bassjones

I'm putting a CAAD9-4 on layaway next week and will obviously need a wheel upgrade. Make some recommendations for me. Probably need to stay around $400 or so for the set. Prefer SRAM hubs...

Neil_B

Get your shop to build you a 36 spoke rear. Mine was $175.

motob

Good choice on the CAAD9. I am getting a CAAD10 for Christmas. I am 6'4" 245 and ride hard and fast. I have gone through several rear wheel relace spoke jobs with my old race rear wheel set on a American Classic sprint 350. My front wheel never needed relacing in 11,000 miles with I don't know how many on the rear wheel. I finally went to a master wheel builder and had him lace me a 36 spoke on a velocity deep v rim on an ultegra hub. Its got 1000 miles on it and still rock solid, and I love the smoothe responce out of the saddle. Verry good wheel set and don't notice the few grams of weight it added compared to the AC sprint 350.

If you are a clyde my size you will set up nice on the CAAD9 with velocity deep v. Cost was 300 for the rear, but that was with the ultegra hub, you can nock $130 off of that if you have a hub. My rear AC hub was worn out. You can also keep the front wheel set you have, it does't wear out like the rear for big guys. I am keeping the stock front on mine.

tortugaflats

+1 on 36 hole velocity deep v

Tom Stormcrowe

36 hole Deep V's here with 3 years riding on them, starting out at 310 pounds and they've never needed to be touched. They were hand built by a master wheelsmith, by the way.

bassjones

My local wheelsmith recommended the Velocity Dyad over the Deep V for my application, so that's what I'm going with. He's sending me some quotes with different hubs so we'll see what I end up with.

motob

Good luck on the bike. You won't regret the extra money for the velocity custum build and the CAAD 10 bike. There is nothing like being on a fast road bike in the open country with a group rolling the miles along.

bassjones

Thanks! Actually, I got the last of the CAAD 9s left in stock. Great deal too. Picked it up for $1500 (plus whatever I end up spending on wheels).

DannoXYZ 

The Dyad is laterally stiffer than the Deep-V, so it would give you a more durable wheel that won't go out of true as easily. Either one with a good build will work out just fine for you.

For the ultimate wheel, I'd recommend the Sun Rhyno Lite rims. This places even more material in the lateral direction for even more lateral-strength. This is the rim used by pro downhillers and BMX riders. We've got a set on our tandem (combined weight ~400 lbs) and it's held up great for the past year without any truing needed.

bassjones

Not sure those would work with my bike. Very little clearance... I'll look into them though.

1nterceptor

I'm 200lbs and was having problems with the rear wheel on my
Fuji Newest 1.0 with 32 spoke hub and 700 X 25 tires.
Before deciding what rim/hub to use; I looked for a local builder first.
I did this because I wanted the builder to warranty/guarantee their work,
if that meant using the wheel they stock/recommend then fine. I couldn't
find a wheelbuilder/shop here in the New York city area that would retrue
for free a wheel they built for let's say a year from building. Forget about
getting a guarantee that the wheel would stay straight or that a spoke
won't break.

So I shipped my stock hub(Alex) to Peter White cycles and he recommended
a Velocity Deep V. After about 1,000 miles it's still true. I'm happy and I like
his lifetime warranty.

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

"My Lifetime Guarantee

If wheels are properly built, they will need little if any truing ever. The rim or hub should fail before the spokes. My guarantee covers spoke breakage and truing. If you buy a wheel from me that I recommend for you, and a spoke ever breaks that hasn't been obviously impacted and damaged by jamming the chain between the cassette cogs and the spokes or getting a foreign object caught in the spokes, I will replace that spoke free of charge, while you wait. If that wheel ever needs truing, I will true it while you wait, free of charge. Of course, as a practical matter, unless you are a local customer, my guarantee may not be of importance to you, since you would need to get the wheel to me, and pay the cost of shipping. When I first began my web site in 1997, it never occurred to me that people in Indiana or New Mexico would be interested in buying a wheel from me here in New England!"

DannoXYZ 

Yeah, they're a little on the wide side, good for touring & tandems. I like them with 28-32mm tyres at 80-90psi. Not easy to fit on most bikes.

The other thing to consider is tyre-size and pressure. That determines the peak-G forces experienced by the wheel when you go over potholes, speed-bumps, kerbs, etc. Lightweight wheels with big tyres at low-pressure would usually survive clyde duty better than heavy-duty wheels with skinny tyres at high-pressure. Well, it's more of a criss-cross function with a happy medium in the middle somewhere. Best combo would be heavy-duty wheels with large tyres at low-pressure. Again, that's limited by what would fit into any particular frame. Basically you want to use the largest tyres you can fit into the frame in order to get the highest durability out of your wheels.

bassjones

They won't fit. The widest the CAAD9 will accept is a 700x25

cyccommute 

Everyone talks about hubs and rims when it comes to wheel strength. A good hub is a joy to ride but it's overall effect on wheel strength isn't all that great. A good rim is also a joy to ride but it's overall effect on wheel strength is even less than the hub. The spokes do all the heavy lifting when it comes to wheel strength. If a wheel is going to have a problem, it will be a spoke problem 95 out of 100 times. For heavier loads, it will be a spoke problem 99 out of 100.

The spoke of choice for heavy loads...heavy rider or heavy rider and touring load...should be DT Alpines III. The thicker elbow resists fatigue better and the tighter fit in the hub means that the spoke moves less during each rotation. If you use an aero rim with a tall center section, the spokes will be shorter which increases their strength. Use a higher flange hub and you'll gain a little more strength because the spoke will be shorter still. I would certainly suggest a 36 hole wheel for the rear for your bike too. The spoke count on the front won't matter all that much as long as you stay reasonable but you'd not go wrong with a 36 on the front either.

dfritch

My LBS put me on Velocity Deep V Wheels. I think they were 38-40 spokes in the rear and 36 in the front. I started riding them 5 years ago and at the time I was over 400 pounds. I still ride them today (288 pounds) without any problems. The bearings they use make these wheels roll! I ride 700 x 23 tires on them.

https://www.velocityusa.com/

SCROUDS

I've seen some phil wood 13/14 single butted spokes. Better/worse then the alpine III 13/15/14 triple butted? Wheelsmith also offers their DH13 13/14 single butted spokes.

It seems to make sense to keep them pretty stiff, and beef up the elbow end of the spokes. But I've read that the triple butting gives the wheel more strength, as the narrow part compresses, it allows the wheel to better share the load with neighboring spokes.

Homeyba

Why don't you save some money and take the wheels that come with the bike (after putting a 100 miles or so on them) to a good wheelsmith and have them tensioned properly. They'll probably last you a lot longer than you think. When and if they start breaking spokes, then spend the money a set of velocity or Shimano CXP rims.

cyccommute 

The Phil Wood or Wheelsmith spokes would give the same beefiness in the head without the elasticity in the middle. Going down to a 1.8mm (15 gauge) in the middle of the spoke like the Alpines does help with spreading the load out more than the other two brands of spokes. Here's what Sheldon Brown had to say about double butted spokes.

bassjones

I am planning on doing that and saving up for a set of Dyads before my first Triathlon June 25. Hopefully, I'll replace them about a month before the race which should give me time to adjust to them before the race.

SortaGrey

"Great deal too. Picked it up for $1500 (plus whatever I end up spending on wheels."

Why.. would one drop that kind of coins on a bike that needed new wheels right off? Not anyting personal.. just that doesn't make a drop of sense to an old greyhair like me.. . 'Those wheels are crap' on a 1500 coin bike.. only makes me wonder..what is the rest of said bike.........

Walked thru a few bike stores.. looked at some of those paint jobs and prices.. and thought... "who's furnishing the vaseline??

bassjones

Because I weigh 350 lbs and 24 spoke wheels aren't going to hold up to me very well. They're not complete crap, but probably a $200 wheelset or so. A lot of racers spend more on wheels than I spent on my bike. It's all a matter of perspective really. For ME, I got a great deal. Somebody else might not consider it such a great deal, but it has SRAM Rival components with a SRAM Force crankset and Cannondale's best aluminum frame.

SortaGrey

Your right.

I guess for me the bike is just a tool.... a means to an end. I polish my coins more too.. have FUN!

bassjones

Oh, I will It's just a tool for me too, but I wanted something light and strong that would last me for a long time and after doing some research the CAAD9 frame kept coming up as one that was particularly strong for aluminum. After riding both the Shimano 105 and the SRAM Rival equipped CAAD9's, I decided the SRAM equipped bike was worth the extra $300 (MSRP) for me, though if I could have been perfectly happy with 105 too. I just felt like the SRAM stuff shifted better and it definitely looks better

dfritch

Thanks for the information on the CAAD9. I'm looking for a new bike and never gave it much thought.

timmythology

Also something nobody really discusses is just changing out the rear wheel for a beefier one, and keeping the stock front.
I replaced the rear to a 36 Deep V, love it by the way, and had my front re-tensioned, and have never had an issue with it.

I do sometimes feel a little off since my rear wheel is an electric blue deep v, with a black alex front rim. I have yet to catch my self looking at my wheels while riding my bike though.

I also picked up a set of the rhinolytes for my commuter, and again have not had to have them re-trued since they where done. I thought the Rhynolytes where only in 26" wheels?