Originally Posted by
budfan08
Hey guys, I am looking at building up a Specialized AWOL frameset, I am wondering what kinda wheels would work on this rig? Do I use 29er wheels or 700c wheels or what? I am planning a tour next summer from Oregon, home to North Dakota. I don't know a whole lot about wheelsets for touring/cross bikes so I am in need of some help on this front! I've built a couple other bikes so I am familiar with building, just lost on the wheelsets at the moment.
Thanks
I'm biased as hell (I work for Velocity) but I'd say a Dyad wheelset, 36H front and rear would be a great choice. Shameless plug: we can also build them up for you:
http://www.thewheeldepartment.com/p/facts.html
I run the Aeroheats (26" Dyad, basically) on my MTB touring conversion, and just did a 200 mile on/off-road tour, and commute about 14 miles over some pretty bad roads, and have yet to have to true them. A lot of that is due to the build quality, however. The rim is important, but much of the strength and durability of a wheel comes down to the build quality. We use DT Swiss tensiometers, which are infinitely more accurate and precise than the Park or Wheelsmith tensio's that most bike shops use, and therefore can get our tension to 120kgf with an absolute max variance of 10% or so throughout the wheel. I'd recommend finding a reputable, professional wheelbuilder with similar standards.