Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Just about anything will support a 2" tire. I've run Mavic XC717 or similar on mountain bikes for eons without issues.
Frankly, for a 110 lb woman, anything would work. If money is no object...but it usually is
...a set of White Industry T-11 hubs (with titanium hub) laced to a set of Mavic XC717 or Velocity A23 or Aeroheats would be more than strong enough and superbly lightweight. I have a set of 32 hole T-11 hubs laced to A23 in a 700C that weigh 2 lbs less than the 20 hole Veulta wheels they replaced.
Money is not a consideration, but good sense is. I stopped at a local bike shop today to get a part for my pump and talked about wheels. They think that there really isn't that big of an upside to spending tons of money on the wheel. I just don't know, it is hard to tell how much is "placebo" effect with wheels. I bought some beautiful very light weight hand built wheels for my road bike and I swear I was faster on hills. But I was also well trained at the time so I was getting faster and faster anyway. In the end, I just didn't know if they were better.
I have no good idea where to draw the line on the cost benefit analysis and often end up with analysis paralysis. I am talking about a long haul trucker frame, does it make sense to equip a tank with ultra lightweight wheels? I just don't know.