Deep-V-esque rims for geared road bike?
 

Hello folks.

My current situation: I'm 6'1, 240lbs (maybe a little lighter now actually). I have a Specialized Allez Steel (the latest before they discontinued, so I think it's a 2010). I use it for my daily commute (just under 10 miles each way, hills and bridges). It's all stock (16 speed, Alex rims, etc., dt shifters, nothing fancy).

My plight: I don't ride or own a fixie but I like the way the deeper rims look, whenever I look for where to buy them, it says they are for fixies/single-speeds only.

My limited insight: I understand that the deeper rims/wheelsets tend to be heavier and this may discourage it for a roadie (which I do not consider myself by any means), but I hear they are also pretty strong, which interests me. I also understand some rims don't have a braking surface, which I would obviously need.

My question(s): Is there something I'm missing, or would I be able to, with the right hubs, get a set made for my geared bike? Why isn't this done more often?

I look to the collective wisdom of the forum.

Thanks!

Yeah, you could build up a set, no problem, just remember you'll need a machined brake surface if you're not running disk brakes. It may be hard to find 'em off the shelf, since so much of the aero focus these days is on high end stuff, and pricey carbon is flavor "du jour". Contact Velocity; they'll build you a modest set of Deep V wheels.

Yes.
As you've noticed, most pre-built deep V wheel sets are either single speed (for the hipster crowd) or high end (for the racing crowd).

The prior recommendation is a good one, IMO - have a set of wheels built up using some Velocity Deep V's.

There are numerous folks online who can do this, or contact a local shop you trust to have it done.

Here's one online source: http://www.prowheelbuilder.com/cw/

Are Mavic CXP-33 rims still available? A good handbuilt set of those would be bombproof.

Bicycle Wheel Warehouse still shows them.

They are, and those are great rims, for sure!

Thanks guys. I appreciate the responses.

Dt swiss rr585

They look great and have extremely good build quality.

Edit: they are also deeper than the cxp33.

I think it's not done more often because it isn't really necessary this side of bike polo. A well built 36-spoke wheel with a normal profile rim will be plenty tough. That said, you never hear about people lamenting that their wheels were too strong.

isn't velocity the maker of chukker, their polo rim.
somewhere I saw 72 spoke bike-polo wheels ..
maybe to survive beating with the mallet,
or so the ball won't slip between your spokes? :lol:

After I collapsed an under-tensioned front wheel from a formerly reputable shop I started building all my own wheels.

After I spent more time making a wheel for my wife right from a formerly reputable shop than I would have lacing it to begin with I decided that I shouldn't delegate in the future when feeling lazy.

It's unwise to delegate wheel building except to _individuals_ with good reputations because unlike a shop they won't perform a last minute builder substitution and metaphorically let the guy on his first and last week build your wheel.

If you have a lot of patience and a little mechanical aptitude (I don't think wheel building is harder than setting up a front derailleur) just do it yourself.

Jobst Brandt actually tested his book _The Bicycle Wheel_ by having his grade school sons each build a set with no additional assistance. With children able to build wheels you should do just fine.

I think you're over-reacting a bit here, because of course with 99%+ rolling around on machine built wheels, failures are quite rare. Of the few catastrophic wheel failures I've seen (i.e. excluding untrue wheels), they've all been on wheels that were probably built correctly but underspec'd for their application, in other words, super light wheels for heavy-duty users.

Additionally, I've built wheels myself and find it a waste of time, unless there is a particular color combo or part combo I want. Otherwise, it's almost certain to be cheaper to buy a pre-made wheelset rather than making your own, especially that first set you need to tool up for.

Building your own is a good exercise, though, and I recommend it, too, but not because you're going to build a better wheel.