Tack2Cover

I've rigged a Specialized Sequoia for a full west-east run of the Missouri Katy trail in late April and I'm pretty much geared up... except, I don't trust my wheels and want to replace the bike's lightweight road wheels with something up to the task of hauling me (170 lbs) and ~30 pounds of gear on gravel. I'd appreciate suggestions on suitable 700c wheels, and bear in mind that if I enjoy this trek as much as I expect to, I'll buy a genuine touring bike after this so I don't want to sink a fortune into these wheels. Thanks in advance.

Tourist in MSN

I did the trail in Oct/Nov 2010 from Clinton to St Charles. The trail was quite smooth, a road bike wheel could have been used without any problems. If spring runoff does not cause any washouts or erosion problems, you should not have any concerns about being on gravel instead of pavement.

sknhgy 

You see lots of road bikes on the trail. Will the Sequoia take a 1-1/8" tire? I would think something like that would work well.

DW99

I agree with the above comments, the trail has a limestone chat surface and is pretty smooth, but watch out for the soft outside edges. Been doing camping tours on the trail in late April for the past several years, you may have some rain but even then road bike wheels should be ok. You see mostly Hybrids and mountain bike day riders, but not unusual to see road bikes. If you keep an eye out for an occasional washed out spot and take it easy through those, should be no problem. The trail is well maintained by DNR so wash outs, if any, probably won't be very bad.

My touring bike has 700 x 32's on 36 spoke wheels, which is what I use on multi-day and loaded rides and it works out great. Not sure about radial wheels though, you didn't say, but if your wheels are the standard crosspattern lacing, reason tells me that would be better, but I'll leave those particulars to the experts on here, they'll know.

Good luck to you, it should be a lot of fun, maybe I'll see ya out there in late April.

shipwreck

The Katy has an awesome website, you probably have found it already but here it is. https://www.bikekatytrail.com/

The comments section has tire threads out the wazoo.

I have ridden the trail on some super cheap wheels, and did break two spokes, but they were really really cheap. Also had just put a thousand miles on them before I got on the trail. And they were super flimsy wheels. Also did it once on an old set of 27" with cracked old gumwalls just because I am goofy that way, 28mm tires, and everything was fine. Rode it on a forty year old three speed, everything was fine. There are some rough sections but not that bad. I do suggest fenders to keep the dust out of the chain. that is the worst thing. There are several bike shops along the way.

cyclist2000

I rode part of the Katy trail a couple of years ago. It wasn't like the crushed limestone paths that I had ridden. My bike has 32 mm wide tires and 32 spokes per wheel. They were fine for the Katy, this was with a fully loaded bike. I may ride another section of the Katy this fall.

sknhgy 

My main reason for using a wide tire on the Katy is that in the course of a week long ride I will do a fair amount of off-trail riding on gravel roads, mowed areas, etc. In fact, I recently put some really nice 26 x 1.95 Avenir Swiss Army tires on my Rockhopper and it rolls really well on the Katy. I got the tires from Dick's Sporting goods. Pretty sure this is the rig I'll use on this years ride from Machens to Clinton.

Edit. I just realized the OP was asking about wheels, not tires. I did get a handmade rear wheel for my Raleigh Passage a few years ago after busting several spokes while just crusing along on the trail. Luckily there was a bike shop near the next trailhead.

Tack2Cover

I"m pretty pleased with the tires - 28mm Specialized Flak Jackets. I used them on several stretches of the Katy last fall, same rig except not loaded. That will be the only rig difference next month - it will be a fully loaded cross country ride. I rode this rig 50 miles on pavement Saturday carrying 39 pounds on the back and deliberately hit every bump and didn't break any spokes... but these wheels are cheap 22 spoke Alex road wheels off a road bike I bought last year and I just don't trust them. I'm going to change them out. Any suggestions on a suitable replacement that doesn't break the bank? Thanks.

Tourist in MSN

There is such a wide range in quality versus price, and to add another dimension the width of rim that controls how wide a tire you want to use, I can't make any suggestion for what to buy.

alan s 

"Breaking the bank" varies . . . could be $50 or $2,000. For $100, you could probably find a set of solid used wheels at a bike shop, CL or coop. Maybe mismatched, but no one will notice.