Originally Posted by
Shinkers
Okay, so those'd fit no problem. Thanks for the measurements.
Chaad, how much dirt riding do you supposed you did on the Lemond? There are enough dirt roads around here that don't justify breaking out my MTB that I'd be interested in doing this regularly if I knew my wheels would hold up.
Thanks!
I started doing a group dirt road ride just over a year ago, which really enhanced my focus on it. We go out Tuesday mornings May through November, and we do a dirt route occasionally through the winter, as weather permits. Previous to that, I'd ride a couple of miles of dirt road here and there during road rides, but didn't seek dirt out.
So to answer your question, the Lemond saw dirt roads once a week for 35 miles or so, 7 months out of the year. In other words, not much, really.
The wheelset on that bike is primarily a Velocity Aerohead Race set, from probably about 10 years back; I do 't recall. It's a 32h, offset drilled rear, double butted spoke wheelset with Velocity hubs. It has been a flawless wheelset, and I don't believe it has ever needed adjustment, despite my thundering 220-230lbs mass.
I guess I don't know that dirt road riding is any tougher on wheels than pavement, if only for the fact less traction on a less stable surface mitigates the amount of stress on the wheels. That, and dirt road irregularities like washboard and potholes tend to be more rounded and softer at the transitions than broken pavement.
Nowadays I run 30c tubeless tires on wide-ish rims on a Kinesis Racelight 4S frameset for gravel road work, while the Lemond hangs unused in the basement.