# heavier rider weight and wheels



## eddiecut (Jul 21, 2013)

the bearings on my cx 22 mavic wheels are starting to get rough... obviously they are an open bearing, cheaper wheel design. My specific question is on two sets of wheels... a buddy of mine has these wheels and will give me a smoking deal on them, he is just unsure if they will handle my weight... I am 220 lbs, I ride in the weekly group rides, go out on random 60-90 miles rides once a week, like to enter a race here and there... I dont want a race wheel, I want a durable wheel that I wont have to stress about while riding. with that in mind... its time for an upgrade... would an ultegra wheelset I think its an rs***, I cannot remember the numbers, I will try and check next time I go in, or the Wolf Racing Talon wheel hold up for me? 

sorry for the long post... tried to give the info that is normally left out of posts.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

The Kinlin XC279 laced to White Industries T11s could be a good option for you. That in a 24/28 hole count would be more than burly enough for your weight. That rim would give you the benefits of a 23mm wide profile while still being relatively aero at 28mm deep. It wouldn't be the lightest wheelset out there 1575 grams, but it would be pretty versatile and respectably rigid!


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## igotyofire (Nov 27, 2011)

Zen Cyclery said:


> The Kinlin XC279 laced to White Industries T11s could be a good option for you. That in a 24/28 hole count would be more than burly enough for your weight. That rim would give you the benefits of a 23mm wide profile while still being relatively aero at 28mm deep. It wouldn't be the lightest wheelset out there 1575 grams, but it would be pretty versatile and respectably rigid!


Why does everyone talk about 24/28 for heavier riders. My Ultegra rims are 16/20 and I weigh 200lbs...


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## dcgriz (Feb 13, 2011)

eddiecut said:


> ... I am 220 lbs, I ride in the weekly group rides, go out on random 60-90 miles rides once a week, like to enter a race here and there... I dont want a race wheel, I want a durable wheel that I wont have to stress about while riding


Handmade wheels tailored to your weight and favoring durability would be using:
Mid weight rims like HED C2 or Archetype 
Ultegra hubs
32 x3 spoking
14/15 ga double butted round spokes.

Lightweight rims or hubs sold at a premium as well as lesser amounts of spokes strive to save you a few seconds but they assume that everything else about the rider is at par so these few seconds saved could make a difference at the podium or staying tight with the group.
You know what is said about ass-umming.........

Factory made wheels are typically geared towards specially made spokes that allow the lower spoke count that they must have in order to sell to the Sunday morning club ride "racers". No reason to subject yourself to the gamble of 16 spokes unless pure performance and only performance is your goal.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

@igotyofire- Just because you can do something doesn't mean it should be done. Sure I've seen riders who are well over 100kgs on spoke counts as low as 12/16 with no problems at all, but I would never recommend that anyone do that. 
A general rule of thumb is that higher hole count wheelsets will be more durable. Each spoke is responsible for less of the rim which correlates to stress being more evenly distributed throughout the system.


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## igotyofire (Nov 27, 2011)

Zen Cyclery said:


> @igotyofire- Just because you can do something doesn't mean it should be done. Sure I've seen riders who are well over 100kgs on spoke counts as low as 12/16 with no problems at all, but I would never recommend that anyone do that.
> A general rule of thumb is that higher hole count wheelsets will be more durable. Each spoke is responsible for less of the rim which correlates to stress being more evenly distributed throughout the system.


Does that mean at 200lbs I am too heavy for my Ultegra 6800 rims? I am not challenging your argument but trying to learn. These are the rims cannondale sold with my bike.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

igotyofire said:


> Why does everyone talk about 24/28 for heavier riders. My Ultegra rims are 16/20 and I weigh 200lbs...


They are solid rim bed. That is how they can get away with less spokes.

A typical rim has through-holes for the spoke nipples.


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

I can only speak from my own experience, I myself being a rider 200 lbs.

I too, fell into that aero low spoke count trend, a few years ago with the result being wheels going out of true or even spoke failure on three or four different occasions.
The only low spoke wheels that I would recommend are the Mavic Ksyrium ES’s I picked up on e-bay a few years ago. However were a rough ride. I mean I felt every single little crack in the road I went over. I decided to give those to my GF (she’s much lighter than me) and invested in hand built wheels.

My 1st wheelset was made of Campagnolo Record hubs (32 holes both front and back) along with a pair of Mavic Open Pro rims, traditional 3x lacing pattern. 
I would true them only once a year, along with my annual bike tuning at the LBS at the end of the cycling season. 

I stayed with those until I decided I should add to my wheel collection with DT Swiss 240 hubs (28 hole front and 32 hole back) paired with DT Swiss 585 rims, once more with traditional 3x lacing. 

Ever since I went with higher spoke count wheels, I haven’t had one single spoke failure and my wheels have stayed relatively true.

I, like many here, ride on crappy city roads that would be the envy of certain Paris-Roubaix sectors. Unless you are a racer, that rides on silky smooth roads, I would not ever recommend, to the Clydesdales among us, any low spoke (16F, 20B) wheelsets. 

There is a “but” to all this. Carbon wheel manufacturers have been claiming that their wheels do not require higher spoke counts since their rims are much deeper making their spokes shorter thus stronger. I don’t know how that works but have never tried them, since they are way out of my price range.


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## JC650 (Feb 8, 2012)

I rode Eastons at 280 and made about a thousand miles before breaking a spoke. At 300 I started riding Vuelta HD's 36 spoke front and rear and Mavic cxp22's and they were fine. Now Im 220 and my new Synapse came with 16f 20r shimano rs11's. They have been good so far but Im not real confident in them. I found that they were rated for 220 but according to lots of people on these forums they should blow up on anyone over 150. Ill ride em till something happens I guess.


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