Wheelset for a Heavy Rider

thefartingcockeral

Looking to upgrade my present wheelset for something stronger due to appalling state of the roads I ride. I am also a heavy rider at 220lbs [rugby player] and was after any suggestions. I currently run a set of Shimano RS10s.
Nothing mega expensive as my wife will not be a happy bunny again.

paul1000

For the money, fulcrum 5's, have them on my winter bike, merlin £176, people will say 32 spoke, I'm 15 and a half stone and have put in 8,000 miles into a set of a/c 420's no probs at all.

wishitwasallflat

I am same size as you - don't bohter messing about with factory built wheels they will only bring you grief - get yourself a set of 36h handbuilts. I settled on 105 Hubs, 36 spokes and Mavic Open Pro rims from Harry Rowland after years of grief and hassle from factory and oem wheels. Wish I'd done it sooner 1.6K miles on them to date and no problems - just serviced hubs (at 1.5K) and saw some wear on the rear nds cone (should have done it at 1k :oops: ) so just ordered a new one for about £8 fitted it and all's well.

Plenty other good builders out there - Ugo has a good rep on here but AFAIK he's only building for people who are local to him just now whereas Harry will send them to you.

northpole

Agree with principle of last post - factory wheels are likely to be a bit of a lottery for heavier riders. A pal had all sorts of problems with two sets of expensive factory wheelsets. He then had a set of 'winter' wheels made up by Sigma - they have dura ace hubs - not sure about rims or spoke specs. They have given no trouble whatsoever and are no longer regarded as winter wheels!

Any decent bike shop or the likes of Wheelsmith should be able to advise you and build you a set of wheels to suit your physique and wallet!

Peter

jam5ie76

I'm about the same weight as you. I've been using Mavic Open Pros over some pretty dodgy roads over the last couple of years.

I love them, they haven't given me any issues and they've withstood a few heavy knocks from hitting potholes at speed.

I need a new rim on the rear soon due to the gritty winter we've just had, I'll be trying the CD version with a fine layer of ceramic on the braking surface and see if it makes any different to the rims longevity.

I can recommend Parker International too, for price and service.

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/1 ... Wheel.html

clarkey cat

I have Mavic CXP-33s built on to Record hubs and they are great.

Handbuilt is the way to go if you're an ex-rugby player.

thefartingcockeral

Thanka for all your replys. I have a custom wheel builder about 3 miles from where I live so I shall be popping in tomorrow to see him.