Scrod, I've tried some googling, and the responses seem mixed, so I figured I may as well ask. I'm right about 200lbs on the nose, and ride around Chicago, so the terrain isn't exactly far from off-road on most of our busy streets, but I try to be gentle about riding off of/over curbs and potholes the like.

I'm working on building up my bike and I've always liked the look of wheels with less spokes, and I'm wondering how few I could realistically get away with. Some people seem to be of the mind that any urban riding pretty much requires 32h rims/hubs, and I suppose that makes sense, just curious what your take on it is. I was hoping I could get away with something like 28 or 24h for a new wheelset, but I don't know very much about how strong bike wheels really are, and of course I'm not trying to have one fold on me while riding in traffic.

If it helps, the bike is an old steel Motobecane, so it weighs a decent bit, probably just under 30lbs, but I'm not a messenger, and don't often ride with much more than a laptop and some clothes for cargo.