I'm putting together the finishing touches on a xtracycle build and need a bit of advice on wheels. I figured I would start in the touring section because of the usual weight necessities etc.

I'm 180 lbs. and plan to haul my kid (young now, but they get bigger later right?), groceries, kid stuff, etc.

I am thinking 36 spoke (should I go bigger?), dt dbl butted spokes, XT hubs, and Rhyno lite rims, but I'm open to pretty much anything. I've looked around my LCB without much luck. Anything else I should look at? Any website in particular I should look at?

Thanks in advance.

even more of a hauler.. with a 48 spoke Tandem hub.. shimano's
are easy to make the width what may need be, say 135 from 145 ..

need someone to build it locally, or elsewhere ?

disc brake for the hub, possible too..

Maybe the Utility forum would have someone with Xtracycle experience who could help.

Sorry, yes, this is disc build. I guess it was getting late last night.

I'll probably have to go elsewhere to have them built. Online is what I was thinking.

Front is standard 100 and rear is 135.

the combo you suggest will be tough enough.

you could go to 40 or 48 spoke wheels, but it will make everything more difficult to find and buy and more expensive. the 36/36 combo, handbuilt to high spec, will be very tough.

rhynolights are good, but I would use LX or deore hubs over XT due to the axle material difference. Ive also had very good luck with my velocity aeroheat rims. and I have some mavic 723 which are great too.

I recently bought a set of Mavic XM719s from Universal for $300 delivered. Handbuit by Handspun. 32 DB spokes, XT hubs. More than strong enough for touring.

https://handspunwheels.com/products/view_product/1743/

Or a Peter White wheel with 13g butted spokes, that would be my recommendation.


https://peterwhitecycles.com/wheels.asp

26” wheels are fairly easy: pick your favorite hubs, rims and go for it. I am a Clydesdale, so I like strong wheels. I like 40 spoke 26” wheels. I had wheels built with White Industry hubs. They make them with and without disk brakes. RhynoLite rims are, IMO, overkill. A good, deep, relatively light rim will work for just about anyone. I used Velocity Dyad rims. Good stainless, butted spokes, easy. Tires are a more interesting problem. Many 26” tires seem to be intended for tractors. To avoid getting bogged down, consider something like Conti Sport Contact 26x1.6” or Vittoria Randonneur Pro 26x1.5”.

To reiterate:
Hubs White Industries
Rims Velocity Dyad
Spokes butted stainless
Tires Conti Sport Contact 26x1.6” or Vittoria Randonneur Pro 26x1.5”

At your weight 36 spokes are probably fine. Shimano XT hubs are probably fine, but bearing adjustment is certainly different than other hubs I have, but the White Industries hubs are probably more bomb proof.

I agree with ClemY that the Velocity Dyad is one strong rim. However, for some strange reason, Velocity calls this rim in 26" the Aeroheat. No such thing as a Velocity Dyad 26er. XT hubs are fine. White hubs are awesome!

My bad. Same extrusion, different diameter. I have a pair of the 26" with Aeroheat and 700c with Dyad. I like both. The stiffness, width, section height, weight, etc. all seem good to me. Rhyno Lite is a good rim, but wider, much heavier, not nearly as deep. A nice rim, but IMO, overkill for touring. Good for downhill bouncing among the rocks though.

except the op is making an extra-cycle utility bike with kid carrying capabilities and not touring. The Dyad is strong, and I've blipped the rim bottoming out on a fast rocky descent which tells me it's not the utility rim the op is looking for.

I guess I don't understand what an xtracycle is. Since it is in the touring section, that is what I thought he was building. He is light enough that even carrying a child he would be lighter than I am. I have a pair of 26" wheels with Rhyno Lite rims, 48 spoke, Phil Wood hubs. Talk about overkill! They are on what for me passes as a mountain bike.

The nice thing is, you can disregard all this so-called educated opinion and do what you want.

Aarons Bike Repair in Seattle has some components assembled to make
Xtracycle/Big dummy utility load carryers work..

contact them, I suspect they have a UPS account to ship anything you need..

Like Redrilling a Rohloff hub with 16 more spoke holes, spoke groups of 6
to make it 48 hole rim compatible.. (2 cross for the regular holes, radial for the new holes)

and cutting down a screw on drag brake to 6 bolt disc adapters, to use tandem hubs,
like Shimano's in a 135 spaced configuration..

Those Xtracycles look pretty neat!

I have the 26" wheels that come with the full Surly LHT build from 2010. 36-14g DT Swiss spokes (I don't remember if they're butted), Alex Adventurer rims, Shimano Deore XT hubs. I'm pretty sure they're handbuilt and am 100% sure they're very strong. I load my bike up for commuting, couch-surfing around friends' places, getting lots of groceries, etc. and I, myself, usually weigh between 205 and 220 pounds . I'll go over small bumps while loaded up at a decent speed and a 1.75" tire and they stay true. I don't baby them and I don't abuse them . I never worry about them but don't try plowing over curbs at speed or anything else considered very abusive. :-p I do carry lots of weight, though. More than most commuters and such, because I want to be prepared for when I start touring soon. I've also taken it onto packed dirt paths with some roots coming up here and there unloaded without issue.

The longer tail design of the Xtracycles redistributes the operator's weight more to the front wheel. This puts more stress on the front wheel and less on the rear than most bike frame geometries when unloaded. Then you will be adding a cargo and passenger load to the rear. Both of your wheels need to be stronger than average. I think 36-spoke wheels both on front and back will be good for the way your bike will distribute the weight. Also, I'm on the same page with some of the other posters about not getting extremely beefy rims. I don't think you'll need them since you won't have two adults riding the bicycle. The 40-spoke and 48-spoke wheels are usually for tandems. :-p