Wheels for a heavier rider......

[Maylian]

Before I start, I've read through quite a few posts on wheelset upgrades and they all seem to quote the skinnier person, rather than the bigger boned rider....

I'm 6'4" and weight about 17-17.5 stone, although this is dropping as I'm increasing mileage on a daily basis. I currently have R500's which came on my Wilier (my pleasure / sportive bike) and I'm looking to upgrade them. At times I've thought about upgrading to carbons but think this may be a bit OTT and can get away with a good set of alloys.

My concern however is my weight and what I should look at getting. I've seen various people recommending the zonda's, fulcrum 5's etc but the spoke count seems a bit low to me so I'm a bit nervous to upgrade to them. Any suggestions for a good set of wheels for a "larger" rider. Depending on the price I'll either be looking to upgrade immediately or next year (as I'm going travelling) and budget would probably be up to about £1000. Although as I'm not a pro-cyclist I would very much enjoy having a lot of change and don't want to just fritter cash away.

Sorry for starting another wheel thread.

 

[raleighnut]

Try looking at high end Touring wheels they should have a higher spoke count and quality hubs.

 

[I like Skol]

I'm fed up of screaming this but here we go again "HANDBUILTS!"

Everytime I read a post like yours I can't help wondering why anyone would go for expensive racing wheels built to a price and aimed more at the weight weeny weekend warriors than the realworld cyclists like us

You can have an indestructible set of wheels for around £300-£400 if you follow my basic recipe. Ingredients should cost around £150-£200 depending on how carried away you get. Hubs have to be Shimano 105 which can be had for less than £60 a pair. Rims should be mid-range Mavic clinchers of your choice. Spokes can be Swiss DT Competition stainless steel double butted 2.0/1.8/2.0mm. If you feel daring then try the Revolution spoke which is only 1.5mm in the middle so can save some weight. Alternatively you can go the other way and use the Alpine III spokes which are 2.34/1.8/2.0mm so are thicker at the hub end where most breaks occur.

There are also hybrid mixes to consider so you can have a 36 spoke rear wheel and a 32 front, or Alpine spokes at the back and competition at the front, Competition rear with Revolution front. The combinations of spoke count and thickness are entirely up to you and what you want to achieve. Once you have decided on the spec you just need to find a good wheel builder to string them together for you and if they are done right then you will have wheels that won't need touching again until the rims wear out.

 

[Soltydog]

have a look here http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/wo...-in-having-your-wheels-built-for-free.133384/
I'm the big boy he has just built a set for. Cant comment on the actual wheels, as i wont have them till Monday but I'm a similar build (well height & weight) so went for a strong set of decent wheels

 

[GrumpyGregry]

36 hole three cross, welded rim, handbuilt, preferably by DCRWheels, imo/ime.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

For that budget, definitely talk to a wheel builder, give them your specific requirements and details and see what they suggest. In fact, talk to a few just in case.

 

[ianrauk]

agree with @I like Skol
Handbuilds..... you can get a nice pair of strong, well made, long lasting wheels to your own specs for the same money or less then off the peg wheels.

 

[geopat]

As a well built rider myself I would just like to make the point that the R500s that came with your bike are great wheels for the heavier rider.

I can't see the point in spending hundreds of pounds to save a couple of hundred grams when I am as heavy as I am.

 

[PpPete]

If the rider weight is "above average" shall we say, politely. then wheel weight (or event rim weight) is rather irrelevant.

Wheel sitffness OTH....and yes, handbuilts all the way.
If you don't mind a noisy freehub, Chris King is hard to beat, or if on slightly restricted budget Hope Pro3
Then classiest alumnium rims you can afford. I'm currently leaning towards H+Son Archetypes (following the "wide" fahion), or look at Excellights or anything from DT Swiss
If out & out speed is more important than longevity, go for something like 28 spoke front, maybe 2 cross rather than 3 cross, but avoid radial.
Rear 32 spoke, 3 cross drive side, maybe 2 cross NDS.
Sapim Race spokes (there's no point going for CX-Ray if there's this many of them)
Build them up yourself, or have them built, at whatever maximum spoke tension is allowed by rim manufacturer.

These will be utterly individual... and give you about as good a "bang for buck" as you'll get until your BMI is down to below 20

 

[Spoked Wheels]

have a look here http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/wo...-in-having-your-wheels-built-for-free.133384/
I'm the big boy he has just built a set for. Cant comment on the actual wheels, as i wont have them till Monday but I'm a similar build (well height & weight) so went for a strong set of decent wheels

Paul,

The OP PMed me but his priority seems different to yours, he is looking at 1500grs wheels if I remember correctly. Yours are heavier but I'm sure that they will last you a very long time. In fact, 32R and 24F would have been enough for you.

Wheelbuilders: there are those who aim to please the customer by doing anything the customers request and there are others that will not under weight the wheels for a particular rider and riding style, I'm in this category .

In all honesty, I'm not sure I can build a set of 1500grs wheels for a 17.5 stone rider so I suggested he talked to Jowwy who has mentioned his light Zipp wheels that are supposed to be for heavy weights.

I built similar wheels for myself, with lighter hubs and less spokes than yours BUT I could fix any problem myself, if there was any. The irony is that I went to 18.5 stones when I was planning to loose weight. The wheels took the punishment but I don't think they would have taken me at 18.5 stones for very long, I might be wrong but too late to find out now cause I'm 15 stones

So, when somebody ask for light wheels for a heavy rider / hard riding I can only suggest something adequate or look somewhere else.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Another vote for handbuilts, and it's still my intention to have some made one day, however, if you just want some off the shelf bombproof wheels that won't break the bank I would totally recommend HALO AERORAGE wheels.

I've used them for a number of years now and haven't had to tweak them what so ever

The only negative comment I have is that the decals are lasered on so you can't just peel them off, but at least they're not decal heavy like some wheels so it's not a big issue.

 

[jowwy]

Paul,

The OP PMed me but his priority seems different to yours, he is looking at 1500grs wheels if I remember correctly. Yours are heavier but I'm sure that they will last you a very long time.

Wheelbuilders: there are those who aim to please the customer and do what the customers request and there are others that will not under weight the wheels for a particular rider and riding style, I'm in this category .

In all honesty, I'm not sure I can build a set of 1500grs wheels for a 17.5 stone rider so I suggested he talked to Jowwy who has mentioned his light Zipp wheels that are supposed to be for heavy weights.

I built similar wheels for myself, with lighter hubs and less spokes than yours BUT I could fix any problem myself, if there was any. The irony is that I went to 18.5 stones when I was planning to loose weight. The wheels took the punishment but I don't think they would have taken me at 18.5 stones for very long, I might be wrong but too late to find out now cause I'm 15 stones

So, when somebody ask for light wheels for a heavy rider / hard riding I can only suggest something adequate or look somewhere else.

Yeh my carbon zipps have a rider weight limit of 110kg and weigh 1350grammes.

But surprisingly campag zondas have a rider limit of 110kgs too and come in at 1535grammes and for 250 bucks are awesome wheels indeed.......im just under the 17stone mark and i TT on my zipps with no problems

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Yeh my carbon zipps have a rider weight limit of 110kg and weigh 1350grammes.

But surprisingly campag zondas have a rider limit of 110kgs too and come in at 1535grammes and for 250 bucks are awesome wheels indeed.......im just under the 17stone mark and i TT on my zipps with no problems

I don't think you can buy components off the shelf to build wheels like your zipps capable to cope with 110kg riders.

 

[jowwy]

I don't think you can buy components off the shelf to build wheels like your zipps capable to cope with 110kg riders.

No i dont either - my handbuilts are velocity a23's with 105 hubs and they come in at 1900 grammes 32 hole

But my chinese carbons on my shiv TT bike have a weight limit of 125kg so its doable somehow

 

[Spoked Wheels]

No i dont either - my handbuilts are velocity a23's with 105 hubs and they come in at 1900 grammes 32 hole

But my chinese carbons on my shiv TT bike have a weight limit of 125kg so its doable somehow

I have no doubt that one can build very light wheels, like 1200 grs with off the shelf components BUT would they take a 110 kgs rider? I doubt it.

Somehow I don't trust these Chinese rims that claim to take an elephant.

The bottom line is this, if you are 110 kgs then you can safely loose a few pounds and have the same effect or better as I found out myself. I'm 15 stones 1 and all those hills that were such hard work when I was 18 and a half stones, now I enjoy. I'm sure I could not get the same effect if I were riding on 1200 grs wheels.