Heavy Rider wheelsets

In aus.bicycle on 18 Apr 2007 04:37:19 GMT
Dave wrote:
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:17:49 +0000, Zebee Johnstone wrote:

Well I've only done about 4500km on the bent, but the weight of the
bike, plus the weight of the commuting kit, plus the weight of the Zebee
(which is rather a lot more than either) haven't hurt the cheapo Alex
rims which are still going strong.

ISTR (and could well be wrong) that your bike has 26" (or even 20") wheels
though. MTB wheels are a bit wider and stronger than road wheels. That
said, most of the Alex rims I've seen opt for strength and weight, and
seem to last pretty well.

The front's a 20" the rear is a 26 that takes 1.25" tyres and is
visually narrower than your usual MTB.

The bods on the Bachetta list using Alex rims on the faster bikes
aren't reporting broken spokes either.

Zebee

On Apr 18, 12:29 pm, scotty72 scotty72.2p7...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
Brendo Wrote:





I'm investigating a custom frame for my larger self, and thought while
I'm at it, why not look at a wheelset that will be better suited to my
weighty backside.

I'm 6'4", weigh 112kg, and currently running on a set of ALX-280's.
The have a 20spoke front and 24 spoke back setup, and came with the
GTR Series 2 (2006) that I bought. I've only done around 800km on
them, and so far no trouble, but I'm thinking that they are probably a
bit lightweight for me. Rather than spend heaps of time fixing spokes
and truing wheels, why not get something STURDY.

Any suggestions? And can I just pick the parts (rim, spokes, hubs) and
get my LBS to build them? Note, I am not a weight weenie. Why bother
about 500grams when I can drop 40 times that from my guts!

BrendoDude,

I'm almost eactly the same height and weight as you, just an inch
shorter and 2 kgs lighter.

My Scott road bike (I bought for X-Mass last lear) came with an
ordinary set of R550s (shimano). I upgraded to Ultegra hubs and Open
Pro rims (32 holes). So far, 4300 km later over some rough roads and a
couple of slams into potholes etc. - not a mm out of true.

Can't go past them, and they should be almost in your price range (may
need to go a bit higher - but worth it)

Scotty

--
scotty72- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ok. I think I'll go until these ones are munted and break spokes at a
really annoying rate, and then upgrade them when necessary. LBS will
be best port of call I think.

It's unfortunate that you get what you pay for though...

Brendo

I'll add to the chorus of votes for industry standard wheels. Mavic
Open Pro rims, 32 double butted stainless spokes (I use DT competition,
but Wheelsmith and Sapim are fine), and Shimano or Campagnolo hubs.
Double butted spokes are important for lard-arse riders, as they have
more give than straight gauge spokes, and will thus last longer.

Lace them yourself though. Only a complete wuss like Scotty would buy
them pre-built. Follow the advice on Sheldon browns website. You'll
do a much better job than the apprentice at the LBS.

And make sure to stress relieve them properly.

Cheers,

Suzy


--
suzyj

suzyj Wrote:
Lace them yourself though. Only a complete wuss like Scotty would buy
them pre-built. Follow the advice on Sheldon browns website. You'll
do a much better job than the apprentice at the LBS.

And make sure to stress relieve them properly.

Cheers,

SuzyAs an avid motorist, Suzy's knowledge of cycling is first class. As you
well know Suzy, I have built my own wheels in the past - these just
came that way. I didn't see the need to unlace them so I could lace
them up again.

Of course, you're just smarting after I effortlessly blew you away on
rides (twice) over Easter.

Anyway, I can say (without joke) that Suzy's advice is well worth
listening to as she is one of the best (former ) cyclists I know.

Scotty


--
scotty72

On Apr 18, 2:53 pm, scotty72 scotty72.2p8...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
suzyj Wrote: Lace them yourself though. Only a complete wuss like Scotty would buy
them pre-built. Follow the advice on Sheldon browns website. You'll
do a much better job than the apprentice at the LBS.

And make sure to stress relieve them properly.

Cheers,

SuzyAs an avid motorist, Suzy's knowledge of cycling is first class. As you

well know Suzy, I have built my own wheels in the past - these just
came that way. I didn't see the need to unlace them so I could lace
them up again.

Of course, you're just smarting after I effortlessly blew you away on
rides (twice) over Easter.

Anyway, I can say (without joke) that Suzy's advice is well worth
listening to as she is one of the best (former ) cyclists I know.

Scotty

--
scotty72

Ok, are all of the above (Mavic Open Pro rims, Ultegra hubs, enough
double butted spokes for a 34 hole front and back) available from a
decent roadie LBS? Or do I need to mail order them from some far flung
part of our wonderful world?
What about lacing patterns? Whatever looks funky?

Brendo

Brendo wrote:

Ok, are all of the above (Mavic Open Pro rims, Ultegra hubs,
enough double butted spokes for a 34 hole front and back)
available from a decent roadie LBS? Or do I need to mail order
them from some far flung part of our wonderful world?

Depends. Many LBSs will try real hard to sell you factory built wheels
instead. I've had a lot of trouble getting double butted spokes from
LBSs.

Phantom cycles do mailorder for rims and spokes. They're pretty good.
Cecil walker does hubs. I'm a big fan of the pommie mailorder places
for components, as they usually have very good prices on Campy bits,
which is my preferred brand.

I forgot to mention before, but plated brass nipples are mandatory.
Aluminium ones will self-destruct the first time you go to true the
wheel.

What about lacing patterns? Whatever looks funky?

In general, the lacing pattern you use depends on the number of spokes.
I generally do three cross for 36 or 32 spoke wheels, and two cross for
28 spoke wheels. It's fairly popular to do two cross for 32 spoke rims,
and that's okay.

Other lacing patterns (radial, crows foot, etc) are only for wank
value.

I prefer to put the pulling spokes on the inside of the flange (head
out), but that's something that is only of marginal benefit, and there
are plenty of people who do pulling spokes on the outside.

It's always good to get a correctly laced wheel with the same number of
spokes and same spoking pattern to copy, at least at first.

Go to Sheldon Brown's website and have a read.

Cheers,

Suzy


--
suzyj

On Apr 18, 8:32 pm, suzyj suzyj.2p8...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
Brendo wrote:
Ok, are all of the above (Mavic Open Pro rims, Ultegra hubs,
enough double butted spokes for a 34 hole front and back)
available from a decent roadie LBS? Or do I need to mail order
them from some far flung part of our wonderful world?

Depends. Many LBSs will try real hard to sell you factory built wheels
instead.


That's because factory wheels are easy to sell and building good
wheels takes time and skill, and you can't charge enough for the time
to make it worth doing in many cases.

I've had a lot of trouble getting double butted spokes from
LBSs.

Phantom cycles do mailorder for rims and spokes. They're pretty good.
Cecil walker does hubs. I'm a big fan of the pommie mailorder places
for components, as they usually have very good prices on Campy bits,
which is my preferred brand.

I forgot to mention before, but plated brass nipples are mandatory.
Aluminium ones will self-destruct the first time you go to true the
wheel.

Not in my experience. I've got alloy nipples on a few wheels and
never had a problem with them.
What're you doing wrong?

Not that your advice isn't right - the weight saving isn't relevant
for this task, but your reason for it is, in my experience, mistaken.

Bleve Wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:32 pm, suzyj suzyj.2p8...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
Brendo wrote:
Ok, are all of the above (Mavic Open Pro rims, Ultegra hubs,
enough double butted spokes for a 34 hole front and back)
available from a decent roadie LBS? Or do I need to mail order
them from some far flung part of our wonderful world?

Depends. Many LBSs will try real hard to sell you factory built
wheels
instead.


That's because factory wheels are easy to sell and building good
wheels takes time and skill, and you can't charge enough for the time
to make it worth doing in many cases.

I've had a lot of trouble getting double butted spokes from
LBSs.

Phantom cycles do mailorder for rims and spokes. They're pretty
good.
Cecil walker does hubs. I'm a big fan of the pommie mailorder
places
for components, as they usually have very good prices on Campy bits,
which is my preferred brand.

I forgot to mention before, but plated brass nipples are mandatory.
Aluminium ones will self-destruct the first time you go to true the
wheel.

Not in my experience. I've got alloy nipples on a few wheels and
never had a problem with them.
What're you doing wrong?

Not that your advice isn't right - the weight saving isn't relevant
for this task, but your reason for it is, in my experience, mistaken.The number of times I've had nipples crumble at the slightest, most
gentle (I am a big softie at heart) tweaking. I've learnt my lesson.

Scotty


--
scotty72

I'm a big unit - 188cm and 115kg (ex rugby forward). My wheels:

Commuter: Velocity Heater wheelset (factory built)

MTB: XT hubs, 32 DT double butted spokes per wheel, Alex rims (hand
built)

Roadie: DT Swiss Onyx hubs, 32 DT Swiss Champion spokes per wheel,
Ritchey semi aero OCS rims (hand built)

All good.

SteveA


--
SteveA