Heavy rider... wheels
Discussion
Evening,
I'm a fairly heavy chap (in cyclist terms anyway), coming in at 93kg.
Running cheap Giant PA2 aero wheels on all of my bikes at the moment with 23c at about 110psi.
Putting in about 100miles per week and am finding myself popping a lot of spokes, maybe one a month. I have had similar issues with other wheels in the past, but have only ever had entry level wheels...
- My pressures too high?
- My wheels just s
t?
- Or I'm fairly heavy and this is to be expected.
Should I get some 25c tyres for a bit more cushion?
Should I get some better stronger wheels?
Go on a diet?
What do you think?
Cheers.
I'm a fairly heavy chap (in cyclist terms anyway), coming in at 93kg.
Running cheap Giant PA2 aero wheels on all of my bikes at the moment with 23c at about 110psi.
Putting in about 100miles per week and am finding myself popping a lot of spokes, maybe one a month. I have had similar issues with other wheels in the past, but have only ever had entry level wheels...
- My pressures too high?
- My wheels just s
t?- Or I'm fairly heavy and this is to be expected.
Should I get some 25c tyres for a bit more cushion?
Should I get some better stronger wheels?
Go on a diet?
What do you think?
Cheers.
russy01 said:
Should I get some better stronger wheels?
Yes. Being slightly heavier, I have mine made, plenty of decent wheel builders out there, you can specify the variant components - wider deeper rim, tubeless etc.
I've never broken a spoke or had them go out of true. Larger tyres would help. Plenty of tests show 25c roll better than 23c, I've moved to 28c, far comfier and I don't notice any drop in speed.
http://road.cc/content/feature/182519-trend-spotti...
What are the spoke nipples made of?
I'm way heavier than all of you so far at around 115kg, and the only spokes I've ever broken, including hitting potholes or dropping off stuff when off road have all been alloy.
If yours are alloy, and you can be bothered, one option is simply to replace all the alloy nipples with brass ones.
I'm way heavier than all of you so far at around 115kg, and the only spokes I've ever broken, including hitting potholes or dropping off stuff when off road have all been alloy.
If yours are alloy, and you can be bothered, one option is simply to replace all the alloy nipples with brass ones.
Yes, I'm with "the jackel" on this one, I've been using Shimano r501 s for the past year and I think they are brilliant, I'm no light weight and my daily commute includes a bit of rough single track which I always hammer over. Still as straight and smooth as the day I bought them, gotta be best value wheelset out there, not as light as a high end wheelset obviously, but great for training or commuting. I'm using 23mm tyres.
When I bought my current road bike I was 125 (ish) kgs, and needed a set of stronger wheels. The shop I bought it from bought the unused wheels that came with the bike off me, and built up some for me:
36 spokes per wheel:
Shimano Ultegra hubs.
Mavic Open Pro hoops.
Double-hard-bd spokes.
I've done many many thousands of miles on them, and they only went out of true on a particularly nasty pothole that would probably write off most other wheels.
They still roll really well, as I had to go back to them recently due to problems with another pair I have, from a brand I won't mention currently, just in case their customer service turns out to be very good.
Get some built, it's not expensive, and they last really well.
36 spokes per wheel:
Shimano Ultegra hubs.
Mavic Open Pro hoops.
Double-hard-b
d spokes.I've done many many thousands of miles on them, and they only went out of true on a particularly nasty pothole that would probably write off most other wheels.
They still roll really well, as I had to go back to them recently due to problems with another pair I have, from a brand I won't mention currently, just in case their customer service turns out to be very good.
Get some built, it's not expensive, and they last really well.
iguana said:
Good question, I've snapped spokes on 2 of my as new Giants & I wonder if they are just pretty crap wheels?
They won't be the best wheels, limited spoke count won't help at all. Double butted on 32h, brass nipples, sealed bearing hubs and something like a H Plus Son Archetype/Kinlin/DT Swiss/Mavic/Etc rim and you'll be fine.When I used to use the road bike to commute, I was over 120kg, with two panniers as had no lockers at that time. I ran 105 hubs/Mavic open pro and 32/36h sapim double butted spokes, wheels still as true as the day Harry Rowland built them.
I range between 80kg and 85kg and currently run Shimano RS80 C50 aero wheels with no problems whatsoever. I've gone over some horrendously deep potholes and thought it would definitely buckle a wheel and yet nothing.
These are on a Giant TCR advanced which originally came with a Mavic wheelset that was also fine, but I did previously have one of the OCR Giants and I snapped a few rear spokes when climbing hills and my local shop told me that for my weight, the standard spokes were just not good enough.
He re-spoked the wheel with DT Swiss and that fixed it.
These are on a Giant TCR advanced which originally came with a Mavic wheelset that was also fine, but I did previously have one of the OCR Giants and I snapped a few rear spokes when climbing hills and my local shop told me that for my weight, the standard spokes were just not good enough.
He re-spoked the wheel with DT Swiss and that fixed it.
When I was a lanky skinny youth I never broke a spoke on any bikes. That was light MTBing though by modern downhill standards but still, I did some stupid stuff while messing around.
After a 15 or so year break and an extra 7 or 8 stone I did 3000+ miles commuting on a 2nd hand road bike with rim brakes and Shimano R500s and never popped a spoke, one came loose after a really bad smack on a pothole but it just tightened back up and was OK from then on. Was on 23mm to start then moved to 25
When I got my Whyte road disc bike I was going through spokes weekly or bi-monthly at best. In the end I just left them as it seemed to just pop one and then be ok, a full set seemed to be against where it want to be. They were Alexrims something or other and were rubbish. There’s a few threads about them so it wasn’t an isolated set.
Bought some of those Kinesis CX Disc wheels and they were brilliant. Only for a year though. The bike lives outside most of the time and is used nearly daily in all weathers and the alloy nipples disintegrated and trashed the rims while they did it.
I’m about 105kg on a good day and the roads on my commute have a couple of really really rough stretches.
Bought a rebuilt set of Kinesis CX discs that have had more robust spokes and brass nipples put in and they’ve, touch wood, been fine. If you keep having issues a proper rebuild or speccing your own to order is the way to go. Whatever you lose in extra weight can be made up in not having to tiptoe on anything less than a smooth surface and you get more riding done when your bike isn’t in the shop.
I’ve also been using 28mm tyres on the Whyte and would go larger, again, the extra give in the tyre makes them quicker over rough roads than any (perceived) benefit for running really skinny tyres.
After a 15 or so year break and an extra 7 or 8 stone I did 3000+ miles commuting on a 2nd hand road bike with rim brakes and Shimano R500s and never popped a spoke, one came loose after a really bad smack on a pothole but it just tightened back up and was OK from then on. Was on 23mm to start then moved to 25
When I got my Whyte road disc bike I was going through spokes weekly or bi-monthly at best. In the end I just left them as it seemed to just pop one and then be ok, a full set seemed to be against where it want to be. They were Alexrims something or other and were rubbish. There’s a few threads about them so it wasn’t an isolated set.
Bought some of those Kinesis CX Disc wheels and they were brilliant. Only for a year though. The bike lives outside most of the time and is used nearly daily in all weathers and the alloy nipples disintegrated and trashed the rims while they did it.
I’m about 105kg on a good day and the roads on my commute have a couple of really really rough stretches.
Bought a rebuilt set of Kinesis CX discs that have had more robust spokes and brass nipples put in and they’ve, touch wood, been fine. If you keep having issues a proper rebuild or speccing your own to order is the way to go. Whatever you lose in extra weight can be made up in not having to tiptoe on anything less than a smooth surface and you get more riding done when your bike isn’t in the shop.
I’ve also been using 28mm tyres on the Whyte and would go larger, again, the extra give in the tyre makes them quicker over rough roads than any (perceived) benefit for running really skinny tyres.
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