Which commuting wheels? (Not handbuilt)

tarquin_foxglove

On the commuter, I have Mavic CXP 22 700c rims with sealed cartridge bearing hubs. There are 28 spokes on the rear & 24 on the front. I don't have it in front of me but the rear spoke arrangement is x no of straight pull spokes on the non-drive side and y no of crossed spokes on the drive.

The front has been fine but the rear dreadful. A couple of spokes snapped on the non-drive side, so the LBS did a rebuild and since then another 3 spokes have gone, again on the non drive side. TBF the rim has remained true.

I bought the wheels from the LBS and they have been really good and are offering to change the wheelset/make a contribution to a new one.

From the chat on the phone I have to select from their Shimano catalogue and I know they are going to steer me towards 36 spoke 'bomb proof wheels'.

Does 36 spoke mean low quality & high weight?

Are there any Shimano rim/hub combos to avoid, to aim for?

Any help much appreciated, thanks.

cjcp

I think 36h means you shouldn't have to tension the spokes as much. They should provide a slightly softer ride, too. How heavy are you? I'm 12.5-13st and 32hs are fine for me.

I have Mavic CXP33s with 32h on 10spd Ultegra hubs. I've been very happy with them.

tarquin_foxglove

cjcp wrote:

How heavy are you?

Approx 73kgs/11.5 stone. I'm going with Extreme Quad-Power being the cause of the spoke popping.

cjcp wrote:

I'm 12.5-13st and 32hs are fine for me. I have Mavic CXP33s with 32h on 10spd Ultegra hubs. I've been very happy with them.

Interesting that Ultegra hubs allow for 32hs, I would have imagined that they would have had a far lower spoke count.

vorsprung

When you say "not handbuilt" I assume you don't want a wheel bulider to just make a one off for you.

How about something like this

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/aca ... PXA57.html

Or see Spa Cycles range of wheels. Which although they are described as "hand built" are available ex stock

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s178p0

28 spokes on the back is maybe a little bit too low a spoke count for 73KG person commuting. I weigh 80Kg and I broke several spokes on my old 28 spoke rear wheel before it got retired to the turbo.

The spoke count of modern factory made wheels is quite low. With good ones ( like Campagnolo Neutrons for example ) this is not a problem. But there are quite a few cheaper, low spoke count wheels sold which just are not strong enough for general use like commuting. I would avoid cheap low spoke count wheels for commuting.

tarquin_foxglove

vorsprung wrote:

When you say "not handbuilt" I assume you don't want a wheel bulider to just make a one off for you.

I did a forum search and 99% of the posts in "what wheel?" threads were 'Get some handbuilt wheels on such & such rims & hubs'. So I was trying to stop people in their tracks with that piece of advice as my LBS are doing the ordering to replace the off the peg ones I bought from them, I got the impression that they were going to allow me to choose a version of Shimano off the peg wheels.

vorsprung wrote:

28 spokes on the back is maybe a little bit too low a spoke count for 73KG person commuting. I weigh 80Kg and I broke several spokes on my old 28 spoke rear wheel before it got retired to the turbo.

The spoke count of modern factory made wheels is quite low. With good ones ( like Campagnolo Neutrons for example ) this is not a problem. But there are quite a few cheaper, low spoke count wheels sold which just are not strong enough for general use like commuting. I would avoid cheap low spoke count wheels for commuting.

Noted.

cjcp

Which Shimano rims are 36h-compatible?

prawny

cjcp wrote:

Which Shimano rims are 36h-compatible?

Shimano sell rims?

If the LBS are offering shimano hubs with a choice of rim, chances are they're going to build some for you.

I've got tiagra hubs, for the price they're the danglies.

For commuting honestly I don't think i'd use factory wheels they take to much abuse. 32 spokes rear is good 28 on the front for low weight if you want. I've got 32's front and rear.

cjcp

prawny wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Which Shimano rims are 36h-compatible?

Shimano sell rims?

If the LBS are offering shimano hubs with a choice of rim, chances are they're going to build some for you.

Sorry, yes, I meant you said - that the LBS would build them. I just wondered whether they sold the Ultegra wheels with 36h.

supersonic

Your problem is a poor build, or fatigued spokes (from a poor build). Replacing the three spokes will just mean others will break and is not a solution unless you replace them all

36 spoked wheels are stronger, and are easier to true, and weigh about 35g more than an average 32 spoked build. Usually overkill though, even on MTBs.

Oddjob62

cjcp wrote:

Sorry, yes, I meant you said - that the LBS would build them. I just wondered whether they sold the Ultegra wheels with 36h.

They are on the wiggle website (currently out of stock though).

I don't see much need for 36h. I'm 100kg and ride 32H front and back, although mine were handbuilt by an expert wheelbuilder.... ok i lie, i built them myself 6 months ago (first attempt at wheel building), and not had any issues with them yet.

Ultegra hubs on Open Pro rims should be sweet.

tarquin_foxglove

Back from the shop & they are building up some 32h 105 hubs with DT Swiss rims for me.

I was tempted by a 16h f and 20h r, but I managed to block it out & be sensible.

cjcp

Which DT rims are they using?

rhext

I have shimano tiagra/mavic opensport on the rear, ultegra/openpro on the front. I'm about 14.5 stone, the rear's done over 4,000 miles, is still true and running smoothly. The front's only done about 1,000, but is also true and running smoothly. Am very pleased with both of them: they've bourne the brunt of the winter salt and potholes without any whisper of a problem. Maybe not the lightest, but they're plenty strong enough.

tarquin_foxglove

cjcp wrote:

Which DT rims are they using?

err?

Which DT rims should they be using?

cjcp

tarquin_foxglove wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Which DT rims are they using?

err?

Which DT rims should they be using?

I have no idea. I thought there might be a range of rims they might sell and was going to look them up.

blorg

tarquin_foxglove wrote:

Interesting that Ultegra hubs allow for 32hs, I would have imagined that they would have had a far lower spoke count.

They are available with a number of different spoke counts. Even 7900 Dura-Ace is available up to 36h. Complete overkill for a front wheel but could make sense for a rear if you were carring a load on the bike.

gbsahne001

will I notice the difference between a set of R500 and RS30s?

cjcp

The RS30s have deeper rims, so you'll fdeel them more in cross-winds. How heavy are you? For the commute, I prefer a higher spoke count.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Planet-X are flogging all their alloy range wheelsets (model b/c; a57) for 99 squids at the moment...

gbsahne001

cjcp wrote:

The RS30s have deeper rims, so you'll fdeel them more in cross-winds. How heavy are you? For the commute, I prefer a higher spoke count.

12st; anything else you'd suggest then? Mavic Aksium?

blorg

12 stone (76kg) is not very heavy, 90kg/14 stone is where you start to see weight limits generally and even there only on really light wheels, think sub 1,500g, not the sort you would use for commuting. At 76kg you should be fine on anything but the most stupidly light wheels like low spoke count Lightweights, which in any case at £3,000 a set you are unlikely to want to use for your commute.

If you want to carry a load on the bike it becomes an issue but not if it is just you.

RS30s are at a higher level than R500s and I would expect you would see better quality too. They seem heavy but look good and are meant to be solid. I have long happy use out of an R500 front but I know friends who find them flexy. Have you had any issues with your R500s? If not I would stick with them, they are grand wheels unless they are breaking.

gbsahne001

No issues with the R500s to speak of but as I've only just got the bike I was contemplating keeping the CX tyres on them and using them for Winter, whilst getting a set of RS 20 or 30 for Summer and put some 25s on them

cjcp

gbsahne wrote:

cjcp wrote:

The RS30s have deeper rims, so you'll fdeel them more in cross-winds. How heavy are you? For the commute, I prefer a higher spoke count.

12st; anything else you'd suggest then? Mavic Aksium?

As Blorg says, you're not very heavy. I'm 12.5-13st, but carry a backpack which often has work and a laptop in it. With some of the potholes on my commute, I opt for 32h front and rear - I have Mavic CXP33s on Ultegra hubs. Not the lightest, but they're great. At the moment, I'm using an Open Sport front and Open Pro rear. Both 32h. I think the Sport flexes a bit more than the Pro.

Might be worth changing from CX tyres now. You'll have more grip with slicks. I had an off on a wet corner with my CX tyres on the commute in January.

desweller

blorg wrote:

12 stone (76kg) is not very heavy, 90kg/14 stone is where you start to see weight limits generally and even there only on really light wheels, think sub 1,500g, not the sort you would use for commuting. At 76kg you should be fine on anything but the most stupidly light wheels like low spoke count Lightweights, which in any case at £3,000 a set you are unlikely to want to use for your commute.

If you want to carry a load on the bike it becomes an issue but not if it is just you.

RS30s are at a higher level than R500s and I would expect you would see better quality too. They seem heavy but look good and are meant to be solid. I have long happy use out of an R500 front but I know friends who find them flexy. Have you had any issues with your R500s? If not I would stick with them, they are grand wheels unless they are breaking.

I am a fat bloke at 92kg (~14.5st) and have done over 4000 miles on R500s on my commuter. They are as true as the day I fitted them (October 2008), and the bearings show no signs of wear.

By comparison my PX Model B front wheel developed a wobble of a couple of mm after 2000 miles.

However, my commute is fairly pothole free as not much heavy traffic (i.e. trucks) take that route, so maybe you might want something with a bit more beef if your roads are more lumpy...

gbsahne001

cjcp wrote:

Might be worth changing from CX tyres now. You'll have more grip with slicks. I had an off on a wet corner with my CX tyres on the commute in January.

Changing to slicks was the first thing I did before taking it out on the roads, come to think of it, I've been on slicks all winter bar a 3 week spell on continental contacts during the snow.

I suppose I'm just trying to see if I can get any more out of the bike and thought a better wheelset with thinner tyres might be the way forward.

kipper1972

I had nice 28 spoke rear and 16 spoke front (came with the Ribble) and these were soon eaten, chewed up and spat out by London Roads.

I went for 32 rear, 28 front - Mavic open pro on 105 hubs.

These were off the shelf at cyclesurgery and so far (10 months of daily use) these have just needed one re-tension.

I'm 80 kg and carry light bag each day.