I'm a big guy (245lb) riding a Kona Jake. After a few weeks of riding I noticed the rear wheel was out of true. Brought it in and they serviced it while I waited I now notice the rear wheel feels soft, like it gives a bit (I'm running 28 gatorskins @ 120psi). Tire still seems to have a very slight side to side wobble and also seems to be slightly out of round. Subjectively, the spokes on the rear wheel feel to be under much less tension than the front wheel. I don't really trust the wheel at this point and I don't believe having it trued at the original shop will completely fix my problem. Are my only options to have the wheel rebuilt at a different shop or spring for a higher quality rear wheel?

Note that, because of the dish of the rear wheel, the spokes on one side of the wheel will always feel looser than the other side, or the front wheel, which has no dish.

I'm a big guy too and I've had the same problem with a couple rear wheels. Both times I had the wheel trued a couple times, messed with it myself a few times, and finally had the wheels replaced or rebuilt by my trusted LBS mechanic. The replaced and rebuilt wheels were both trouble free after that.

If the bike is still under warrantee you can get the shop you got it from to mess with it for free. But, if they've already given it a try or two, and if you want to get a trouble free wheel, get recommendations for a really good wheel builder in your area and buck up to get it done once, properly. A good mech will tell you honestly whether the hub and or rim can be re-used or whether to just get a whole new wheel.

If your rear tire seems 'soft' when rolling @ 120psi, I would suppose any tire at that pressure would seem just as 'soft'. Just get your LBS to tension your current wheels properly for now. Some semi-loose spokes are normal in some wheel builds.

As far as feeling safe on the wheel, the worst that could happen would be a popped spoke, and that would just make your wheel wobble a little bit more - it wouldn't be dangerous - just put some wire or tape in your saddle bag in case.

Out of curiousity, how many holes/spokes are in the rear hub?

When you're a big guy like us, most wheels and tires are going to have some flex or give to them. Don't let yourself obsess on it. If the wheels aren't going out of true then it's just the nature of the beast. Have a good mech check out the wheels before junking them, for sure. A couple of truings on a bike in the first few hundred miles isn't that big of a deal unless the wheel never settles.

Jack is right, if you do indeed break a spoke it's not going to make you crash. I have broken three spokes in one ride home once. Cranking up a long hill one went, then another, then a third by the time I got to the top. The wheel didn't collapse and it didn't make me crash. Of course that was the last ride for that wheel, but I made it home (about 5 miles after spoke death) with no other problems. I didn't realize what that "plink" sound was until I got home or I may not have ridden it the rest of the way but I made it ok.

If the spokes really are loose on the rear wheel, you'll soon start breaking spokes like crazy. Loose spokes break fast due to being loaded/unloaded every time you take a pedal stroke.
The rear wheel on my Giant Cypress broke about 20 spokes the first year. I finally gave up and bought a new set of DT butted spokes and rebuilt the thing, and haven't broken a spoke since (2 years).

I guess the problem I have is that the bike I replaced the Jake with exhibited none of the squishy feeling I'm having with the rear tire. That bike was a 10 yr old mtb w/ a set of 1.25 panaracers that never had any work done to the wheels but they remained true through a lot of cr*p & neglect. I'll see how it goes over the next few days and then make a decision.

On ride home last night every time I started to push I heard some creaking from the rear wheel area, nice tailwind so I was riding along about 26 mph (a very fast pace for me) and I wasn't feeling all that confident. Looked at the wheel this morning and it appears to be out of true a bit (out of round as well). I'm considering calling oddsandendos to have a rear wheel built for me. Am I going a bit overboard or is this a reasonable solution? I just don't want to deal with truing my rear wheel every month (btw, the wheel is a sun mz-14, sora hub, 32 spoke).

Well, you need to do something. That is NOT normal. Unless some kids are sneaking up and kicking the crap out of your rear wheel occasionally, there's something wrong with the wheel.

As I said, I built myself a new wheel, it was my first build. I followed Sheldon Brown's instructions, and the wheel now has about 3000 miles on it with no problems, I haven't had to touch it. I reused the hub, and my total cost was about $40. The factory wheel was breaking spokes weekly. So if you get someone who actually knows what they're doing build a wheel for you, you should be golden.

Thanks for the input. I'm gonna place the order today & once it arrives I'll try & rebuild the old rim myself using Sheldon's instructions.