New rear wheel for loaded touring - advice

[scragend]

Asking for a friend - genuinely!

My friend and I have just come back from a week's touring in the Netherlands. He has a Trek Domane bike, one of these:

https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/...omane-al-2-gen-4/41587/?colorCode=red_reddark

He had a problem over the week with spokes breaking - it happened twice. We went to bike shops and had them fixed both times. He's a big fella - 6 foot 8 and a little bit heavier than he probably should be (by his own admission and he doesn't mind me saying this here).

We did a similar tour last year and there were no problems then but obviously it's not ideal to have spokes keep pinging like that.

I had a look at the wheels on his bike and they're only 24 spoke and I don't think they're heavy duty enough for this kind of riding. He tours with loaded panniers.

The wheel spec according to Trek is this:

Hub rear
Formula RX-142 alloy, 6-bolt, Shimano 11-speed freehub, 142x12 mm thru axle
Skewer rear
Bontrager Switch chamfered thru axle, removable lever
Rim
Bontrager Paradigm SL, Tubeless Ready, 24-hole, 21 mm width, Presta valve
Spokes
14 g stainless steel, black
Tyre
Bontrager R1 Hard-Case Lite, wire bead, 60 tpi, 700x32 mm

Am I on the right track in thinking that a beefier rear wheel (36 spoke?) would help? And if so can anyone point me towards a suitable one? He isn't into bike mechanics so has asked me to look into it for him.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Yes more spokes the better for resilience / reliability for touring. The other thing he could look at is wider tyres at lower pressure to cushion the ride more. Plus is he the sort of rider who just ploughs through pot holes etc?

 

[raleighnut]

36 spoke 4X pattern

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Would suggest to contact a touring specialist (sjs, spa etc) and get them to build one.

I'm *not* an expert here, far from it, but the rim choice, type of spoke and quality of build all matter as well as spoke count.

 

[albion]

My best touring wheel was the RS21. 20 spokes but bullet proof, even with masses of tour weight on the rear wheel.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Another complete non-expert on wheels here.

My observation is that, although I'm on the heavy side(90kg+) I've never suffered from broken spokes, except for one wheel that had multiple failures. It wasn't a low spoke count wheel. It was just a crap wheel

Maybe your friend has a similar misfortune?

 

[scragend]

Thanks everyone, I'll pass all that on.

I don't think he's put the wheel through much abuse. Perhaps it's just misfortune but I think a wheel with a higher spoke count and as good a quality as he's prepared to pay for will be the way to go.

Thanks again

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Crap wheel. Low spoke count. Straight gauge spokes, not stress-relieved.

Build a new wheel with 36 spokes, double-butted spokes and use a builder that understands stress-relieving.

 

[Sharky]

Probably overkill, but you could investigate tandem rear wheels.

 

[GarthW]

Probably overkill, but you could investigate tandem rear wheels.

Note however that tandems' rear dropout spacing is generally 145mm, not 130 like single road bikes' spacing or 135mm like MTB spacing. Santana uses 160mm. IOW, these won't fit in single bikes. The wider bracing angle is the primary thing that gives the tandem wheel more strength. (Our tandem has 145mm.)

 

[Drago]

Crap wheel. Low spoke count. Straight gauge spokes, not stress-relieved.

Build a new wheel with 36 spokes, double-butted spokes and use a builder that understands stress-relieving.

And, as a Fatty boom boom lardo large muscular chap who nudges 20 stones myself, I can recommend learning to ride lightly on the contact points and letting the arms and legs dampen some of the shock, a bit like an MX rider. If I kept my meaty behind flat in the saddle id go through rear wheels like Katie Price goes through driving lidences.

 

[froze]

DO NOT BUY A WHEEL FOR THE REAR WITH LESS THAN 36 SPOKES!

The advice for a 20-spoke rear wheel is bad advice, if one of those spokes breaks the entire wheel will taco and will cause you to crash and maybe even damage the frame in the process.

Even the front wheel should be no less than 32 spokes.

Depending on how much weight you carry you might need a 40 spoke rear wheel, most expedition bikes will run 40 spokes all around but they'll carry around 100 to 120 pounds of food, water and gear, whereas a person touring in America for example where there are plenty of places to stop at to get food etc., at the most you will need is 60 pounds of gear, food and water.

Ryde rims are very good rims to consider, but there are others. I use the Ryde rims, and I use Shimano XT hubs, but I have a Shimano drivetrain.

 

[Oldhippy]

40 definitely.

 

[raleighnut]

I use a 36 spoke rear but laced in a 4 cross pattern rather than a 3 cross as standard.

 

[mickle]

You'll struggle to find a 40 hole hub with a thru axle. 36 spokes are enough.
3 cross is enough.

Another vote for Spa Cycles of Harrogate as a potential supplier.