Originally Posted by
ClemY
As a long time Clyde, I have had my share of wheel trouble. When I was up to 340 I really liked more spokes. Now that I am down to 280 I may not need them, but they don’t hurt. With older, more flexible rims, I more spokes prevented breakage. With newer, stiffer rims, like the Velocity Deep V, more spokes may be superfluous, but it is still nice. My most recent wheelset is White Industry MI5 hubs (135 rear) with Velocity Deep V rims with 40 spokes front and rear. I recently rebuilt my old criterium racing bike and it is nice and fast with the new wheels.
Fast riders = YES. Fast wheels = perhaps if you cannot muster an extra 2 watt to maintain 18 mph on a calm day. Velocity Deep V, Velocity Aero, or the much cheaper Weinmann DP18 are my favorite 700c rims. I use 32H or 36H Shimano 105 hubs.