Old 11-04-06 | 11:46 PM
  #1  
the sloth
<3
 
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Baltimore
low spoke count wheels for supported touring?

So, I'm planning on doing a ~1000 mile, fully supported tour in SE Asia. All of our gear will be carried by the support vehicles, which is rather luxurious...

I'm taking my road bike, and what I'm wondering is, will my current set of Bontrager Race Lite wheels be able to hold up for the duration of the ride? I like the Bontrager wheels a lot, but I haven't had enough time on them to really judge their reliability.

Should I invest in something a bit more durable but still relatively lightweight and easily repairable, say 32 hole Ultegra hubs laced 3x to Open Pros? Or should I go with a bombproof setup? I'm worried that if I break a spoke on the Bontragers during the ride it'll be difficult to find a proper replacement.

Keep in mind I only weigh 150 lbs. on a fat day, and the majority of the ride will be on pavement.. I think only a few miles will be on hardpack surface. I've never broken a spoke on any of my wheels before, but I'm being overly cautious here, since I want this tour to be somewhat worry free (no terrible mech failures)

Last edited by the sloth; 11-04-06 at 11:54 PM.
the sloth is offline  
Reply