I'm a fat guy with an old Specialized Allez Elite Triple that was 1k$ 15 years ago.
I only ride 30 to 50 miles a week if that.
I need a new inexpensive wheel set.

What should I get?

Thanks

Can you tell us what failed with your current wheelset?

As a "fat guy" are you putting your wheels through any exceptional issues? Are you a masher? Are you commuting or sport riding on smooth roads? Are you wanting something that will make you fast and be strong for you as you transition to a not so fat guy? Just curious.

36 rear, 32 front spokes with some strong rims custom laced by your town's best wheelbuilder would be my recommendation. Not sure how cheap this option would be though.

For hub choice - if your rear spacing is 130mm are you OK with sticking with 8/9/10 speed hubs or did you want to update your 15 year old Specialized for an 11 speed rear cassette? If so, you would need to update your rear shifter to an 11 speed model.

225 lbs for the last 18 years. No sign of loosing weight.
no updates on bike
Dirt and paved roads.
old wheel set has straight pull spokes that the shop was breaking when they tried to true.
Spokes are loose and make lots of noise.
a little creepy when going 45 down hill.
Looking for something simple that I may be able to order of rhe web.

Since your bike is older, you may be able to find some clean used clincher wheels that will fit your bike and be plenty strong for your weight in the $200 + shipping category. Just today I was checking eBay and there is a nice pair of handbuilt wheels with Dura Ace 7850 "lifetime" hubs laced to Velocity A23 rims. These would make excellent all around road wheels that would check most of your boxes - strong, affordable and reasonably light and the rims are modern enough that you could run all the way up to 32mm tires or even convert them to tubeless with a tubeless conversion kit.

Cu



current wheels

I've sold several OEM wheelsets on craigslist just to get them out of my garage, and they usually sell for very little, like $50 with brand new tires/tubes, which is a huge win for the buyer.

An OEM wheelset might be ideal for you, they're usually a little porky, but that's because they need to hold up to the heavier and more abusive riders.

Also, I noticed you are running 23mm tires.. If you pop a 25mm tire on there and drop the pressure 10-15psi, it'll ride like a totally different bike. 28mm is even better if it'll fit, but that's unlikely on a 15 year old bike.

Edit to say: 225lbs isn't that heavy, most wheelsets (outside of superlight racing wheelsets) should handle your weight.

Here you go:

H+Son Archetype Wheelset

H+Son Archetype w/ DT Swiss 370

^^^ Sold out

https://binghamton.craigslist.org/bo...159614996.html
would these be a good choice?

Those look nice. I notice that the rear uses bladed spokes and the front is radially laced. I’m not a fan of radial lacing since to me it deprives the wheel of slight shock absorption. The flat spokes in the rear could maybe give a slight aero effect +/or increased spoke breakage resistance. The price is good too. And they are tubeless compatible if you choose to pursue tubeless tire options. I’m pretty sure that Vision is a pretty well respected Taiwanese brand, I can’t remember what their component partner is.

Let us know what you choose.

You could also replace the spokes and possibly rims and rebuild the wheels/hubs you have and get another 15 years out of them.

However, if your shop is breaking spokes trying to true the wheel, that likely means they don't have a competent wheel builder.

Why? Because the spokes are likely over tensioned from previous truing efforts, and they need to be all loosened and retensioned and trued to reset everything to proper tension.

Keyword: likely. As in "odds are, but maybe not"

I wouldn't bother trying to rebuild your current wheels. You can shop prebuilt wheelsets online, Mavic and Shimano both have lots of options but if you really want something cheap, durable and strong I'd suggest finding a shop that builds wheels and just have them build you up something.

If you don't care about aero and weight, I'd suggest Mavic Open Pro rims w/ 105 hubs and DT Swiss champion spokes, either 32 or 36 per wheel.

This would be a bombproof wheelset that will last you another 15 years, with easily maintained/replaceable parts that any shop will be familiar with, and will cost you around $350-$400. Most shops would be happy to quote this (or something similar) over the phone or email.

local shop ordered me a set of Mavic rims for 250.

H+ Sons are very good. I have them with ultegra hubs on one bike, very solid. I also have some Corsa HD they too are really solid for the price.

Both sets are 36 spokes and I have had zero issues with either. I was as high as 336 on them now down to 254. I am not getting rid of either set super happy with them.

At 225, you don't need 36 spokes. I have a 28/32 wheelset that has lasted thousands of miles, and needed truing ONCE, and that was just a slight wobble, not even enough to rub the brakes. BUT, you need a really good wheel builder who knows how to properly tension, destress, whatever. Properly done, there's no need to re-true after 50-100 miles, as you often have to do with machine-built wheels.

225 lbs isn't that bad... I was above 230 at one point (now in the 185-190 range), and I rode my Bianchi with Mavic Ksyrium Equipes for years. Still do, in fact - the Bianchi just lives at my sister's these days. Those Ksyrium Equipes are 20/24 spoke, and have never been trued. That said, I'm pretty low mileage (700-1k miles/year, urban weekend warrior), so your mileage may vary (literally). I imagine if budget is a concern, any of the pre-built factory wheels ought to work just fine, from Shimano 500s and Ritchey Zetas to Mavic Aksiums. In fact, your LBS can probably source these as well. Why not support the local shop? You never know, they might surprise you and come in pretty close in cost to online dealers.

For what it's worth, my current bike has a pair of Vision Team 30 wheels, which probably aren't too different from what you saw on CL (though mine are disc). They definitely feel heavier than my old Mavics, probably due to the higher spoke count and deeper rim, but otherwise have worked fine for the past 1k or so miles. I don't think my riding volume or my current weight justify me upgrading to a pair of carbon hoops until these break, and they haven't yet...

My shop got ne wheels for 225.
I put new tires and tubes and my old gear caset on.