New set of wheels rider weight limits

banman77

Hi,
Beginner Looking for a new set of wheels i have chinese 50 mm tubs they seem good enough but i have entered my first sportive i want a set i am 100 % happy with also want clinchers for the event my weight also might be an issue up want something that will put up with 107kg weight

ugo.santalucia

Have a read at this previous thread, which seems appropriate

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12904249&p=18135941&hilit=clydesdale+wheels#p18135941

Essex Rouleur

Shimano wheelsets dont have a rider weight limit. Ive ridden Ultegra, RS80's and Dura Ace over the past 10 years and never had a problem. And im 125kg.

banman77

Thanks mate going to have a look at some shimano ones

wishitwasallflat

banman77 wrote:

Thanks mate going to have a look at some shimano ones

May not publish an official weight limit but IME they aren't made for heavier people.

carrock

i have a set of fulcrum zeros and they are rated up to 109kg, despite weighing 1450g the pair.

All Fulcrum wheels are constructed to meet the highest standards of resistance and durability. If you weigh over 109 kg/240 lbs we advise you not to use this product. Non compliance with this warning can damage the product irreversibly. If you weigh 82 kg/180 lbs or more, you must be especially vigilant and have your bicycle inspected more frequently (than someone weighing less than 82 kg/180 lbs). - See more at: http://www.fulcrumwheels.com/en/faq/whe ... lg2ft.dpuf

I am around 100-105kg and they are bombproof, despite having 16/20 aluminium spokes

Does say if you are over 82kg to get the wheels inspected more frequently, which is fair enough

There will be someone along in a minute to say that 32 spoke handbuilts are the only solution.

You will feel the benefit from lighter wheels, although it must be said you would also feel the benefit from a lighter body.

ugo.santalucia

carrock wrote:

I am around 100-105kg and they are bombproof, despite having 16/20 aluminium spokes

How many miles have you done?

carrock

probably 2000 as it is my Sunday best bike- not for commuting.

Not sure what the fatique life is for aluminium spokes.

It is my second set as the previous set which were on the bike when I bought it suffered a sidewall blowout due to the rims being concave

Sold the wheels for spares and bought a new set in the sale from wiggle.

cal_stewart

In honestly say as a bigger rider 90+ kg, 32 spoke handbuilds are brilliant. My Cosmic SLRs don't get a look in much.

Also after having had to price for a Mavic rebuild in also know the cost value of handbuilds.

Stiffer is faster in my book not lighter

ugo.santalucia

Cal_Stewart wrote:

In honestly say as a bigger rider 90+ kg, 32 spoke handbuilds are brilliant. My Cosmic SLRs don't get a look in much.

Also after having had to price for a Mavic rebuild in also know the cost value of handbuilds.

Stiffer is faster in my book not lighter

The problem is that whilst the drawbacks of unsuitable wheels can be huge and expensive, the advantages are actually risible.
I am "only" 72 Kg and not hugely powerful, but my experience with light wheels, whether they were built by me or factory is not particularly positive. I remember problems, I don't recall epic rides and I have never been significantly faster... roughly 1-2 seconds per mile is what can be achieved by cutting the number of spokes by 30% and reducing their length, maybe 3-4 if one goes full on trispoke and disc. These days I rarely look at what a wheel component weighs, I am more interested in whether a hub is well constructed or a rim is versatile enough to take different tyres.
In my view, there are two upgrades one can do to get something more out of his hoops

1) Better hubs that don't give you grief, last years and bearings that are easy to find and replace.
2) Wider and maybe tubeless ready rims that give you improved handling and possibly puncture free riding

The classic "lighter" and "more aero" arguments to upgrade leave me a bit dubious as I really don't think these very marginal gains belong to the real world. Cutting the number of spokes beyond reason is purely cosmetic

cycleclinic

The reason why people think very low spoke count wheels are fine for heavy riders (100+kg) is because they are hardly riden. The heavier the rider the greater the chance of problems and 100kg rider will have problems more frequently than lighter riders - physics is cruel I know but there is no way to avoid that.

Try giving a sample of very low spoke count Shimano RS80 wheels to a group of 110kg rider and another set to 70kg rider and ask then to do 15000 miles and then look at the failure rate. Saying a wheel is boomproof after only riding 2000 miles is not a recomendation IMO.

Shimano Mavic e.t.c build low spoke count wheels becuase that what sells. My trianing wheels are 1.9kg (nemesis rims on old DA hubs) and have 32 spoke front and 36 spoke rear. I am 82kg so these are way over built but they are my trainging wheels only the bike I use for racing has deep section low spoke count wheels for those marginal gains.

Ugo comments above are really quite true. A good wheel is one that just keeps going for many thousands of miles and when it come to re-rimming the spoke (maybe) and hubs can be reused.

carrock

thecycleclinic wrote:

The reason why people think very low spoke count wheels are fine for heavy riders (100+kg) is because they are hardly riden. The heavier the rider the greater the chance of problems and 100kg rider will have problems more frequently than lighter riders - physics is cruel I know but there is no way to avoid that.

Try giving a sample of very low spoke count Shimano RS80 wheels to a group of 110kg rider and another set to 70kg rider and ask then to do 15000 miles and then look at the failure rate. Saying a wheel is boomproof after only riding 2000 miles is not a recomendation IMO.

Agreed, but when I bought the bike it had Fulcrum zeros on it. I did about 4000 miles on those but the rim sidewalls were quite worn, which I failed to spot until the rear blew it.

The wheels were true under my weight and remained so, as did the replacement wheels, that is the point I was making- and also the point that Fulcrum guarantee the wheels for 2 years for riders up to 109kg.

Agreed that expensive boutique wheels are uneconomic to repair when compared to handbuilts though

cycleclinic

Do fulcrum come out and weigh you then for the guarantee? I think that bit of the guarantee means nothing. There is a 2 year guarantee but I bet it does not cover spoke breakage. It cover the hub flanges cracking and the maybe cracking of the rim. spoke breakage is not covered by such guarantees don't be fooled. Campagnolo/fulcrum give a limited warranty.

ugo.santalucia

Let me tell you about warranty:
I don't believe in warranty and I am right. My carbon steerer just cracked, so at the moment it is back with the retailer and Madison and while they sort out the issue (i.e. they look in the warehouse for a replacement, as nobody ever stocks spares, not even the largest distributor of cycling equipment in the country), which of course will take the statutory 2-3 weeks and will have exactly the same issue no doubt, I need the bike, as this one does 120 miles a week on average and I don't have a huge collection of them. So I bought a Planet X fork to replace it at my expense.
Moral is, if you have 2-3 sets of decent wheels, by all means get the Fulcrum Zero, but if you don't, then get something that doesn't rely on a warranty to stay alive, because these things break ALWAYS just before your most important cycling holiday and NEVER just before putting them away for winter. You can't have a duplicate of everything, so beware what you buy.