Which Wheel set?

marcusww

Heavy rider 6'2" 16 stone.

Looking at Mavic Ksyrium Elite OR Easton EA 90SL

Any advice?

napoleond

Ksyrium Elites are great, stiff factory wheels. The Eastons will be too flexy. However I'd consider getting some handbuilt wheels, 32 spokes, good rims like Ambrosios or A23. They will be stiff, pretty light, easily serviceable unlke the ksyriums. The ksyriums look great de-stickered.
As always, I'd recommend giving Derek at http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk a bell, his Wheelsmith A23s will be right up your street. Also Ugo Santolucia on here.

Buckie2k5

fulcrums are solid wheels. Deffo recommend them for your weight.

marcusww

Buckie2k5 wrote:

fulcrums are solid wheels. Deffo recommend them for your weight.

Was looking at the 3's but I was under the impression they were not as solid for my weight as the Mavics?

smidsy

At 16 stone I would suggest 32 spokes or even 36 and avoid anything that has 'unobtanmium' componentry, just in case you need spares/repairs.

Edit: for the avoidance of doubt that means stay clear of anything by Mavic, Fulcrum, Shimano and Easton.

ugo.santalucia

The first thing you say is "heavy rider" then you look at some wheels which say "SL"... do you see the problem?

You will find plenty of people on forums raving about how bombproof their 16 spokes wheels are... they even survived a couple of speed bumps in Coventry, which has been bombed by the Germans, hence the roads are pitiful...

Problem is... can you trust them? :?

dennisn

ugo.santalucia wrote:

The first thing you say is "heavy rider" then you look at some wheels which say "SL"... do you see the problem?

+1

djm501

For those of us not in the know - what does SL mean?

smidsy

Super Light

djm501

Ta

edewer

i'M 15 stone and ride on American Classic Victory 30s.

Theyve been great so far and absorb the bumps well, pretty stiff too. Finally having them trued after 1200 miles as there a little out but not a bad word to say about them

djm501

Don't want to rain on the parade of the wheel builders recommended by NapoleonD above but on account of this thread I contacted them and was told they no longer build wheels for people of my weight. :-/ (105 kg, 16 1/2 stoneish)

pinarellokid

im very keen to build my own wheels.. just picking up tips on which rims / spokes / and hubs to use..

thinking H Plus Archetype rims or Ambrosio Excellight Rims, Sapim Race spokes and novatec or miche hubs..
thinking if i built my own i would be better equipped to repair them and service myself.
and would end up with a great set of strong wheels that arent too heavy.!!!!!

i think there is nothing better than the thought of riding on a set of wheels you have built yourself

napoleond

djm501 wrote:

Don't want to rain on the parade of the wheel builders recommended by NapoleonD above but on account of this thread I contacted them and was told they no longer build wheels for people of my weight. :-/ (105 kg, 16 1/2 stoneish)

Wasn't aware of that. Must be due to people demanding wheels that aren't suitable then complaining about them afterwards!

BigDaddyG

I am 6'4 an 17st and I have just bought and run a set of Hope Pro 3 Hubs on Mavic Open Pro rims 32 spoke. These were reccomended to me by my local LBS as well as a couple of wheel builders that I contacted. I was very worried about buying a low spoke count and super light wheels and these are suppose to be bomb proof and 300 miles later no issues for me.

I read Ambrisoio rims get great reviews and I have read Ugo posting on this subject numorous times, I am sure he will post a line or 2 on his reccomendations and he knows his onions when it comes to wheel building!!

djm501

NapoleonD wrote:

djm501 wrote:

Don't want to rain on the parade of the wheel builders recommended by NapoleonD above but on account of this thread I contacted them and was told they no longer build wheels for people of my weight. :-/ (105 kg, 16 1/2 stoneish)

Wasn't aware of that. Must be due to people demanding wheels that aren't suitable then complaining about them afterwards!

Yeah I guess so. They did say 'for the time being' and recommended Harry Rowland instead.

Looking at their FAQ you'll have to go and introduce yourself sometime

simon_masterson

edewer wrote:

i'M 15 stone and ride on American Classic Victory 30s.

Theyve been great so far and absorb the bumps well, pretty stiff too. Finally having them trued after 1200 miles as there a little out but not a bad word to say about them

Believe me, your last sentence is bad word enough for this thread! Wheels should not need truing so soon, short of major trauma and/or being ridden by someone too heavy.

But seriously, anything fully spoked should be fine. Handbuilts would be the obvious choice, but there are cheaper options out there. 'Competitive road' kit is just designed for the lighter rider.

styxd

djm501 wrote:

For those of us not in the know - what does SL mean?

"Sport Level"

But regardless of if you're a good sport or not, I'd get some handbuilt wheels as already suggested.

junglist_matty

smidsy wrote:

At 16 stone I would suggest 32 spokes or even 36 and avoid anything that has 'unobtanmium' componentry, just in case you need spares/repairs.

Edit: for the avoidance of doubt that means stay clear of anything by Mavic, Fulcrum, Shimano and Easton.

Rubbish,
I use Mavic Ksyrium Equipes, I'm 95k & ridden them just over 4800 miles since Sept last year, in all conditions, over my fair share of pot holes, deep drains, road bumps, and they're still running fine & perfectly true.

djm501

Hmm, that's good info. I'm into this thread as I just had my bike serviced and the old Shimano R501 wheels that came with it when I bought it in Nov 2012 were more or less written off due to rim wear.
I'd suspected they were well worn which is why I put them on the bike for the service. The wheels I actually use since about April are some Mavic Ksyrium equipes and they do seem to be still fine.
Reading posts earlier in the thread about Mavic (and others) being not suitable had me a bit worried.

I think I'm still going to get some handbuilt wheels though - since I'm into long distance riding (audax) I think a very sturdy pair of wheels is still going to be useful if only as a spare pair if something goes wrong.

drlodge

Can recommend Harry Rowland for hand builds. http://www.harryrowland.info/

He won't build you a wheel he isn't comfortable putting his name on.

marcusww

well riding 28 spoke wheels at the moment and not a problem. I have a relation who is 15st and rides the Ultegra 20 spoke with no problems. Experience and personel recommendation defo counts - I would never take advice from wheel builders or shops - only the people who ride the wheels day in day out.

djm501

Well I would definitely take advice from wheelbuilders if they are not the experts then who is? I expect seeing as they're in the trade they also ride too most often - also your budget is your budget so if you stick to it then there's little risk of being talked into something you don't necessarily need.
But personal experience from riders is of course valuable too. Trouble is for every set of wheels i've seen discussed there's as main gainsayers as naysayers. :roll:

I can see that this is almost as religious a topic as chain cleaning/maintenance.

smidsy

junglist_matty wrote:

Rubbish,
I use Mavic Ksyrium Equipes, I'm 95k & ridden them just over 4800 miles since Sept last year, in all conditions, over my fair share of pot holes, deep drains, road bumps, and they're still running fine & perfectly true.

Your individual experience is irrelevant to my opinion.

There will always be good and bad examples, that does not make the product any more suitable for a given set of parameters.

It simply means you have done very well.

simon_masterson

junglist_matty wrote:

smidsy wrote:

At 16 stone I would suggest 32 spokes or even 36 and avoid anything that has 'unobtanmium' componentry, just in case you need spares/repairs.

Edit: for the avoidance of doubt that means stay clear of anything by Mavic, Fulcrum, Shimano and Easton.

Rubbish,
I use Mavic Ksyrium Equipes, I'm 95k & ridden them just over 4800 miles since Sept last year, in all conditions, over my fair share of pot holes, deep drains, road bumps, and they're still running fine & perfectly true.

All that means is that you haven't had a problem. It doesn't make it good advice.

Plenty of other overweight cyclists on the other hand, do have problems with wheels that are not designed to take their weight. Broken spokes and frequent truing are both entirely unnecessary inconveniences (without considering sourcing replacements for factory wheels), and the general advice for heavy and overweight cyclists is to opt for fully spoked wheels. You could put racing wheels on a fully loaded tourer and you might just happen not to have a problem.

bikingjohn

Mavic Ksyrium Elite S

From Mavic tech manual, Recommended maximum weight of the cyclist and equipment: 100 kg.

Bike = 7kg
Water = 1.5kg
Toolkit = 0.5kg
Clothe = 1kg

If you are 90kg... it's very marginal.... not good...

marcusww

surely there is some safety factor in there - most engineering safety factors should easily allow for this - anyway I am going to gamble and if I end up with mangled wheels then hey hoe an expensive lesson.

napoleond

Thus concludes yet another what wheels? thread.

The usual "Op asks for advice, recieves plenty, discards it all and goes with what his heart was set on in first place."

smidsy

I'm glad i am not the only one to have noticed this annoying trend Nap.

pinarellokid

well i learned i need to get a pair of custom wheels and that im going to be building them myself.

so thanks for that.. just need some advice on strong hubs for a heavy rider 32h ones. and which spokes to choose and im all sorted with my shopping list..

spanielsson

Good luck with the Ksyriums. I'm 60kg. I used a set for 6 months and now they are written off..... One unnoticed pothole is all it took and they are scrap.

I don't care what anyone says, no cycling equipment is really designed to be used by anyone over 80kg.