Howdy! I've been hovering for a while here, soaking up the knowledge, tips, and humour

I've been commuting for the past month on a Fuji Absolute 1.4, starting slow and working up to the point where I'm biking 100+ miles a week (which is awesome for me ... I never thought I'd be able to do that!) I'm loving the commute and the bike has been treating me well.

The only major problem I've had with it is that the rear wheels aren't staying true. Performance has been good and has repeatedly trued the wheels for free. However, they told me the rims are getting bent. The stock rims are 32H Vera Corsa's and they are recommending that I upgrade to a stronger set.

The bike is only a bit over a month old ... and I'm a bit disappointed at having to replace the rims so soon. Fully loaded (me + laptop + clothes + liquids), I'm probably clocking in at 275 lbs and the bike path I take has some rather jarring bumps.

What would 'yall recommend I do?:

• Suck it up and get better rims
• Try to get them to replace the wheel for free (since the bike is relatively new)
• Return the bike (since it is under warranty) and get a mountain bike
• Eat more bacon! (Sorry, wife has US of Bacon on in the background)

Thanks for your help!

Try to get them to replace the wheel. In the long run, you may need to look into something more robust if it won't stay true or if spokes start popping.

You mention how you have some jarring bumps. You are riding lightly over those bumps, right? What I mean is, riding around bumps, obstacles or potholes and if needed, hopping or gliding over them.

It seems odd that a 32h wheel isn't staying true. I wonder if it wasn't tensioned/trued properly when you first got it and they're not doing a good job since then. Too bad you don't know if there's one mechanic at the shop that is good at building/tensioning wheels.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it

I do try to avoid potholes but one part of the trail has a series of rather deep cracks which run the width of the trail. I do try to pull up on the front / unweight the back ... but I can't bunny hop

In addition to repairing/replacing the wheel, if the pavement is that bad, maybe consider going up a size or two and getting a wider tire, like a 700 x 35 or 700 x 38.

Well, factory wheels are not usually built to the standards that heavier riders require and factory wheels on $500 bikes... more so. (less so?)

If you are really bending the rim then it's your problem. if it's just the wheel not staying true it's theirs. I don't think the equipment is suited to the task but there are plenty of wheels out there that are.

It's really up to you whether to return it or fight for a replacement wheel.

Hi LL and welcome to the forum. The durability of wheels for clydesdales has far more to do with the quality of the wheel tensioning than the components. Speak to your local Performance Bike shop manager and ask if there is a mechanic that has a greater interest in wheels than the others. Then ask if the current wheel can't be warranteed and if the replacement can't be gone over by said employee before being installed on your bike.

What you would like that staff member to do is: Repeatedly stress relieve, true and tension equalize the wheel to the point that further stress relieving has no effect on tension nor true.

Keep us informed and let us know how things turn out for you.

How do I know if a rim is bent or is just not staying true? When they have trued the wheels in the past, it seems to spin quite nicely (at least to my untrained eye)

So if I were to get a replacement wheel and get it properly tensioned ... then it would be about the same as upgrading it to a more expensive rim? As a 'clide, do I need to be ultra-vigilant about making sure the wheel remains true and in even tension?

If it can be made true with roughly uniform tension in a side except at the rim joint it's not bent.

Without obvious damage when it's true and tension is uneven within a side you can't know whether it's a bad build + true or compensation for a bend until you try to correct it.

You have reasonable latitude to move tension to adjacent spokes except at the rim joint which can be stiffer than elsewhere due to a joining ferule, especially in conventional (32ish) spoke count wheels without too much unsupported distance between spokes.

Loose non-drive-side spokes are the problem because they don't have enough tension to keep the nipples parked when they pass the bottom of the wheel and slacken farther from your weight. Loose drive-side spokes are also a problem because the opposite non-drive-side spokes may be loose to make the wheel true laterally.

See what's going on around loose spokes. If one loose spoke is between two tight ones in the same side you could tighten it twice as much as you loosen its neighbors. If it's in an otherwise uniform area you want to spread the changes around more - you might tighten it a turn and a half, loosen its immediate neighbors on the side a half turn, and loosen the spokes next to them a quarter turn.

If you can't get the non-drive-side rear spokes next to the ferrule tight enough with the wheel staying true you want to compromise with a low spot and higher tension - you won't feel a small dip.

Some cities have bicycle cooperatives which give people a place to work on their bikes. With one nearby you might see if there's some one who can show you the ropes with wheel truing.

No, you just need rims built for people bigger than the average 140-160 pound bicycle racer (400 gram box section rims are right out) which won't bend under your weight plus proper uniform tension.

Once you do that your wheels will stay true until you bend the rims (which will be unlikely when they're appropriately selected) or wear out the brake tracks and need to replace them.

If you're mechanically inclined I strongly suggest learning to deal with your own wheels because while time consuming it's not hard - although it can be a three beer project building a wheel from scratch is only as technically challenging as adjusting a front derailleur.

If not find a reputable one-person operation which may require shipping across state lines.

Locally wheel building goes for $70; although bike shops can charge $80 to replace cables. Obviously they make more money when they have their mechanics spend their time on faster services they can charge more money for.

At the low end people get inexpensive wheels from QBP ($25 can net a whole wheel) and most of the rest opt for boutique wheels so there isn't enough demand and resulting practice for the average bike shop mechanic to get speedy building quality wheels.

The usual compromise is fast wheel builds with low quality.

Thanks for the lengthy reply ... that helped me understand things a lot better

What do you think of the Vuelta Zero-Lite wheelsets? I'm trying to spend around $150 for the rims, do you think that is doable for a large rider?

For $200 you can get what looks to be a pretty strong wheelset Velocity - Dyad Touring Commuter Sport Wheelset 700c - *blemished* which may be better than just spending $150 on rim.

if you bought the bike new..... I would get the shop to make it right......

Oh, my bad. That link was for a wheelset. I thought wheelset == rims

Grashopper has much to learn, apparently

the listed wheel set is single speed/fixie not what you are looking for

If you were to get a replacement wheel and get it properly tensioned, it would have it's best possible opportunity at providing you with a reasonable service life. There is nothing wrong with formula hubs. There are plenty of clydes in this forum riding on them or very similiar clones. I don't know much about the somewhat generic Vera Corsa rims. But, they appear to be a reasonably deep (30mm?), double wall, alloy rim. They aren't that dissimilliar to clyde favorites like the DT Swiss 585 or Velocity Deep V. The spokes are no doubt generic. They may be the limiting factor in the wheels longevity. But, spokes' biggest enemy is low or non-uniform tension and those deep'ish rims should be capable of supporting sufficient tension, as long as the spoke nipple bed is strong enough.

It's impossible to answer the "same as upgrading" question without know what the upgrade would be. More expensive does not neccessary mean more durable. There are plenty of expensive, light wheels that would be far less durable than a well built budget wheel.

As a clyde you do need to be somewhat pedantic about getting uniformly, high tension and ensuring that the wheel is stress relieved to the point where further stress relieving no longer effects either true or tension. At that point you will no longer need to be vigilant about the wheel remaining true. But, in the event that a wheel does lose true, always address it as quickly as possible. Procrastination will only worsen the underlying causes and potentially lead to more costly root cause repairs in the long run (replacing fatigued and breaking spokes).

Not only are those Vueltas single speed, they are very similiar to what you already have on the bike. If there were a differnce in durability between the two, it would be caused by the quality of the truing and tensioning job performed on them.

Wow ... there's a lot more to rims than I thought.

So, a set of rims + hubs + spokes = wheelsets?

What makes one wheelset stronger than another? I know there are many factors, but what should I be looking for in a new wheelset that my current one is lacking?

Also, I thought a wheel is a wheel ... single-speed and multi-speed bikes take different rims?

Can you recommend a good resource to read up on all this?

Sorry for the birrage of questions, I'm very new to all of this, haha

Don't apologize for asking questions. Without those questions, people won't post things like this.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

wheel = rim + spokes + hub.
front + rear wheel = wheelset.

It might be your current one is lacking a good wheel builder to correct its tension issues more than any particular deficiency in materials. A wheel is a pre-tensioned structure that supports weight by decreasing tension on the spokes at the bottom of the wheel, which spokes are supporting the weight are of course constantly changing as the wheel spins. If the spoke reaches zero tension, it can unscrew and get out of adjustment. So you want high even tension (drive side of rear wheel will be much tighter than non-drive side because of the dishing to make room for the cogs). More spokes is better because it spreads the weight load at any given moment among more spokes. A heavier sturdier rim can support higher tension than a lighter rim.

They take different hubs, rims might be the same. Hubs come in different widths, different standards e.g. for MTB vs. road, and may or not have freehubs over which you slide a cassette of multiple cogs. The wheel you linked to is for a track bike, which only allows only one cog, and does not have a freewheeling mechanism so you can't coast. Also need different hubs for disc-brake bikes than rim brake bikes; disc-brake hubs have attachment points for a brake rotor. Rims come in different sizes/diameters, e.g. 700c for road, which is the same size as "29er" MTB wheels, but larger than "26 inch" MTB wheels.

Wheelbuilding
Crazy Rides Truing by tension

I added "nipples". But, otherwise, yes, correct.
This one question could warrant a book as an answer. I have three books on the shelf that recommend different approaches to achieving good wheels. One thing I'm going to be pedantic about is differentiating between "strength" and "durability". What you need is as much the later as the former.
Build quality. Really. It's that important. With regards to components, it largely comes down to, "how much would you like to spend?". Very popular amongst budget conscious clydes are the basic cup and cone Shimano hubs. There's not much wrong with them. They work and have a steel freehub body that is as durable as anything else out there. With regard to rims, you're looking for something that can support 130kgf of drive side spoke tension without starting to collapse or having the spoke nipples pull out. The easy answer to that requirement is any of several 30mm deep V profiled rims. Dt Swiss 585 and Velocity Deep Vs are popular. There are plenty of other options that can serve just as well. Brass spoke nipples, because they are more durable than aluminum alloy ones. And, some quality, name brand, stainless steel spokes. Wheelsmith, DT Swiss and Sapim are the three most common brands. It's debatable whether you want straight gauge (14ga./2.0mm) or double butted (14/15/14ga 2.0/1.8/2.0mm) spokes. Technically speaking the former are "stronger" but there are many, very experienced wheel builders who service the clyde market and home builders that will contend that the double butted option creates a more "durable" wheel.

But, even given all those things, the wheels will only be as good as the builder that performs the final truing, stress relieving and tension equalizing.



In many case they'll use the same "rim". But, they do use different "hubs". Dedicated single speed/fixed gear wheels use a hub that the cog or single cog freewheel screw directly onto and lock. Multi speed wheel hubs will either accept a "freewheel" or have a "freebody" onto which a "cassette" is attached. In some instances people will use a multispeed wheel for single speed by placing a single cog on the freehub with spacers either side to fill up the unused space.

Don't apologize for questions. You're trying to educate yourself. One of the best resources you could imagine for clyde wheel concerns is the "search function" for this very forum. There are dozens and dozens of threads within this subforum that address just about every imaginable question you could have at this stage.

Basically. You're current wheels aren't hopeless. They tick off several of the features you're looking for. What they may lack is name brand spokes and a quality build tensioning job.

Thank you [MENTION=284673]stephtu[/MENTION] and [MENTION=151038]bigfred[/MENTION] for those very detailed answers. You've given me a ton of valuable information and a lot to think about.

Time to do some more research!

I guess the other thing to throw into the mix is if your new wheel or wheelset will be set up to run tubeless, that supposedly can allow a lower tire pressure without fear of pinch flats ??

Is running a lower tire pressure easier on a wheel (for the more expert folks?).

Bill

Lots of good advice already. Just wanted to add another +1 for the quality of build being as, if not more, important than the wheel components. Properly trued, tensioned, and stress relieved, entry or mid-level wheel components can hold up amazingly well, but a poor build can make a bad wheel out of the best components. Find a good wheel builder and have him/her detension and retension, true and relieve the wheel. Unless the rim is actually bent, chances are it will last a long time with minimal if any retruing.

If your wheel has needed retruing multiple times in a month something is wrong. Even an entry level wheel should hold up better than that. If Performance has been repeatedly truing the wheel without checking and balancing the tension and stress relieving it, they are possibly making the situation worse, not better. Many inexperienced shop mechanics underestimate the importance of even and adequate tension and will either just pluck a few spokes, or spot check with a tensiometer and pronounce the tension "good enough" as long as the wheel spins true.

Once your wheels are properly trued and tensioned, and if your frame clearances allow it, consider a higher volume tire if you are going to commute on rough roads or paths. Not only do they give a better ride, they reduce the chance of pinch flats and provide some additional protection to the wheel. Even going up one size such as 25mm > 28mm or 32mm > 35mm will make a noticeable improvement for a slight weight penalty (not a problem for a Clyde on a loaded commuter).

Lower pressure is easier, right until you bottom out the tire. By allowing the tire to compress more you reduce the shock to the wheel.

Thinking about it led me to believe it would spread a "bump" out over a larger area maybe, but thinking about it does not always give me the right answer :-).

A lot of information, all good.

DO NOT OP for MORE and HEAVER SPOKES and HEAVER RIM. I did that on 2003 Cannondale, acceleration went south!