Clydesdale Rims
 

I have just read the great responses from people below on which hub to use. I too decided on XTs (I found some older models which are said to be stonger). It was nice that Sheldon Brown confirmed my choice.

Now I have to decide on rims. I'm a very heavy/tall rider (295, 6'5") who is building up a touring bike on 700 rims. I have used Suns in the past with good results (Rynos and Ryno Lites) on a MTB bike. The Velocity name keeps coming up, but a wheel builder guy I know does not like the lack of eyelets.

Any ideas? Thanks for the great advice.

A deep v section double wall rim will provide more strength. The velocity rim is such a rim and highly regarded for clydes. The Mavic CXP33 would be a good choice with eyelets.

Mavic A719 are wonderful rims. I have them laced to XT hubs. While I don't weight as much as you, I regularly bomb down cobblestone streets with them, with a heavy load in my panniers. They have stayed true.

+1 for mavic A719 36H rims and XT or LX hubs. Im 240 and have had a set for 2 years and no failures with lots of gravel roads and numerous potholes. Its a very stout set-up.

Hi,
I am a fellow CLydesdale. I have been using CXP33 rims for the last few years.
They are a GREAT training and lite touring rim. I have been using them with 27c tires. They aren't really intended to be used with tires larger than that.

So... I have decided I want to try larger tires, and that means a wider rim.
I am going to be trying some Ambrosio rims, no reason really. I would suggest to you to get one of the Mavic touring rims. If you haven't got the hubs already, go with 36 spokes.

It's a common assumption that heavy riders need heavy rims, but I don't believe it's true. A wheel's strength (of not going out of true) comes from its spokes. A well built wheel with enough spokes for the application will stay true and won't break spokes, regardless of what rim is used.

If your rim gets dents (as opposed to going out of true) that's an indication of inappropriate tire choice or insufficient tire pressure.

The Rhyno Lite is a good choice if you want to run very wide tires, and it is also good as far as brake pad wear is concerned, but I woudn't recommend it for most touring applications.

I like the Sun CR-18, also the Mavic rims. Some of the lighter Mavic rims have had issues with spoke pull through, but this is usually associated with cheaping out and using straight gauge spokes (always a false economy) or excessive tension.

My own choice would be the Mavic Open Pro, for any tire narrower than 35 mm.

Sheldon "Not Much Experience With Velocity" Brown

+1 for the Open Pros. They're bulletproof and I believe come in 36h application. I don't know many people who have thrown a pair of those out of true very easily.

I must appologize in advance because I never ever thought that I would disagree with Sheldon.

I believe however that the greatest problems for Clydes is the D'ing or flat spot developed at the bottom of a bicycle where it contacts the ground. This flat spot is not resisted however by the spokes pushing it away from the hub, (there is effectively no spoke strength in this direction) but rather by the spokes at the top of the wheel pulling the hub up toward the center of the rim. This force is distributed to the bottom of the wheel by the hoop strenght of the rim. It is my opinion that for Clydes the stiffness of the rim is of paramount importance to prevent this flat spotting effect.

Having said this, I agree that more spokes help, probably because of less movenent of each spoke in the hole at the hub. Possibly also because more spokes provide more pulling vectors in the upper half of the wheel and thus distribute the load more evenly.

Double butted 2.0/1.8 spokes are prefered over straight 2.0 spokes and for Clydes, spoke washers are useful to lessen spoke movement at the hub and unlimate breakage.

Sheldon, 3/4ths of what I know about bicycles I owe to you and your articles. Thanks.

Velocity makes rims with and without eyelets. Look more closely.

this flat spot you speak of is also counteracted by the spokes either side of the flat. more spokes = less of a flat spot

I replaced my stock Ritchey OCR rims last year with new wheels made with Deore hubs and Sun CR-18 rims. I had problems with the OCR Rims breaking spokes and going out of true on the the rear wheel. I attributed this to the strain of going up very steep hills (they always broke on the drive train side). I am
6' 4" 220 Ibs and experienced hills this year that made the previous year look flat and had no problems with spokes or wheel true. I also have Ryno Lites on my mountain/commuter bike and have had no problems.

That's true only for wheels with inadequate spoke tension.

Jobst Brandt goes into great detail in _The Bicycle Wheel_ explaining why this is the case.

Sheldon "Not Interested In Getting Involved In Theoretical Arguments" Brown

I'm not a clyde any more, but I can't imagine a better all-around tough wheel than my 36h/32h DeepV wheels. I've been riding on them for a year on a pothole farm commute to work, and they haven't budged a micron. I didn't need that much strength, but I wanted a 30,000 mile wheelset that I wouldn't have to baby at all. It seems that's what I have.

Sheldon is THE MAN...but I also share madmax's opinion and feel that a heavier rim is appropriate for heavier riders. My suggestion is to go with CPX33's or maybe Salso Delgato's (lots of positive word of mouth on both of these). Of course, build quality is the most important thing so don't forget about the obvious.

Thanks for the ideas people.

I'm going 36 hole (kind of a given with my weight). In fact I was considering 40 holes for the rear but went with the 36.

If I went with the Velocity rims over the Mavics (just to have something a little different, and to save a few bucks)which ones? The Dyads indicate they are good for tandems, but the Deep V's often are mentioned as the toughest and they weigh more (I know this is not an indication of strength). Which is stronger?

Thanks again for the ideas.

I would add that from my experience (many, many miles of rough mountain bike miles and punishing touring bike miles with a +200 lb rider) that the DT Alpine III are a much better choice for us large people. I've ridden all kinds of rims of various weights, even the Open Pro, without problem but spoke breakage is more of an issue. The Alpines solve a lot of problems. I've been riding a mountain bike wheel with them for over 5 years without any kinds of problems.