Hi, all. I have an '00 Burley Rumba that I bought used. It has Bontrager Fairlane 48h rims and Shimano Deore XT hubs (incredibly, also with 48h!). Some of the many, many spokes on the bike are a bit wonky (not straight, not uniform tightness, etc.), so I've been thinking about doing one of three things this winter:

o Rebuild with new spokes
o Re-use the Shimano 48h hubs and get new rims/spokes
o Get entirely new wheels (presumably with lower spoke count)

So:
o 48h seems like an awful lot of holes/spokes… is that really necessary for lightly loaded touring?
Would 36h be adequate? Most of our riding is unloaded.
o Anyone with experience with Fairlane rims (on a tandem)? Are they keepers?

Thanks!
David

Answer D = A & C

I'd re-lace the old ones if possible, keep them for backup/foul weather/loaded touring wheels, and buy some newer/lighter tandem rated wheels for everyday.

before spending a lot of money, have the wheels trued. Those spokes will straighten up. The need for 48 spokes depends on total rider weight, anticipated use, and quality of the components and the build. You could easily spend more than what you paid for this bike just on a new set of wheels.

Unless you have reason to believe that the rims are bent or otherwise used up I'd just go for a retensioning and retrueing.

Possibly that's all it needs, but I wasn't quite sure of the meaning of the technical term "wonky".

FWIW...I would not be quick to toss those 48's.....we've had two different sets of 48 spoke wheels on our C'dale over an 18 year periode....dispite abusing them to no end on all kinds of roads they have proven absolutely indestructable and very very reliable...,,we also have a set of low spoke count wheels on our other tandem and they are fun and zippy and we like 'em...BUT... anytime we head out for very long rides on remote or unknown roads we are on the 48's and the peace of mind is pretty cool.

Bill J.