NYSteve

Those look really nice. You should buy a new pair and sell me your used ones!

NYSteve

Opps I quoted the wrong post

10 Wheels

Moved from General

PhotoJoe 

...then I merged the two threads.

Komisa

Little update on my situation so I went back to the bike shop they gave me a new 32 spoke wheel from connandale but I am building a 36 spoke wheel with 14g spokes and shimano hubs I will see if they hold up owner of the shop said they will if not he will build me a 40 spoke free of charge just hit 250 miles on the bike in 2 weeks and dropped 10 lbs

PhotoJoe 

Sounds like a good shop. I suspect that the 36's will serve you very well. Please keep up up to date. And good job on the mileage and weight loss.

work4bike

The bulk of wheels have 14-gauge spoke, consider buying a wheel with 12-gauge spokes, like this: BikePedia, Weinmann ZAC 19 36-hole silver - Full Item Description

Check out this thread, where I go into detail about my same problems I had with popping spokes, especially check out the last post (post #26) : https://www.bikeforums.net/clydesdale...-question.html

keg61

those Velomine wheels look like a pretty dam good deal to me at 360 lbs THANKS for the tip

VegasTriker

I was looking at a question posted by a trike rider which led me to this section. Interesting stuff here! There's a better, cheaper answer to your question and it has to do with the selection of spokes. Take a look at this article by the late Sheldon Brown Wheelbuilding and read the section on spokes. You may be able to solve your problem permanently by installing "tandem" spokes. They would be the strongest spokes available. Far cheaper than buying a new set of wheels. Note they come in a variety of thicknesses. Since they are going to rebuild the wheels anyway, go with a triple cross for the spokes and you should get an incredibly strong wheel. It will not prevent you from denting the rim if you hit a big pothole hard but should help with solving the problem of breaking spokes.

ChuckD6421 

I'm a little late to the thread but I wanted to jump on and emphasize 2 points I read that need repeating.
First, learn to 'ride light'. You need to learn to not just plant your butt and plow through bumps (or over curbs) but get up off the saddle and shift your weight accordingly to reduce the impact on the wheel. You may or may not be doing that, it's not clear, so I thought I'd get it out there.
The other thing, you mention you're building a wheel (or by now, already have)? Then you have the skills to check the spoke tension on these store bought wheels yourself. All the spokes on one side of a wheel must be as even tensioned as possible.

I feel these two points are critical for preserving your wheels and spokes. I'm a pretty experienced retired racer, tourer, commuter and past mechanic. And now I weigh around 235 nekkid. Add in 10lbs or so of winter wear, two full water bottles and spare tire (for the wheel), tools and bike and I'm pushing 250. I put thousands of miles on the stock wheels that came with my Domane which were 18 in front, 24 in the rear. 0 broken spokes and only twice did they need minor truing. But I also made absolutely sure the spokes were tensioned evenly (musically suffices for me). That's key.

GerryinHouston

When I bought my Trek Verve it took a month and I started breaking a spoke a week...

The LBS I bought it from swapped the wheel for a Wheelmaster wheel, also with 36 spokes. In the meantime, I'd bought a Park Tools spoke tension meter and learned how to use it. I showed them that they were using too little tension in the drive side and requested (had to beat them down with a stick) to go to 100/60 kg and check wheel true and dish.

Never had a problem again.

Had to repeat the beating at REI when I bought the Randonee. The Mavic wheels are bulletproof once they have the tension.

InTheRain

If wheels are built, trued, and tensioned correctly a 400 lbs person shouldn't have a problem on a quality 36 spoke wheel if they are just riding normal. And machine built wheels can meet the criteria of high quality. Yes, a guy can break a spoke on occasion, but it shouldn't be an ongoing weekly or monthly thing.

My weight has fluctuated over the last 9 years since I've been riding... between 205 and 250. I've been riding the same wheel set on my road bike. A shimano ultegra wheel set that was machine built - 16 spokes in the front, 20 spokes back.

In that time, I've had one "broken" spoke (in the last few miles of the 204 mile Seattle to Portland bike ride) when I hit a pot hole really hard. The spoke actually came out of the spoke hole and rattled for the last 4 miles. The wheel went so far out of true that I had to release the rear rim brakes so that it could keep turning. I was going to keep riding to the finish even if I destroyed the wheel.

I did finish. The wheel looked pretty warped. I took it to the bike shop. After inspection they said that the spoke looked like it was still fine. They reused it, re-trued the wheel, and re-tensioned the spokes. I've put a few more thousand miles on that wheel set since the incident.

If you have a quality wheel builder, you should have all the confidence in the world that a 36 spoke wheel can easily handle your weight. Good luck to you... I don't expect to hear that this is an ongoing problem.

DWhitworth

Yeah, this. I have been riding 4 years and am in the 350-400lb range and have ridden road bikes the majority of that time. IMO For really heavy folks, it is all about the wheels and only about the wheels and in my experience (which is somewhat limited) it is somewhat hard to find a person or place that can actually build a good wheel.

In my opinion, if you are breaking spokes on a 36 spoke wheel with any regularity and not caused by external issues (I had a chain jump and tear up a bunch once) then the wheel is not built properly. When I first started riding serious miles, I was breaking spokes all the time on supposedly bombproof wheels. Once I found a proper builder, that stopped, period. I rode 5000 miles on my 2nd bike (10 spd disc) setup with only the above chain jump issue. After that bike got stolen, I replaced it with an 11spd bike (the spoke geometry could be considered compromised on an 11spd wheel) and even though this bike will only fit 25c tires, I have not broken a spoke in 3000 miles of riding.

I use Rich Lesnik at Hands on Wheels. I also found a LBS that does a lot of tandems who also built a good wheel for me. There are certainly many other places that can do equal quality, but IMO the standard should be "no broken spokes" and not "well, big guys break stuff"

HTH,

DaveW

work4bike

I agree with everyone about finding a good wheel builder and most guys in the LBS's don't do it properly. The problem I had with most, is that they don't tension correctly, the spokes must have much more tension on them.

That's why I say, if you don't have access to a good wheel builder and don't want to spend tons of money of a bomb-proof wheel, consider buying a wheel with 12-gauge spokes, like what I did.

Not too long ago I had a wrench get caught in those spokes (hole worn thru in my panniers) and I didn't break a single spoke. All that happened was one spoke got bent and marred. I replaced that spoke and I'm still riding around on that wheel.

P.S. That wheel cost me ~$80

Deves

Been riding my newTrek FX2 for almost a year (250lb rider) and it recently started breaking spokes on the rear wheel. After the 3rd broken spoke I took the wheel in to the shop where I bought it and the mechanic told me it will probably keep happening because the wheels are machine made and the spokes are from china. He rebuilt my wheel with spokes made in Switzerland and the wheel looks and feels stronger compared to the front wheel. Because my bike was just under a year old I got a deal on the rebuilt wheel at just under $40.00

NOLA_Clydesdale

Can't stress this enough, and it's on point. As a super clyde myself (6'6, 350) I find that 'riding light' is a simple way to help alleviate some of the stress larger guys put on bikes. It might not seem like much, but shifting your weight, and helping the bike absorb some of the shock it's taking can make a world of difference. Couple that with some solid wheels, and you can do some hammering.

base2 

Though not a Clyde, Tandem's often have similar loading issues. 40 spoke wheels have already been recommended, but I don't think 40 spoke tandem hubs are 130mm like a standard road bike. I welcome any correction from someone who knows for sure.

What I have heard highly recommended for the tandem is: https://www.wheelbuilder.com/velocity-chukker-clincher-rim.html (I've saved this as mental note to self for the just in case scenario. Tandems tend to crack rims)

As has been said: Some heavy people ride light; Some light people ride heavy. I think I'm in the latter, having irreparably bent a few wheels. I credit a properly adjusted shock absorbing seat post for saving more than one rear wheel from moments of inattention when the path got unexpectadly rough (tree roots, potholes, etc...) I even bent a wheel on a speed bump once! I tend to think tandems shock absorbing seatpost has as much to do with the rear wheel and structural loads as it does the stokers comfort.

I realize my post is late and most of the basics have been covered, but I hope it helps.

DWhitworth

Velocity has 40 spoke hubs in standard spacing Velocity - Road Rear Hub

DaveW

base2 

Right on! Must either be new, new since I last searched, or I just didn't find it in a complete wheel. In any case, thanks!
Link is saved.

bikecopp

I had Phil Wood 40 hole hubs built up originally for a trek 720 touring bike. The rear is a freewheel and had 126 spacing. When I upgraded to a Rivendell Hunqapillar I sent the rear wheel to Phil and they replace the axle with a 135 spacing to match the bike. I'm 238 so I know they are overbuilt but I haven't had to true them in 8 years.

Jazzba

I'm 280 pounds and had to replace a rim .
...so I bought this
https://www.feedbacksports.com/shop/pro-truing-stand/

Just wanted to recommend it.
If you are big, keeping your wheels true...or fixing them is easier than you think

GravelMN

The vast majority of the time it is a drive-side rear spoke that breaks, usually at the elbow. This is commonly caused by uneven or low spoke tension which allows the spoke to detension and flex with every rotation cycle. As others mentioned, have the spokes repaired and the wheel properly trued and tensioned (let the person who will be doing the actual work know your weight as your rear wheel might require a bit more spoke tension than a wheel made for a 150# rider).

If you are on a budget but keep breaking spokes on the rear wheel, you can try a rear wheel with a beefier rim with 36H and double butted SS spokes. Higher spoke counts, tandem hubs and the like are an option (more expensive) but IMHO a quality build in 36H will hold up quite well for even very heavy riders. If you have the frame clearance, you can consider 28mm or 32mm tires which will provide additional protection for your wheels.