Thinking about building a custom rear wheel

[Turbo329]

I was wondering what you guys would suggest.

I've been doing some powerlifting over the winter and now my weight creeped up to nearly 240lbs from my riding weight of 222lbs of last season.

My research has led me to the following:

A Mavic Deep dish rim (30mm or close)
A DT Swiss 240 Hub
32 spokes (I would consider 36 if you can recommend a lightweight brand)

What do you guys think of this. If you can recommend better, please chime in.

I'm roughly a 240lb rider who can bang out a Century in 5:45; sprint like a monster, but my climbing needs work. I think that excessive wheel flex was holding me back on climbs. I currently have Bontrager 24 spoke SSR rims and would like to chuck them for my serious rides.

 

[TheMadOne]

I'm roughly a 240lb rider who can bang out a Century in 5:45; sprint like a monster, but my climbing needs work. I think that excessive wheel flex was holding me back on climbs. I currently have Bontrager 24 spoke SSR rims and would like to chuck them for my serious rides.

I'm wondering why you think wheel flex is huring your climbing. Is it primarily due to torsional flexing stretching the spokes causing energy to be lost as heat, or is it lateral flexing that screws up your form while standing?

One thing you might look into is the Airhead offset rim. It allows the wheel to be built with less dish, so the spoke angle is greater and therefore the tensions are lower on the drive side. This should provide more lateral stiffness, and less torsional flex as well.

 

[Turbo329]

I'm wondering why you think wheel flex is huring your climbing. Is it primarily due to torsional flexing stretching the spokes causing energy to be lost as heat, or is it lateral flexing that screws up your form while standing?

One thing you might look into is the Airhead offset rim. It allows the wheel to be built with less dish, so the spoke angle is greater and therefore the tensions are lower on the drive side. This should provide more lateral stiffness, and less torsional flex as well.

Thanks for responding. Yeah, it may have something to do with the spokes. I was examining the wheel the other day and they looked bent. I'm going to visit LBS soon to have them take a look.

Do you have a link for the Airhead rims?

 

[TheMadOne]

Do you have a link for the Airhead rims?

Just search for "Velocity Aerohead OC"

 

[Turbo329]

Thanks again.

 

[Turbo329]

I think I'm going to go with the following:

Mavic CXP33 Rim
DT 240 hub (Ceramic)
32 spoke count
700x25 Tire on the back

The Velocity rims don't get such great reviews and my LBS didn't have much nice things to say about it.

 

[TheMadOne]

You should compare this to the stock American Classic Hurricane rear wheel. Also a 32h/3x setup and very light with 14/15/14 spokes, custom alloy nipples, and a 205g hub. Plus a slightly wider rim width more suitable for mounting the 700x25 tire and carrying the extra side loads.

I have 1500mi in rolling terrain on mine with no issues, and I also run a 700x25 tire. You should be able to get one online for $400 or $600 for the set with plain bearings (ceramic option extra if you really want that).

 

[Turbo329]

You should compare this to the stock American Classic Hurricane rear wheel. Also a 32h/3x setup and very light with 14/15/14 spokes, custom Al nipples, and a 205g hub. Plus a slightly wider rim width more suitable for mounting the 700x25 tire and carrying the extra side loads.

I have 1500mi in rolling terrain on mine with no issues, and I also run a 700x25 tire. You should be able to get one online for $400 or $600 for the set. with plain bearings (ceramic option extra if you really want that).

Yeah I saw those and thought about them long and hard.

I guess the only difference between those wheels and the one's I'm building is that I'm using straight gauge spokes and possibly brass nipples for the extra rigidity. I'm not too worried about the weight though.

I'm pretty psyched about the DT 240S hubs.

 

[TheMadOne]

I guess the only difference between those wheels and the one's I'm building is that I'm using straight gauge spokes and possibly brass nipples for the extra rigidity. I'm not too worried about the weight though.

That, and the price for the parts alone will be more than the stock built wheel (that was the decision point for me). Your wheel weight will be also be more, since each of the components (rim, spokes, nipples and hubs) are heavier. You did start out saying you wanted to climb better. Not sure how the stiffness vs. lighness will play out at this level. I can tell you the Hurricanes seem pretty stiff to me, and I started riding them at 240 lbs too.

Again, what are you most worried about: torsional or lateral stiffness? If lateral, I would go with the Hurricane, because it has a wider rim, and it's going to be very hard to beat that with spokes and nipples. If torsional stiffness is more important than weight and cost, then your set-up is probably better. But then 36 spokes would be even better.

 

[Turbo329]

Here are photos of my new wheels on the bike.

Front:
Mavic CXP-33
DT Swiss Straight Gauge Spokes (32 Rear 3-cross/ 28 Front 2-cross)
DT Swiss Allow Nipples
DT Swiss 240S hubs
Bontrager Race Tires

These things roll NICE!!!!!! I'm very pleased.

 

[TheMadOne]

So what was the final cost & weight?

And once you have some climbing on them, let us know if you notice any difference.

 

[Turbo329]

The rear was $465 including parts/labor/shipping
The front was like $315 parts/labor/shipping

I had left over tires from last season.

I have to put some miles on them and then take them back to get them adjusted so I'll keep you posted.

I won't know what to compare them to but I can tell you that they are at least 1lb lighter per wheel than the Bontrager SSRs that I have been using.

They are comparable in weight to my Williams Cycling System 58 carbon wheelset.

 

[Turbo329]

My cassette is the heaviest part of the wheel. When I go Dura-Ace this year that's going to make a tremendous difference too.

 

[Turbo329]

So what was the final cost & weight?

And once you have some climbing on them, let us know if you notice any difference.

I took them out today for a shakedown. These wheels roll fast. For starters, I haven't ridden since October. I rode down this one stretch of road where I normally hit about 19-20mph and I was up to 22-23mph on these wheels and I'm out of shape. So that's promising.

I didn't do any serious climbing because the spokes are stretching a bit and I will need to have them tweaked once or twice before they settle in. But hopefully by the weekend they won't be as noisy after I get them tightened on Saturday. I did about 10 miles today and will probably do about 20 miles tomorrow and Saturday before I drop them off to get adjusted.

All in all, I'm a happy camper. Probably my best purchase yet.

 

[2088bob]

I am not into road bikes more mtb set up for road work ie: slicks and high pressure

No disrespect intended, but at 240 pounds i cant realy see that 4 spokes is is going to make that much difference . I would rather give up light weight and gain durability .

my take on this .............high spoke count and spoke bushings i ride with a guy that weighs 355 mavics shimano hubs straight gauge spokes and spoke bushings and he puts on a ton of miles and he never has wheel issues he has destroyed pedal bearings and bottom brackets but has no wheel issues

 

[Turbo329]

I am not into road bikes more mtb set up for road work ie: slicks and high pressure

No disrespect intended, but at 240 pounds i cant realy see that 4 spokes is is going to make that much difference . I would rather give up light weight and gain durability .

my take on this .............high spoke count and spoke bushings i ride with a guy that weighs 355 mavics shimano hubs straight gauge spokes and spoke bushings and he puts on a ton of miles and he never has wheel issues he has destroyed pedal bearings and bottom brackets but has no wheel issues

Actually the difference in durability between 32 and 36 spokes is not as big as 28 and 32. So that's why I went with 32.

Since my original posting, I've lost 10lbs and am now hovering around 230lbs. I'll probably be about 210-215 by the end of the season.

 

[rkwaki]

Actually the difference in durability between 32 and 36 spokes is not as big as 28 and 32. So that's why I went with 32.

Since my original posting, I've lost 10lbs and am now hovering around 230lbs. I'll probably be about 210-215 by the end of the season.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. I am a beast myself (still squattin 500+, leg press 1500+) and had the same issue, I went with a similar setup, 32hole DT Swiss Rims on Ultegra hubs, in 500 miles I have not yet had any issues. I think the 32h setupo is best for heavy guys (I started the year at 237 - I was 219 last night)

 

[swampy1970]

I took them out today for a shakedown. These wheels roll fast. For starters, I haven't ridden since October. I rode down this one stretch of road where I normally hit about 19-20mph and I was up to 22-23mph on these wheels and I'm out of shape. So that's promising.

I didn't do any serious climbing because the spokes are stretching a bit and I will need to have them tweaked once or twice before they settle in. But hopefully by the weekend they won't be as noisy after I get them tightened on Saturday. I did about 10 miles today and will probably do about 20 miles tomorrow and Saturday before I drop them off to get adjusted.

All in all, I'm a happy camper. Probably my best purchase yet.

If your wheels are 'noisy' or go out of true when new then you should be taking them back to your wheelbuilder to wrap them around his neck - not to ask for a 'true up'. A good wheelbuilder should pre-stress the wheel and if needs be, use some threadlocking compound on the spoke nipples.

If you were sold brass nipples on the basis that they're more rigid I'd take the rest of his brass nipples and fire them at him from a BB gun. Brass nipples are more durable in the sense that they're harder to round off than alloy ones and are less likely to seize after a few years but they're not stiffer. Then again, if the wheel builder had used the correct spoke prep on the threads then they wouldn't be seizing in the first place.

 

[Froze]

I am not into road bikes more mtb set up for road work ie: slicks and high pressure

No disrespect intended, but at 240 pounds i cant realy see that 4 spokes is is going to make that much difference . I would rather give up light weight and gain durability .

my take on this .............high spoke count and spoke bushings i ride with a guy that weighs 355 mavics shimano hubs straight gauge spokes and spoke bushings and he puts on a ton of miles and he never has wheel issues he has destroyed pedal bearings and bottom brackets but has no wheel issues

I agree. I think you should run 36 on the rear, 4 more spokes is not going to weigh much of anything extra but would make a far stronger wheel along with doing a 3 cross lace.

I too knew a guy that weighed 240 pounds (muscle not fat) and he had major problems with 32 spoke rims, and until he went with 36 and DT Competition double butted spokes, brass nips and 3x cross and never had another problem.

 

[Sassonian]

I weigh 275 and I'm 6'6". I've got a custom Zinn with a super strong wheelset they built up for me.

FRONT HUB ULTEGRA 36H
REAR HUB ULTEGRA 36H
FRONT QUICK RELEASE DT
REAR QUICK RELEASE DT
FRONT RIM DT TK 7.1 36H
REAR RIM DT TK 7.1 36H
SPOKES DT COMP DB, 2.0/1.8MM
SPOKE NIPPLES DT PROLOCK BRASS

Here's some pics of it.

http://adrian.mydnd.com/MyZinn.php

Rode for years on 32 spoke setup - but this one is really confidence inspiring. I can get up out of the saddle and climb or sprint - whereas I was reluctant to do this previously.

(thats got a lot to do with the frame as well as the wheels)

If you're looking for wheels for us clydes - Zinn has them...

Custom Wheels | Zinncyles website

It's a joy to ride.


Adrian.