since blowing out my wheelset and being told that they were near the end of their life anyway (about 2700 miles on it), i begin wondering if it's worthwhile to get a nice wheelset if they wear out in 5k miles. what's everyone's experience here? for one thing, i thought chains, cassettes, and chainrings, to a lesser extent, were the main "consumable" parts on a bike. never did i expect the need to replace wheels this often.

as for the back story, my training wheelset blew up after hitting a trough that was 4 inches wide by 1 inch deep, covering 3/4 the width of the street (165th in nyc for those from the area). i was going downhill, trying to catch a light, and didn't see the damn thing. next thing i knew (and actually anticipated after seeing the damn thing at last moment), both tires blew out. i was able to stop, but did have to do 3 blocks of walk of shame. later, when i took the wheels to get trued, i was informed that they were both busted . the $200 i spent on a new ksyrium equipe rear wheel was originally intended for a power meter. bye bye swag fund

2700 miles should not be near the end of anything's life.

Who wears out a wheelset in 5000 miles? Unless you hit something, like you did, you shouldn't need to replace your wheels all that often. Or at all.

A bike shop guy also told me once I should only get about 300 miles out of a specialized tire. Sometimes this makes me think they are only trying to sell me stuff to make money.

Wheels should last a long, long time. Unless you destroy them by hitting a hole or something like you did, either the braking surface will eventually wear too thin or your hub will wear out. But that is only after a LOT of miles.

I can't tell if you're being facetious or not.

is 10k miles on an alloy wheelset common then?

I wore out my braking surface after 20,000 miles. Wheel still true, but blistered where the thin spot developed. Big heavy rider, 230+ with lots of climbing and descents.

Try building your own. Wheels go a long way with a little TLC!

Benefits down the line. I had a rim and a hub laying around so I rebuilt my last wheel for the price of the spokes ($15 after a discount on DT Swiss spokes from a friend at the shop).

Get some Mavic Aksiums /w some Gatorskins.

I'm using 2006 Mavic Aksiums that have been through everything (the braking surface is a bit worn). I just got back from a 35 mile ride (BK-Manhattan-BK) with them and they never fail to amaze me how they completely have no damage from the NYC potholes.

Easily. Wheels should last WAY more than 10K

If you are prone to not avoiding pot-holes, you could go with the trusty OP-Ultegra or similar, 32 spoke option. You can use really cheap, yet really beefy spokes, like DT-Swiss Champion.

i might just do that, although i doubt if the gatorskins would have protected me here. i took off the gatorskins and switched on the gp4000's for the collegiate cycling season, but im having doubts about using them now. by the way, after seeing pictures of your epic winter treks, i wondered how you were able to do it with cosmic carbone (correct me if im wrong here). now i know the secret

Easily double that, depending on where you live.

Then it's working..

The only problem with Mavic is, AFAIK, that their spokes are expensive and you have to send them in for repair. That's why if you are really just going to abuse the wheels, get some really cheap 32 spoke, box-sections.

I use Aksiums because they came with a bike. When/if they break, I'll probably switch to something like OP-Ultegra for my beater wheels.

I usually get 10-12K miles on a rear wheel before they crack. This is going back 20+ years on Mavic rims with 36 holes, Open Pros and MA40 and something else Mavic.
I have 2 front wheels here with around 20K miles on each. One has a thin brake surface because it has spent more time in the rain.

I'm riding 35 yr old wheels with Nisi tubular rims, and Normandy hubs. $25 on ebay. I've been hitting some good size potholes in the Chicago area and they stay true, never touched them in 2 years.

Seems like there are a great many reports of cracks developing in Mavic rims, but maybe that's just because they are quite popular. So far I haven't encountered that problem. Usually I get at least 50 kmiles on the front wheel before the braking surface becomes too thin and I have yet to wear out a rear wheel (I tend not to use the rear brakes very much).

stock wheels, i got about 500miles on them. rims were bent
2nd set, nevation m28 aero 3s, about 1.5k miles, then crashed. front ruined rear out of true but on commute bike
3rd set nevations, 28r or something. it was cheap and it been working. however i wish i would of bought 32x open pros hand built and a set of soul 4.0.

i'm not heavy, six foot, 175lbs, i just seem to keep getting cheap wheels and they get ruined easily. spend money and get quality hand builts imo.

I'd easily compare my Mavic Open Pros laced to Ultegra hubs with my Mavic Ksyrium Elites... difference is the OPs will be cheaper to repair or true, IF they ever need to.

+1. I have well over that on a set of Forte Titans, some of the cheapest wheels out there.


And this is how long a decent set of handbuilt wheels should last:
Replace the bearings, maybe retrue the wheel once or twice, but unless you hit something big or get in a wreck, the brake track should be the first thing to go completely. Since track bikes don't use brakes, I used to train on a set of wheels that had been handed down from one racer to the next since the early 80's, then I passed them on to someone else in the late 90's. 36 spoke, 4x T&S, Campy Record hubs, Mavic GEL280 and GL330 rims fwiw, and all I had to do was repack the bearings every 3-5 years.

Edit: I think whoever told you that they were almost gone anyway was just trying to make you feel better.

Your wheels "blew out" because you hit a ditch not because of the (low) mileage on them.

I have 20,000 miles on a pair of Mavic Open Pro training wheels and they still look like new and have never needed truing. I expect that they will last quite some time yet.

Yeah, that's crazy. The braking surface might wear out after 10K miles if you ride in the rain a lot, but a fair-weather wheel should last much longer.

Maybe he meant your tires?

thanks to everyone who responded. in this case i guess i'll invest in a bomb proof front to go with my equipe rear for regular training.

argh jim i had a set of super heavy 28/32 spoked alex wheels that i could've put you on temporarily, why'd you drop the 200 so quickly?

i needed to ride, man!

right now im using the front wheel from my giant ocr3 (alex 28, i believe)