB hubs make a lot of sense, having better seals.
Using a frame with long drop calipers or cantelever brakes will give winter clearances. A cyclo-cross style is better suited to the job than a pure road racer. Whatever you get, you are going to ride it hard, maintain it little and leave it exposed to the elements for hours.

How much winter riding do you intend to do ?

mechBgon

There should really not be an upper limit to the size of tire that you can put on the CXP33's, except for what your brakes will take. I have mountain-bike rims hanging in my closet which are just as narrow and they'll take 2.35" tires just fine. The V shape of the CXP33's should result in strong wheels.

Generally, road brake calipers are the limiting factor in tire size instead of the frame, by the way.

Guillermo

hmm...well then if the bike won't be so well suited for winter riding or commuting so be it, but I'm still gonna finish building it

The commuting won't be in Chicago BTW...I will be in Michigan. Not like the weather there will be any better though

naisme

Good thread so far. I'll be watching this one, as I too am looking to build a set of wheels for the winter months here in MN. Last year I bought factory set, and it just hasn't worked out to the better. One thing is the hundred mile warranty. A good commuter puts that on his/her wheels in a week. I can't take a day off to go mess with wheels in a shop, so I am opting for getting a truing stand and building and mantaining my wheels at home. In comparrison to the factory wheels, the three that I've built are still going strong, without problems of truing or rounding. For a beginner wheel smith I think that's pretty durn cool.

What I am looking at was the Sun cp18s, cause of the inexspense. I'll make up the difference in the hubs. I'm hoping to build a Surly 1X1 flip-flop track hub, turning my commuter into a fixed commuter.

Then over the winter I plan to build a set of wheels for the road bike, and adjust everything. Should have enough time. Winter here's six months long.

Guillermo

wow! That all sounds great. Be sure to let us know how things workout once you've built them