Wheel problems for heavy rider

I am a heavy road bike rider (250-260 lbs.). After breaking several
spokes on the stock rear wheel that came on my Lemond Reno, my bike
shop swapped out (for an upcharge) a pair of Bontrager Selects. The
problem is that after about 40 miles, the rear wheel became badly out
of true -- they trued it; but after another 40 miles, it looks like the
wheel is heading in the same direction. Can anyone help with
suggestions? After doing a quick search, it sounds like the Velocity
Deep Vs may be a good fit, but I am unsure.

Any help is appreciated!

Kevin Hornick writes:

I am a heavy road bike rider (250-260 lbs.). After breaking several
spokes on the stock rear wheel that came on my Lemond Reno, my bike
shop swapped out (for an upcharge) a pair of Bontrager Selects. The
problem is that after about 40 miles, the rear wheel became badly
out of true -- they trued it; but after another 40 miles, it looks
like the wheel is heading in the same direction. Can anyone help
with suggestions? After doing a quick search, it sounds like the
Velocity Deep Vs may be a good fit, but I am unsure.

Your first wheels were probably just fine, had the bicycle shop
bothered to tighten their spokes and stress relieve them. I didn't
get the description of how many spokes these wheels had or for that
matter whether the Bontrager wheels have 20 or 24 spokes in the rear
wheel.

These paired spoke wheels have no benefit for you or most anyone else
other than that you break spokes. Get a better bike shop to work on
your wheels.


Jobst Brandt

How about a tandem wheel?


"The Goose" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am a heavy road bike rider (250-260 lbs.). After breaking several
spokes on the stock rear wheel that came on my Lemond Reno, my bike
shop swapped out (for an upcharge) a pair of Bontrager Selects. The
problem is that after about 40 miles, the rear wheel became badly out
of true -- they trued it; but after another 40 miles, it looks like the
wheel is heading in the same direction. Can anyone help with
suggestions? After doing a quick search, it sounds like the Velocity
Deep Vs may be a good fit, but I am unsure.

Any help is appreciated!

How about a tandem wheel?

Dropout spacing wouldn't work.

Road singles are spaced at 135mm, tandems at either 145 or 160mm.

The wider spacing does make a stronger wheel.


Chris Neary


Chris & Tracey
1999 Co-Motion Speedster

I'm a little on the heavy side, and I use Mavic Open pros with 36 holes
on my tourer. Never had any problems except for the Ultegra hub
developing a crack on the flange after about 7000 miles. The wheel
stayed true, but still not a good idea to keep it on the bike. The
interesting thing about these wheels is that they were about the same
weight as the wheels on my old Cannondale road bike (OK, they weren't
all that great anyway, but still...). Also, switching this year to
wider tires (for hardpack dirt roads in the area) has made a huge
difference in riding confort overall, and the rolling resistance is
much lower on these than on my old tires, so I'm just as fast.

The worst part about the 36 hole hub was finding a replacement. I think
it had to ship from Japan.

The Goose wrote:
I am a heavy road bike rider (250-260 lbs.). After breaking several
spokes on the stock rear wheel that came on my Lemond Reno, my bike
shop swapped out (for an upcharge) a pair of Bontrager Selects. The
problem is that after about 40 miles, the rear wheel became badly out
of true -- they trued it; but after another 40 miles, it looks like the
wheel is heading in the same direction. Can anyone help with
suggestions? After doing a quick search, it sounds like the Velocity
Deep Vs may be a good fit, but I am unsure.

Any help is appreciated!


Reduced spoke count wheels are basically a fashion statement, and one
that you, at your weight, can't really afford to make. You would be
better served with a more conventional wheel (32 or better, 36 spoke).

What's more important than wheel design is wheel build quality. If you
ride a lot (or plan to), you'd better find a good wheel guy or become
one yourself. If the latter, buy "the book", J. Brandt's "The Bicycle
Wheel", and/or read the rec.bicycles.tech FAQ and/or see Sheldon Brown's
articles on wheel building.

I chose to learn to tweak my own wheels (I'm 6'10"/235). I take nice
factory-built wheels, like the commonly available Open Pro/DT/Ultegra
combos for $200 or so, and tweak them up (tension/stress relieve). I
also usually mount 25-28mm tires to spare my rims from a lot of impact
damage. I'm pretty easy on wheels for my weight. If you're harder, or
have bad roads, you may have to be a bit more conservative, with heavier
rims and wider tires.

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 19:05:46 -0700, Chris Neary wrote:

How about a tandem wheel?

Dropout spacing wouldn't work.

Road singles are spaced at 135mm, tandems at either 145 or 160mm.

Road singles are 130 in the rear, mountain bike wheels are 135 rear.
Tandem rear-wheel spacing is all over the map. My (older) tandem has 130
rear spacing, so I use a regular Shimano rear hub -- which I wish I could
get for more than 36 spokes. Some new tandems are still 140.

In the case of tandems, I'd say that wider is better, but there is a
question about how much "better" you need. This is not clearly the case
for single bikes, since the wider the wheel is, the wider the frame, which
can get in the way of your heels, and will widen the distance between the
pedals.


--

David L. Johnson

__o | Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I can
_`\(,_ | assure you that mine are all greater. -- A. Einstein
(_)/ (_) |

Velocity Dyads come in a 40 spoke pattern, I think. I have 36 hole Dyads on
my bike, and I hop curbs at 175 lbs, so they're pretty tough. I think
Co-Motion specs them on some tandems.

How about a tandem wheel?

Dropout spacing wouldn't work.

Road singles are spaced at 135mm, tandems at either 145 or 160mm.

Road singles are 130 in the rear, mountain bike wheels are 135 rear.

Ya, I flipped a bit over that one - thanks for putting the record straight

Tandem rear-wheel spacing is all over the map. My (older) tandem has 130
rear spacing, so I use a regular Shimano rear hub -- which I wish I could
get for more than 36 spokes. Some new tandems are still 140.

Well, I thinking of current models, which has pretty much settled out as
160mm (Santana) and 145mm (just about everybody else). Calfee will build to
130mm - but that doesn't help the original poster, as 130mm Calfee's are
running single bike wheels. Who's building to 140mm anymore?

In the case of tandems, I'd say that wider is better, but there is a
question about how much "better" you need.

The experience base with 145mm wheels is very good. Santana believes 145mm
is junk (I'm paraphrasing, but not by much!) and 160mm is the minimum
required for a "quality" tandem, but I think it's safe to say that's a
minority view.

This is not clearly the case for single bikes, since the wider the wheel is,
the wider the frame, which can get in the way of your heels, and will
widen the distance between the pedals.

The key difference is tandems often have longer stays than singles, moving
that wide rear wheel away from the stoker's crank - otherwise the same
issues would arise. Our tandem has 17" long chainstays, my single's are an
inch shorter.

The bottom line remains, a tandem wheel is *not* a solution to the original
poster's problem.


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"Chris Neary" wrote in message
...
How about a tandem wheel?


The bottom line remains, a tandem wheel is *not* a solution
to the original
poster's problem.

I understand the point about the width, but is that the only
difference in a tandem wheel?
Are the rims the same? Or are tandem rims more solidly built?
What about spokes?

The tandem I have is an old Schwinn Twinn and the rear spokes
are very thick and the rim looks like it has a lot of extra
metal in it (even relative to Schwinns of that era). Is that
still the case? In other words, would the O.P. benefit from
using a tandem RIM?