Rumblejohn

My warranty is about to expire on my Raleigh hybrid, and I am still breaking ds spokes. The factory wheels are 36h Weinman rims on Sunn hubs. What would be a durable replacement? Strength is more important to me than weight. I weigh 300lbs. so a few ounces is not going to make that much difference.

Thanks for letting me tap into this vast knowledge bank,


John

Retro Grouch 

Do you have a good bike shop near you? Cause that's what you need.

The OEM wheelset that you have now is pretty cheesy. I'm thinking that it's simply not up to your weight. You need stronger wheels.

Selecting a stronger wheelset, however, isn't as straightforward as it first appears. There's a lot of details - over locknut dimension and hub design are two that can vary on hybrid bikes. Finally, a wheel has 4 components hub, spokes, rim and build quality. Of the four, build quality is the most important, especially for you.

If you came to me, my first recommendation would be a set of custom built wheels with good quality rims and hubs. If your budget won't handle that I'd find a factory built wheelset with hubs to match your bike and rework the tension and trueing before I gave them to you to ride.

The reworked factory built wheelset would probably cost between $150.00 to $250.00 front and rear. The custom wheelset would probably cost a bit more.

Rumblejohn

Retro Grouch, thanks for the qwuik reply. Although the LBS I bought the bike from, is handling the warranty very well, I don't have a great deal of confidence in their wheel building, I was also disappointed they didn't have loaner, or rental bikes. I live between Orlando and Daytona Beach FL., there should be a decent wheel builder in the area, but have found no recommendations. I was thinking of maybe buying a decent factory wheel from Nashbar or Perfomance, and going over it myself. You think a tension meter is an absolute must?

operator

THere's no point. At your weight you have to select all your components with durability and strength in mind. No factory built wheelset will offer this.

You may want to try the clydes forum for some wheel build recommendations as i'm sure this question comes up quite a lot.

Versa2nr

seriosuly, a good wheel builder will prove to be a valuable asset at 300 lbs. Of course if you want strong wheels something double walled cant hurt. I run a set of Ryno Lites on my mountain bike and have had good success combined with a double butted spoke. A skilled wheelbuilder can work magic IMHO.

sunnybiker

Alex rims in 26 or 700c work great w/ a human built wheel , I have a dozen sets out there as singles and geard bikes and all are doing fine after 4 years of often heavy use. Winters too.
Alex adventurer rims , Shimano xt hubs, 36 14 straight gauge DT or Wheelsmith spokes built 3 cross should make you a liftetime wheelset. Pbrbly cost around 300$

froze

Sun Rhyno Lite laced with DT Alpine III spokes (which have been reengineered and solved some issues they had in the past), with any good hub like Shimano 105's would make a very sturdy wheel.

But if you don't have confidence in any one around you to build a good wheel then try Peter White Cycles, Peter White specializes in wheels and will build one to suit your weight and provides a LIFETIME warranty! While he may be a tad more expensive then from Nashbar or whoever, but they will be far better wheels.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Wheels.asp

By the way, most catalogue wheels are built for riders weighing about 180 pounds, thus the ones you mentioned more then likely will give you grief.

operator

Or even triplewall.

Bill Kapaun

I would suspect you are having trouble with the rear wheel since it carries the most weight etc. IF money is an issue, maybe just have it custom built.

mtnbiker4791

Also look at the mavic a719 rim as its a beefy double wall and double eyeleted rim.

tsl

One of the best wheelbuilders around is right there in FLA. Talk to Mike Garcia at odds and endos. His web site sells typical lightweight, go-fast stuff--don't let that fool you. Call him anyway. I ordered a custom heavy-duty set for commuting last year. Those wheels deserve a better bike!

bailcash09

if you have 700c wheels you might want to think about some 30mm semi-aero aluminum rims. The aero ability is debatable, but they are more durable. I don't think they make those in 26". Do you know what size your wheels are?

operator

Deep v's come in 26", and they are 30mm. Heavy.

Rumblejohn

Thanks to all,I think I may have solved my problem. Stuble on to a LBS who will custom build a wheel for me.
Price is in-line, and he uses DT spokes and has a spoke cutting machine. He recommended a Sun double wall rim, and possibly reusing my hub. I was thinking I had Sun hubs, but they are Joytech. Think they will be okay with new bearings, or should I spring for new hubs too?

Thanks again,

John

froze

I would ask your LBS what he thinks of the condition of the JoyTech hubs, and would he recommend rebuilding or replacing. Also check with him about those Alpine III spokes I mentioned earlier.

operator

I don't think it makes sense to do a custom wheelbuild and then reuse a crappy hub like the joytechs.

jimblairo

DT Alpine III spokes are the strongest. They are used on down hill and BMX wheels. I'm a big guy and I use them on an A-719 rim with XT hubs both for touring and on my mtb.

Retro Grouch 

Amen to that! Get a Shimano hub. If you came to me for the wheelbuild, I'd recommend Velocity Dyad rims.

abeyance

I'm surprised no one has mentioned dirt-jumping wheels. It's another option, some hybrids come in 135

froze

I never owned nor know much about the JoyTech hubs but on a post about a year ago here on this forum some people said they were good hubs...perhaps they have different models, some good some bad?

Retro Grouch 

I don't always agree with Operator but I'm with him 100% on this one. If you're going to the trouble and expense of having a custom wheelset built why wouldn't you want to start with a hub that you KNOW is going to be reliable? I just ordered a pair of Tiagra hubs for next weekend's project. I don't want to say what I'm paying but I was pleased at the reasonable price.

Rumblejohn

Well I finally got the replacement wheel. I have only used it for about 30 miles, and it's going to the wheel builder for truing and spoke tension, it was not too straight when I got it.

I was unaware that it was a freewheel, when I have the custom wheel build would I be better off changing to cassette?

Thanks for all the advise, I'm fairly sure I can trust the wheelbuilder, but it is nice to have other knowledgable opinions.

john

Retro Grouch 

Absolutely! The big advantage of the cassette hub is that it moves the right side axle bearing much closer to the dropout. That pretty much eliminates the potential for bent axles.

bkaapcke

I ordered new wheels from Spin Lite online for my LWB recumbent and am real happy with them. Strength, due to my weight, was a consideration. I phoned in the order and we discussed many issues before decidng on exactly what to buy. Prices were reasonable given the cost of 'built' wheels elsewhere.

Do yourself one favor, get hubs that use sealed bearings. Cup and cone bearings are ok, but with weight, any looseness in the adjustment will soon lead to problems. bk

ginsoakedboy

I used to be your size - significantly less now with regular riding. I was always breaking spokes. Then, I finally plunked down the cash for some strong custom wheels, and have not had problems since.

The strong 700c rims are: Velocity Dyad, Mavic A719, Salsa Delgado Cross, Sun RhynoLite. As to hubs - if you can afford Phil Wood, that's the gold standard, otherwise go with Shimano. For spokes, go with double butted - they build a stronger, more durable wheel because they flex a bit in the thin section

My best wheels, which came with a lifetime warranty from Peter White Cycles (one of the premier wheelbuilders in the US), is the Velocity Dyad built on Phil Wood standard touring hubs. I'm going into my 4th season with these wheels, and they have never required anything beyond the most minor truing. I also have a set that consists of the Salsa Delgado's built on Shimano XT hubs, which have held up well.