I'm looking to upgrade the wheelset off my 1980 voyageur. What are the general thoughts on the following wheelset: Custom 2016 Velocity Dyad Shimano T670 36 Hole Touring Commuting Wheels Wheelset.

I like the price range and have to assume almost anything will be an improvement from the original. I realize lots go into this decision; what type of riding, weight, etc. I weigh 200 pounds and plan to do light touring, weekend type stuff with the goal of working up to week long type touring. Any help with the specific wheelset above or a better option in the same general $200-$300 range is appreciated.

Very nice wheelset for the price. It is not stated but it looks to me like they are hand-built wheels at the shop in Colorado.


Have you already converted to 700c from 27"? Spreading the rear to 135mm is not a big deal... what do you or what did you have to do for the brakes? Do you or will you have tire/fender clearance issues? On the latter point I read that it may depend upon the Voyageur sub-model.

Using a Shimano commonplace Hub (dont go too high end) is a good plan.

I built around using Freewheels, used an Unbendable axle Rear hub..
Now Freehubs and 8 speed cassettes are a reasonable thing.

Ask the wheel builder to include a spare spoke or 2, drive side is the most vulnerable to breaking..

We've run Velocity Dyads on 4 sets of touring wheels. They are a good rim. Pick a good hub to go with them and they will do the job. We used XT, LX, 105 and Ultegra hubs, depending on the dropout spacing.

I recently had a mishap which did damage a rim. I was approaching a bridge going about 25-30 mph downhill on a loaded bike (front and rear panniers). I hit something which blew my tire, and dented the rim. The rim was still true and round; the only problem was that the outward bulge cased by the dent made my front brake unuseable . If I had disc brakes, I would have just finished with it. However, I was on the edge of a town that had a bike shop , and was able to get a decent replacement wheel. This was not the rims fault, but operator error.

I salvaged the hub and used it for the new wheel that arrived yesterday: 105 hub, wheelsmith DB spokes, and Velocity Dyad rim

No need to go to 135 mm hubs. Two of our touring bikes are 130 mm, and have many miles on 105 and Ultegra hubs. I also had a set of wheels with Tiagra hubs 100/130 mm that worked well. Shimano's HB-RS400 hub replaced the Tiagra. Just get 36-spoke hubs.

I agree with Doug, unless you've already cold pressed the rear drop outs, the original was likely 126 mm so going to a modern road width of 130 is no big deal, no reason to take chances and expand further. I also like 105 hubs as a good value for the dollar and the number of miles you can get out of one if properly maintained.

if you want black- Velocity Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

if you want to fit current dropout spacing for a low price- Sun Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

if you want black and 36h- H Plus Son Archetype Wheelset Shimano 5800 105 Hubs 36h DT Comp [740954] - $219.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike wait a week or so as they are sold out.

if you want black and traditional rim shape with 36h- H Plus Son Archetype Wheelset Shimano 5800 105 Hubs 36h DT Comp [740954] - $219.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

if you want silver and traditional rim shape- H Plus Son Archetype Silver Wheelset Shimano 105 Hubs 8 9 10 11S [0072774745890] - $219.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike


the above are all machine built. all for $220 or less and quality components.

You can go to universal cycles' website and put together a wheelset from their thousands of combinations. A good wheelset will be $270 or so.

+ 1.

First thing to do is to measure the rear dropout spacing on the bike. It was about the time rear dropout spacing increased to 126mm. Some bikes had 120mm spacing, some 126mm. Also check the brake reach. You should be able to lower the pads 4mm, but check it just to make sure.

Coach Hogleg, Really good advice so far. From images I looked at of an '80 Voyageur it looks like you have caliper brakes. While the OEM calipers may cope with the 4 mm difference, I suggest a set of Shimano or Tektro long reach dual pivot calipers.

Most budget wheel sets are machine made. They will require human intervention with re-tensioning and re-truing to make them dependable. Not a big deal, if expected. Velomine has become my go-to source for budget wheels, BTW.

Brad

Just to answer some of the questions raised-

rear drop out is 126mm standard. It can easily adjust to a 130 hub each time you hook on the wheel or just coldset to 130.
the stock DiaCompe brakes have enough reach to adjust to 700c wheels.


As others have said- no need to go to 135 for the rear. road hubs at 130 will be more than up for the job. Tiagra, 105, etc are all very strong and well made. Gravel, dust, dirt, etc is not an issue with them and MTB hubs are no 'stronger' in terms of running smoothly in rough conditions.

Shimano hubs and Dyad rims should be a great combo as long as the builder uses good spokes (DTSwiss seems to be the gold standard) and is very good at building wheels. Your components are good, the only real variable is the quality of the build.

I've got three sets of wheels with Dyad rims and Shimano hubs (Ultegra, LX). They have all been durable and trouble-free during thousands of miles commuting, touring and recreational rides. None of these wheels have ever broken a spoke or gotten out of true. They are also reasonably priced considering the quality.

Thank you all for the advice, I appreciate the input. Trying to plan ahead with informed decisions, the information in this thread allows me to do that.

Again thank you,

You can do yourself a great favor and call Peter at Peter White cycles in New Hampshire. He has been building custom wheel sets for 50 years and he has built me many wheels over the years. I weigh 240 and have never bent, broke or had a wheel go out of true in the last 25 yrs. my current rims are Dyads with generator hubs. This guy won't steer you wrong. He knows what works.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/index.html

I didn't know there were such things as unbendable rear axles. Where can someone get them?

I tend to tour heavily laden.
I've used 36 spoke dyads for some now and have had no issues and would likely replace them with the same should one suffer catastrophic failure for some reason.
Using disk brakes, I don't suffer rim wear, but the strong braking must offer strong torsional forces on the wheel that calliper or v brakes don't.
I'm satisfied that I chose well for my custom build.
Good luck with your purchase decision as I'm glad I no longer have make my eyes square with seemingly endless research on mundane items like rims and spokes any more and can concentrate on simply riding.
I can't comment on your hub choice as I went IGH and dynohub but XT is should be a quality groups and offer a good service life.
I wouldn't trust the underpaid asian who greased the hubs however and I'd make a point of offering them some more grease.
If it helps, I used Sapim spokes but they were actually my second choice after finding out that Alpine 3's didn't suit my rear hub.

I understand why you might want 700c wheels given the large choice of tires in that size, and why you would prefer a cassette hub, but you don't necessarily need a 130 mm rear hub. There are 126mm rear casstte hubs available either used or NOS. I still have them on some of my bikes. If you look at the Classic and Vintage forum you 'll find the question of rear hub spacing. has been discussed a lot. I think that there are two active threads discussing this subject now.

Phil Wood Company San Jose California ... Part of their Hub design , not separate.

agree

15 month old thread.