Portis

I am asking this here instead of in Mountain Biking because I have been having an epidemic of broken and loose spokes on my mountain bike wheels. It is always on the rear, and has happened on multiple bikes. All of my current wheels are machine built i think. i do have a set of sun ryhnolites on LX hubs that may be hand built i can't remember.

Regardless, i am looking for a strong rear wheel with good spokes/brass nipples and preferably as many spokes as possible. I don't do anything but ride dirt/gravel roads. I don't need light particularly, just strong and durable.

Can someone recommend a good handbuilt wheel?

MattP.

36"? You mean 26"?

Portis

Yeah, I think i need to go to bed.

jaxgtr

Changed Heading for you.

FlatFender

stronger than rhynolites for dirt road riding?
They may be hand built, but by someone who had no idea what they are doing.

Im about 255lbs, and ive never had a problem with rhynolite rims, and ive put many ... many miles on them.

jimblairo

I'm 230 lbs and I built up a set of Mavic XM-719 36 spoke on Shimano xt hubs with DT Alpine triple butted spokes. Excellent wheels as I use them for off road touring.

erader

i had a mavic 721 built up with 36 db spokes on an XTR hub with brass nipples. this is one bombproof wheel and waaay overkill for my 1 x 9 which i only ride on the road. the rim itself is like 150 gm heavier than a mavic 717. i've only got about 200 miles on the wheel, which was handbuilt by a locally by terry shaw (shaw's cycles).

i'm selling it -- or just the rim -- if you are interested.

ed rader

blamp28

+ 1 on this. Rebuild the LX and Rhino Lite with mew 2mm spokes and make sure the tensioning is done properly and you wheel will las a very long time. Strong, Cheap, Light - - - pick two.

krash

spokes break in your wheel because of incorrect tension, incorrect wheel building & tuning.

build it right it will be very strong.

I usually get 2 years of real hard riding on wheels before they start to break spokes, mostly because by then the rims have been banged around enough that to remain true the spoke tension has to be kind of uneven.

waterrockets 

I'll put in a vote for a Deep-V. Next time I build MTB wheels, this is what I'll use.

ginsoakedboy

The Velocity Cliffhanger is a stronger rim. The Salsa Gordo is also very strong, but I wouldn't think it's much stronger than the Sun rim you have. I agree it sounds more like you're having trouble with the build rather than the components.

FlatFender

I built some Deep-V aeroheat wheels earlier this year. they were very strong. my only complaint was that they are very narrow. I like wide tires, which require wide rims.



Btw, they look *****in'

dooley

i built up a 48h bullseye hub, 135mm spacing, HALO SAS rim with a 5 speed freewheel (zero dish) for this very reason. it might seem overkill, but i like to be sure

Map tester

Another vote for a proper rebuild and using DT Alpine triple butted spokes. I have used these and they do make a difference.

waterrockets 

Very nice. I love that deep look on an MTB.

JunkYardBike

You need to find a reputable wheel builder, like Peter White. He has a very good write up on wheelbuilding on his website. He'll repair any wheel he builds free if there is any failure...provided you can make it to his NH shop.

At any rate, broken spokes are either caused by improper tensioning or a bent rim. If you ride on a machine built wheel right out of the box which isn't tensioned properly, and then tension it after it goes way out of true, you subject the rim to damage. Subsequently, the uneven tension needed to true the rim can lead to broken spokes. A handbuilt wheel isn't cheap up front, but it will save you money in the long run.