Wheel problems for heavy rider

Kevin Hornick said:

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" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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!

Quoted message said:

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
[email hidden]

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 said:

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.

Chris Neary said:

Quoted message said:

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.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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?

Quoted message said:

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.

Quoted message said:

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
[email hidden]

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

"Chris Neary" <[email hidden] > wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>How about a tandem wheel?

The bottom line remains, a tandem wheel is *not* a solution

to the original

Quoted message said:

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?

"The Goose" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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!

Well I would have had wheels rebuilt using DT or Wheelsmith spokes with 36
spokes per wheel.
If you have 32 spoke wheels and it doesn't have DT or Wheelsmith spokes
it'll probably need them soon.
The Asian spokes are OK, but they just don't handle the higher weights or
loads too well.
High quality spokes are a must. But maybe if you keep replacing the spokes
that break the only ones left will be all the good spokes.
If you are building up the entire wheel new then a Shimano 105 hub would be
more than adequate. A good rim like a Mavic would be OK.
You should also try to run 700cX25 as the smallest width and at least
700cX28's if possible.
If the wheel doesn't have at least 32 spokes or 36 spokes, don't bother with
it.

But when I weighed that much I was riding a comfort bike with 26" wheels 36
spokes per, it would creak and groan and the rear wheel even at max
inflation pressure looked like it was going to pop. But that bike hung in
there. I do say they built them pretty good.
Later when I started riding my touring bike the 700c rear wheel would pop
spokes regularly. When the wheel was rebuilt with all DT spokes (and spoke
washers just in case the hub holes were too large), it never popped any
spokes again. That bike runs 700cX32's for the tires.
My road bike a Schwinn Fastback has 700cX25's on it and the 36spoke wheels
have just worked flawlessly from the start. But my LBS did go over the bike
carefully before I took it and also did a great checkover during the tuneup
later. The wheels are still just about as true the day I picked it up from
the LBS. I rode it in our local MS150 and had no problems whatsover.

Quoted message said:

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?

Setting the dropout width issue aside, tandem wheels and single wheels for
loaded touring typically use the same components.

Peter John White builds quite a few tandem wheels. Compare his tandem wheels
(http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tandemparts.asp) vs. his single bike wheels
(http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/wheels.asp).

Co-Motion offers a single (http://www.co-motion.com/Amerc.html) which has
145mm rear spacing, permitting use of a tandem wheel. Perhaps the ultimate
weapon in the search for extraordinary wheel strength.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

Chris & Tracey
1999 Co-Motion Speedster

"Chris Neary" <[email hidden] > wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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?

Setting the dropout width issue aside, tandem wheels and single wheels for
loaded touring typically use the same components.

Peter John White builds quite a few tandem wheels. Compare his tandem
wheels
(http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tandemparts.asp) vs. his single bike
wheels
(http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/wheels.asp).

Co-Motion offers a single (http://www.co-motion.com/Amerc.html) which has
145mm rear spacing, permitting use of a tandem wheel. Perhaps the ultimate
weapon in the search for extraordinary wheel strength.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

Chris & Tracey
1999 Co-Motion Speedster

One could change out the hollow axle with a 130mm one or 135mm one.
But if you are having a custom wheelbuilder build up a wheel then they could
do it before you get the wheel too.
I came really close to doing this myself, but my weight dropped enough where
I didn't need the wheel.

What about Aerospoke? They are heavier, but extremely durable and never need
truing.

I had the same problems as you except I weighed 360 pounds when I
started having the problem of breaking spokes. I kept going back to the
place I bought my bike(Trek 7100). They sold me a set of wheels and
after about 75 miles or so I started breaking spokes again. This got real
tiring after awhile. I finally went to a bicycle shop in Clear Lake, Ia. the
mechanic there builds wheels as his specialty. I had him build me a set
using
Shimano Doere Hubs with Sun CR-18 rims, this was one of his suggestions,
for spokes he used a butted spoke
that was 14(2.0mm) gauge on the straight and 2.3mm at the head and bend, he
also used a small brass washer on the head of the spoke. So far I have put
about 1500 miles on this set of wheels. I have yet to break a spoke. I took
the bike in for a 1000 mile check up and had him check the wheels. He
tweaked three or four spokes. It pays to go to a specialist in this area. If
you
would like I can give you his phone number if you wish to talk to him. Just
send me an email off the list.
Mike E.

"The Goose" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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!