Newbie, Few Wheel questions.

Hey everyone, I have just recently got into cycling and am confused about something. I ride a Giant OCR limited carbon with Xero Lite XSR-3 wheels. On climbs, my front rim is rubbing brake pad. A bike mechanic told me that this is actually the bike flexing and not the wheel-dont know if i buy that though. I weigh in at 180. I am thinking these wheels my be too flexy for me and my size, they are 20f/24r spoke count with a 2000g weight. I cant find much about these wheels on the internet. Do the wheels sound flexy or could it be the bike? The wheels also suck on climbs. Also, what kind of maintenance should I expect for a wheelset? Is there any type of preventative maintenance you are supposed to do? Tighten spokes or check for true every X amount of miles? Thanks!!!!!

Your mechanic didn't know what he was talking about. Your front wheel is flexing, or your brakes aren't centered. 20/24 is a bit on the weedy side for you, especially given that the wheelset isn't exactly of the highest spec. Factory wheels tend to come out of the factory under-tensioned a bit, so you may be able to eliminate the rub by getting a competent wheel builder to bring the spokes up to a higher, even tension. It's also likely the rear could use the same treatment.

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+1 . A good builder should be able to sort these wheels out for you. If not, if they don't hold trueness for at least a few thousand miles, I'd shop for a new set.

Concerning what maintenance you should expect on wheels, IMO a well built set of wheels that are suitable for your weight and roads should be basically maintenance-free for the life of the wheel (barring crashes and monster potholes). My expectation would be at least 10K trouble-free miles, but everyone's roads and riding styles are different.