which wheels for the heavy rider ?

peanut

I have been toying with buying various wheelsets lately for the hack bike I've built. Every time I decide on one I change my mind again :roll:
Problem is all the cheap wheels I've looked at have all got weird spoking and as few as 20 spokes on the rear wheel. ie Khamsin, Vento, Bontrager, Shimano etc
At 17 stone I am not at all sure they will take my weight for long.

I shall only be doing 100 miles of fair weather road cycling a week for a few months to develop some fitness but it is a bit lumpy around here.

What would you buy for under £300.00 ? new or second hand I'm not proud

geoff_ss

Well I'd go for the wheels I use now.

I built myself a pair of 32 3x DT butted spoke with Mavic Open pro rims on Shimano 105 hubs and they've been fine for 3000 km so far. I suppose any quality hubs will be just as good. They cost less than £150.

I'm not as heavy as you (under 12st) but I always ride with mudguards, carrier and rack pack over roughish roads. You could perhaps go for really bullet proof with 36 spokes on the rear wheel. I've cycled camped in the past with 36 hole wheels with inferior rims to the Open Pros.

Geoff

peanut

I haven't cycled for over 3 years and my old wheels were simple 36 spoke MA2 on 105 hubs. They were bomb proof and only ever lost one spoke.Mind you I was only 15.5 stone back then!
Trouble is I want to upgrade to something more modern now with 30mm deep rims but everything seems to have 20 or less spokes and a very weak lace up pattern to my eye.

I have never built a wheel before although I bought a book on it years ago. I think I'd better go for something ready built for now or I'll never get out on this bike :roll:

Thanks for your suggestion Geoff.

caeser

36 hole open pros on shimano 105 dt swiss spokes silver not black keep spoke tight as lose spokes are not good and dont jet wash.

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

If you're looking for standard spoke count, deep rims, then Velocity Deep V's are the thing you want. 32 or 36 hole rims available, 30mm deep rim in 15 different colours (Black, Silver, White, E. Red, Yellow, E. Blue, Purple, Gold, Orange, Lime green, Ti Grey, Bright Silver, Pink, Brown, Celeste)

If you don't want to build them yourself, find a good local shop that will do it for you - that way you can take them back to be trued up again after a few miles.

Something like Ultegra hubs, with double butted spokes will make the whole package around £200 at a a guess. By the time you buy a new cassette, tyres and tubes you'll be at your £300 budget.

Cheers, Andy

Bart Puss

I`m 16 st 4lb ish and have used various Campag wheels and found them to be bombproof...have easily taken my weight and bad road surfaces with no trouble. The only problems I`ve had have been with broken spokes caused by my riding errors and not structural problems.

I`m currently riding a pair of last years Euro`s .... great wheels, rock solid so I think u should have no problems with the heavier more solid ones u mention. 8) :P

dennisn

It's all sounding good to me too. 32 or 36 spokes. Maybe a deeper dish wheel in the rear
than in the front(a bit stronger). Velocity has all kinds of stuff and colors.

Dennis Noward

DavidBelcher

andrewgturnbull wrote:

If you're looking for standard spoke count, deep rims, then Velocity Deep V's are the thing you want. 32 or 36 hole rims available, 30mm deep rim in 15 different colours (Black, Silver, White, E. Red, Yellow, E. Blue, Purple, Gold, Orange, Lime green, Ti Grey, Bright Silver, Pink, Brown, Celeste)

Are Velocity products easy to come by in the UK these days? I have a pair of their "Snap-Clamp" alloy bottle cages that must be about 7-8 years old by now. They're fine at present, but I guess they'll need replacing some time - if someone could point me to a Velocity stockist I'd be really grateful.
By the way, did you say brown wheelrims? Urgh.

David

andrewgturnbull

DavidBelcher wrote:

andrewgturnbull wrote:

If you're looking for standard spoke count, deep rims, then Velocity Deep V's are the thing you want. 32 or 36 hole rims available, 30mm deep rim in 15 different colours (Black, Silver, White, E. Red, Yellow, E. Blue, Purple, Gold, Orange, Lime green, Ti Grey, Bright Silver, Pink, Brown, Celeste)

Are Velocity products easy to come by in the UK these days? I have a pair of their "Snap-Clamp" alloy bottle cages that must be about 7-8 years old by now. They're fine at present, but I guess they'll need replacing some time - if someone could point me to a Velocity stockist I'd be really grateful.
By the way, did you say brown wheelrims? Urgh.

David

Hi there.

The last time I bought Velocity rims I got them from the legendary Big Al at Wheelcraft in the heart of the campsies - 01360 312709

Cheers, Andy