Originally Posted by
radial1999
I'm actually about 205 (but I'm getting my weight down fairly quickly, riding a lot lately, and hope to get down to 190 by early summer and 180 by the end of the summer). So if these are actually too light or lacking in durability, what about an almost 5.5 lb wheelset (but cheaper than these) like this:
Vuelta Corsa HD $180
http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...5_10000_202455
IMO that's starting to get too cheap. At that price, I'd be a bit worried about build quality. If the wheel is built poorly, it won't last. If you could inspect such a wheel before buying, maybe it'd be OK.
When I worked at a shop, we almost always had to hunt down bladed spokes for customers that broke a spoke, but I'm not opposed to buying a box if I had to, once I've settled on a wheelset. I remember Mavic being the most common so I'd think bladed spokes for Mavics would be easy to find. But I'm not a road bike expert at all (obviously) so I could be wrong. The idea of typical stainless that any shop carries in every length is appealing though.
Well, the Neuvations I had came with a good number of spare spokes - 4-6 IIRC. For those wheels you could also just use a standard round spoke to keep you going until the proper bladed spoke(s) were delivered.
If you KNOW you're going to lose the weight, you should be fine with the lower-spoke count wheels. They might not last as long as a custom-built set of wheels more suited to heavier riders, but at $200+ for a set they'll be cheaper. The least-expensive custom set I know of would be these:
http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com.../prod_169.html
I think the reason they're relatively inexpensive is that they're not really "custom" - the rim, hub, spoke count, and lacing are all fixed. Also, if a 32-spoke rear is OK, a 32-spoke front is way overkill.
And I should mention the resident Bike Forum custom wheelbuilder:
http://www.psimet.com/