Taxman

Well I just won a set of American Classic 350's from ebay. I have seen many people with all opinions about rider weight. The website says 190 on the standard build, which these are. Others say 180 or even 175. Actually one stated as low as 155. That one scared me. I run a set of Neuvation M28 Aero's right now. 1725g 16 front and 24 rear. The front has enough side movement on sprints to make the rim rub the pads and hit my comp sensor.

I weigh 180 and race mostly crits with an occasional road race. Will these wheels stand up or should I just resale them and shoot for something else? I would hate to have one fold up in a tight high speed corner. It will hurt for one, and second it would be a big waste of cash.

lisitsa

I don't know about your question, but it was shocking to notice the actual wheel bending on my first road bike I just got. I used to have a steel bike, and didn't know that lighter wheels would allow lateral movements, I thought it would be somehow controlled in the design of the rims and spokes.

NJWheelBuilder

Being able to see a wheel bend is not really normal. I'd have that looked at.

NJWheelBuilder

I would say you are going to be border line for those wheels. For your size, I wouldn't ride anything with less than 28 spokes. 28 spokes should work for you. You also have to keep in mind that the AM 350 have really light rims. The rim is critical in determining wheel strength.

Taxman

The AM 350 set I bought has 28 front and 32 rear with the standard build that comes with round spokes. They came stock on the 04 Fuji Superlight, so I would have to think they would put thier strongest wheel on a production bike. I can always have it relaced with stronger spokes. And I understand no matter what spoke you have, it only helps the rim so much. But every little bit may help. I really dont know.

As for my current wheel flexing, It has blade spokes which I hear arent very strong when it comes to lateral movement.

Allerge99

I have a set of the CR-420's and i weigh in at 175. I haven't had any problems with mine. I know the rear wheel flexes a bit when i jump and take off hard. I am pretty sure I will not have a problem with folding one of these wheels, do the depth of the rim.

One other thing that I have seen happened with the AC wheels are tires blowing off of a rim. I saw a guy in a crit a couple weeks ago blow off his back tire going around a corner because he was running 175 psi and the rims are only rated for 135 or somewhere in that neighborhood. AC has a note about this on their website. Do not run more than the reccommended pressure.

terrymorse 

The stock spokes (DT Revolution) on the AC 350s are plenty strong. The limiting factor is not the strength of the spokes, it's the stability of the rim.

When I got my AC 350s, I raised the spoke tension to 100 kg on the front, and 110 kg on the rear drive side. This is the manufacturer's recommended tension.