Originally Posted by
samkl
We're a 285lb team planning an all-round wheelset build for our new tandem frame. The plan is to do mostly speedier rides on the road with 32 or 35mm tires, occasionally do a loaded tour, and potentially put on wider tires for gravel rides. This will be a disc wheelset, 700c.
I've searched through the forums but all the tandem wheel advice I can find on the internet is about 10 years old. What's modern-day conventional wisdom about rims and spokes and spoke count? Still 40h double-butted Velocity Dyads, or are there newer, better rim and spoke combinations?
My vanity wants a wheelset about 2100 grams, but obviously we prefer reliability to marginal weight improvements. We're budget conscious - $700-800 is about the absolute max for rims, spokes, and hubs, but less is preferred. (I'm planning on building the wheels myself.)
Any advice? Thanks in advance.
"Is there better?" Are you kidding? Have you not heard of carbon rims? You bet there's better! There's such a selection of 700C rims now, it's almost too much. Every shape and width to meet your every need. But it comes at a cost, a BIG cost! I still cannot believe Enve carbon rims retail for $975 a PIECE! That's simply insane. I totally understand there's a significant difference in cost between extruding aluminum rims (an age-old process that has come WAY down in cost) versus carbon layup. MAJOR difference in time and expense. Carbon rims will eventually come down in price; there's no way a grand a rim is anywhere NEAR sustainable.
So the wheel world is your oyster. You'll be able to build up an amazing wheelset. I assume you're going disc, so no issue with carbon rims melting under braking loads.
You're a light team, so you can go with a lighter set of wheels and be fine. 32 spoke front and rear would suffice. Might want to drop down to 28 even.
King hubs, CX-Ray spokes to a medium to deep dish carbon rim would be sweet. Just expect to spend $2k or more.
Oops, just saw your price limit. So much for that idea! Then again, look at what Merlin... found:
MerlinExtraligh said,
"We’re getting a set of Light Bicycle wheels, CF rims, DT Swiss hubs, 28 spokes, and extra strength rims, which add about 100 grams but are recommended for low spoke tandem use, for under $800.
Drawback is a couple of months to ship from China, but they have good reviews.
As to spoke count, we have had no issues with reliability of low spoke count CF rims from ENVE, Zipp, and now Calfee. (Other than a heat issue with the ENVE”s using rim brakes) and we’ve got 50-60 pounds on you."
Wow, that's a SWEET deal!