Tubeless Wheelset for the Mammoths amongst us, me included

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theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
I'm after a tubeless wheelset for a rider of my heft :blush: (125kg last measured, heaviest bike is a 15kg ebike (measured)). I'm on a budget so will have to rule out some of the exotica out there (🤤:sad::cry:). I've found quite a few out there with a 130kg+ limit (that piece of info is not that easy to find on many wheel sites).

FYI I am currently riding Mavic Aksium's and they appear to be doing ok even though I am over their limit, not out of true yet after about 1k Miles.

I am leaning toward the DTSwiss 1800/1600 series due to the 130/140kg limit depending on model. Are they a good choice or would a Scribe DutyD, Hunt 4 season or Strada Big Fella be better? :stop: I know there are others out there.

The DTSwiss wheelsets appear to be readily available unlike some of the others.

I'm not too worried about gains in performance. I am interested in gains in longevity of components. Light weight wheels seem to be for light weight riders :blush::cry:. Most of the suitable wheelsets appear to be in the 1650-2000g range :mrpig:.

Any advice gratefully received ^_^
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
I have several DT Swiss wheelsets. I'm a fan. However, I can't comment on how they hold up with regards to weight limits as me+my heaviest bike fully loaded comes in at less than 80kg. How about a handbuilt wheelset with DT Swiss hubs? Bound to be stronger as you can get the wheels built with additional spokes (32 or 36 vs 24 or 28 of the DT Swiss).
 
OP
OP
theboxers

theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
Yes the weight is and always has been an issue. I am making losses in that direction, but not fast enough :sad::laugh:.

I am looking at the handbuilt route. But lead times are a bit of a problem, plus the costs can be significantly higher than I can afford to pay at the moment 🤑.

I'm not ruling anything out :whistle:
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I'm not a light rider - although I am a bit lighter than you, currently 97kg - and I've been using DT Swiss R460 rims on Shimano hubs (32spoke) for the last 3 years with success. I don't treat the wheels nicely as I'm quite happy to drop off curbs and small ramps quite happily and regularly ride down flights of steps.

I built my own wheels - these were the first one's I'd ever built - and with rims, spokes, hubs etc the total cost of parts was about £200. If you don't want to go down that route yourself it might be worth speaking to your local bike shop to see if they would be able to build you a set of wheels to your specifications or assemble one if you provide parts as they may be able to do it quicker than a specialist wheelbuilder.
 
OP
OP
theboxers

theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
I've found a couple of wheel builders local-ish to me that I'll be speaking to. Looks like I'll be spending £4-500 for a hand built 32 or 36 spoke wheels. I've found some 24 or 28 spoke pre-built for £3-400 that claim to be capable of carrying me and the bike.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
What are you hoping to achieve by the change?

The Askiums are doing the job, and since you aren't after performance gains it seems daft to drop £500 on a new set.

Nothing to stop you setting up the Askiums as tubeless.
 
I've found a couple of wheel builders local-ish to me that I'll be speaking to. Looks like I'll be spending £4-500 for a hand built 32 or 36 spoke wheels. I've found some 24 or 28 spoke pre-built for £3-400 that claim to be capable of carrying me and the bike.
In your situation the higher spoke-counts are invaluable. I'm a relative tiddler and still don't like riding 24-spokers more than an hour away from home!
Try for 36 spokes - 32 if your ideal components aren't made with 36.
 
OP
OP
theboxers

theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
What are you hoping to achieve by the change?

The Askiums are doing the job, and since you aren't after performance gains it seems daft to drop £500 on a new set.

Nothing to stop you setting up the Askiums as tubeless.
@Pale Rider

I want to cut over to tubeless. 4 punctures in 2 days has pushed me into looking at them.

I have set-up my brothers bike with tubeless wheels and tyres. They appear to be working ok so far.

The Mavic don't state the Aksiums are tubeless capable :unsure:. I was not aware they could be setup that way :blink:. If they are suitable I'll be willing to give it go, as messy as doing that can be, to stop getting the punctures I'm getting :cursing:.

ETA

I've been doing some digging :ohmy:.

The bike can take a 35c tyre, the Aksiums are designed for a max 32c tyre :sad:.

The pressure I'd need to run a 32c standard casing on the 17mm internal width Aksium, according to the Sram calculator, would be over the max recommended pressure :sad:.

A reinforced tubeless tyre would be ok but I can't work out which are standard and which are reinforced :unsure:
 
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Pale Rider

Legendary Member
@Pale Rider

I want to cut over to tubeless. 4 punctures in 2 days has pushed me into looking at them.

I have set-up my brothers bike with tubeless wheels and tyres. They appear to be working ok so far.

The Mavic don't state the Aksiums are tubeless capable :unsure:. I was not aware they could be setup that way :blink:. If they are suitable I'll be willing to give it go, as messy as doing that can be, to stop getting the punctures I'm getting :cursing:.

ETA

I've been doing some digging :ohmy:.

The bike can take a 35c tyre, the Aksiums are designed for a max 32c tyre :sad:.

The pressure I'd need to run a 32c standard casing on the 17mm internal width Aksium, according to the Sram calculator, would be over the max recommended pressure :sad:.

A reinforced tubeless tyre would be ok but I can't work out which are standard and which are reinforced :unsure:

No point in worrying about 3mm on the width of the tyre on a rim.

Fit whatever suits - 32c or 35c.

Concentrate on your first line of defence - the tyre.

Schwalbe Marathon or Marathon Plus is the usual recommendation.

You might have to convert imperial to metric measurement to get the correct width, but your Askiums won't know you've done that.

Setting up any wheel/tyre tubeless, whether it's 'tubeless ready' or not has an equal chance of being messy.

It depends on your fettling skills, nothing else.

Going back to tyres, changing them once tubeless is more of a faff, so it would make sense to start off with a new pair.

Less chance of a puncture as well, however you keep the air in.

The more I think about it, a pair of Marathon Pluses and a pair of new tubes while you are at it is probably your best bet.

The likes of Bike Discount often do discounted packages - tyre and tube X 2.

Something like this ought to fit, assuming you have 700c/29er/28" wheels.

Fifty quid rather than 500 sounds good to me, and most Marathon Plus users barely get a puncture from one year to the next.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/schwalbe-marathon-plus-37-622-free-tube-sv17-2er-set-498979
 
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OP
OP
theboxers

theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
No point in worrying about 3mm on the width of the tyre on a rim.

Fit whatever suits - 32c or 35c.

Concentrate on your first line of defence - the tyre.

Schwalbe Marathon or Marathon Plus is the usual recommendation.

You might have to convert imperial to metric measurement to get the correct width, but your Askiums won't know you've done that.

Setting up any wheel/tyre tubeless, whether it's 'tubeless ready' or not has an equal chance of being messy.

It depends on your fettling skills, nothing else.

Going back to tyres, changing them once tubeless is more of a faff, so it would make sense to start off with a new pair.

Less chance of a puncture as well, however you keep the air in.

The more I think about it, a pair of Marathon Pluses and a pair of new tubes while you are at it is probably your best bet.

The likes of Bike Discount often do discounted packages - tyre and tube X 2.

Something like this ought to fit, assuming you have 700c/29er/28" wheels.

Fifty quid rather than 500 sounds good to me, and most Marathon Plus users barely get a puncture from one year to the next.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/schwalbe-marathon-plus-37-622-free-tube-sv17-2er-set-498979
I'd be looking at a pair of tubeless tyres anyway so the cost of tyres is irrelevant-ish. Just having to make the choice of the various ones out there.

The marathons are out. 32's are too narrow for the pressure I need to run and 37's are too big for the bike. I'm having to step up to 35's. Going by the sites out there I may be stumping up for the Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR's available in 35c. Best puncture resistance and not too bad on the rolling resistance.

I'll make my mind up tomorrow after my irl ride.
 
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rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
I'd be looking at a pair of tubeless tyres anyway so the cost of tyres is irrelevant-ish. Just having to make the choice of the various ones out there.

The marathons are out. 32's are too narrow for the pressure I need to run and 37's are too big for the bike. I'm having to step up to 35's. Going by the sites out there I may be stumping up for the Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR's available in 35c. Best puncture resistance and not too be on the rolling resistance.

I'll make my mind up tomorrow after my irl ride.
I have the pirellis on my winter bike. I rate them highly. Nice balance between puncture protection and rolling resistance and easy to fit on rims.
 
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