How much wiggle room is there on wheel weight limits? I'm looking at a set of Williams System 30's, and they have a weight limit of 190#'s. I'm 185, but after Thanksgiving or the Christmas holidays, I could easily balloon past 190. What's the tolerance on wheels, and what happens if the weight limit is exceeded? Am I better off going with the wheels with a 215 pound limit?

Don't push your luck for a few grams. Get the clyde (215 pound limit) version. You'll never notice the weight difference, they'll ride better, and last longer.

I bet that wheel manufacturers err on the side of safety when publishing weight limits. Still I agree with mihlbach that getting the wheels rated for heavier riders would be best for safety and durability.

Any wheel, properly built, will hold far more weight than the manufacturer's arbitrary weight limit. But it won't last long and is not going to perform as intended (i.e. will be overly flexy).

Will do. Thanks.

Good luck!

Wheel weight limits don't take into account riding style/form/skill. If you're easy on wheels then you can get away with breaking the weight rule. If you're not then even strong wheels won't be "strong enough".

In terms of durability the spokes and rim eyelets are under a certain amount of tension. Tension fatigues metal. The more metal you have the more fatigue life you have. Any wheelset will eventually fail from metal fatigue, either due to spokes breaking regularly or rim eyelets cracking. (A carbon rimmed wheel normally won't fail at the eyelets but you'll see broken spokes if the spokes are fatigued).

If you don't run super skinny tires, always check/fix tire pressure before a ride, if you can't remember the last time you dented a rim, if you can't remember the last time you pinchflatted a tube ("snake bite" type puncture), you typically bunny hop or avoid the really bad stuff, and you've ridden on dirt roads during this time at least briefly then you're easy on your wheels.

If any of those don't hold true, minus the dirt road part, then I'd consider the rider 'not easy' on their wheels.

Any of the wheels I have now I'd ride even if I was 215 lbs again. I've come close to 185 since 2010 and I was regularly 190+ from 2002 to 2009.

Go with the lower weight limit wheels, and then limit your weight. =)