Originally Posted by
chriskmurray
No real argument other than I simply like to overbuild commuter/touring bikes, especially if the person has a history of being hard on wheels (although in this case I think it was more his selection of wheels more than anything).
I used 28h cr-18 wheels on my xtracycle until the rims wore through and I carried people fairly regularly. My mtb wheels are 32h (with alloy nipples even) and have nearly 10k miles of rather aggressive riding on them and I have never broke a spoke. For a commuter wheel though, an extra 20 grams or so to move to 36h for a little extra support is not a bad idea in my opinion.
You would be preaching to the choir... my 150 pound butt rides around on a good number of 36 spoke wheels too.
Would also touch on the fact that a wider tyre on a wider (matching) rim can offer some excellent rollout at a lower psi and do more to save the bike, wheels, and rider from getting pounded.
Case in point... my Moulden rolls on 26 by 2.0 tyres (70 psi) on 32 spoke wheels and is plenty fast.
.JPG)