I 'spoke' too soon?

[jbel]

Oval seems to have a history of not showing specs on their website. Makes you wonder about their confidence in their own product. I will stay with names like Mavic, Easton, Fulcrum, etc. for now on. Maybe Oval's more expensive wheels are better, but I'm not chancing it. Good luck to any future Kestrel or Fuji owners.

 

[Pat Stowe]

A drop of purple loktite onto/into each nipple and a re-true solves it. Been there done that, ( Bontrager wheel). Sometimes wheel get through " the sysem" with spokes that haven't been "prepped properly". If you can't find purple loktite, blue will work but "holds" a bit tight, linseed oil helps as well.

 

[Wirebender]

An update on the 327 Wheelset.. 60 miles and still real true! The wheels are deeper and the valve stems are to short to use the floor pump. Solved by using schrader adapter and the airing tires... My spare tubes have longer stems...

 

[dag921]

Originally Posted by alienator .


Oval parts in the past have been pretty good stuff. They're in no way "cheaper". Oval is owned by Kestrel.....who is owned now by someone else......who now owns Oval. Oval wouldn't be my first stop for wheels, but that's mostly because I'm picky: I'll take handbuilts, and I'll have 'em with my choice of parts..........buy I'll live happily with Zipp or Enve wheels in the future.
If the wheels were stress relieved and tensioned properly, there's no reason to expect them to go out of true. The only things that might make them go out of true are mondo impacts, spokes too wimpy for the job, or rims too wimpy for the job. Note that the "too wimpy" requirement can also be satisfied by someone being too heavy for a good set of wheels.

Alienator I am a college student who bought a fuji cross 2.0 with graduation/birthday money and love it compared to my old hybrid that made life hard to go uphill on campus. The 2.0 also comes with oval 524's and have been giving me problems. After half a semester of riding (2-3 miles a day) not only did the wheels start going out of true but the rear wheel especially has been offset on its axis twice. I took it to the repair shop yesterday and they realigned the back axis and made some other adjustments. I am pretty new to road bikes and had a couple of questions.
1. What size spoke wrench do I need for these wheels? I used an crescent wrench to try to put the wheel back into true but I am worried about doing serious damage.
2. I am 6'3 and weigh about 195-200 pounds. Can the 524 wheels handle my weight?
3. If they can't, does anybody know of any sturdier wheels that can handle my weight and the occasional lip (I have been avoiding curbs nonstop) for cheap? (I'm talking $200-300 max. Like I said, college budget) I am less concerned with weight and more concerned with sturdiness and reliability. I just need a pair of really strong wheels to last me through 3 more years of sidewalks and crappy roads.
Anyone that has answers would be a huge help. I am getting tired of going back to the shop every weekend.

 

[maydog]

Most people in the know would say that 24 spokes in the rear is too few for a fellow clydesdale (200+ pounds). Though I have had some luck with Mavic Aksiums which have an even lower spoke count. So I think a properly built 525 wheelset should handle your weight. But for peace of mind and reliability, you are better off going with a higher spoke count wheel in the rear.

If money is tight, just replace the rear wheel. Likely the front will give you no trouble. You should be able to source a quality, handbuilt, rear wheel with a Shimano Tiagra or 105 hub in the $200 range.

Another option, well within your price range is to look at Nashbar's Vuelta Corsa HD. If you stack up their on sale price with their regularly occuring 20% discount, they can be had for a steal. I put about 2000 miles on a set this summer without touching a spoke wrench and they are still true as the day I unboxed them - which is quite a feat. They generally get good feeback. They are working for me thus far.

 

[vspa]

.

 

[vspa]

Most people in the know would say that 24 spokes in the rear is too few for a fellow clydesdale (200+ pounds). Though I have had some luck with Mavic Aksiums which have an even lower spoke count. So I think a properly built 525 wheelset should handle your weight. But for peace of mind and reliability, you are better off going with a higher spoke count wheel in the rear.

i broke the rear Aksium (1st. generation) rather fast (rim broken at one eyelet, after a year or so of use), and when i took it the shop to see if i could use the hub with another rim the owner showed me another broken Aksium, me and the other cyclist are/were both heavy, he adapted the Mavic Hub into another rim by bending DT 2.0mm spokes by the flange of the hub, this frankesteinen wheel is now my indoor trainer wheel,

 

[alienator]

Most people in the know would say that 24 spokes in the rear is too few for a fellow clydesdale (200+ pounds). Though I have had some luck with Mavic Aksiums which have an even lower spoke count. So I think a properly built 525 wheelset should handle your weight. But for peace of mind and reliability, you are better off going with a higher spoke count wheel in the rear. If money is tight, just replace the rear wheel. Likely the front will give you no trouble. You should be able to source a quality, handbuilt, rear wheel with a Shimano Tiagra or 105 hub in the $200 range.

What he said. A wheel like this one from Excel Sports would be a good rear wheel for you. It's possible and likely you can get such a wheel cheaper from another custom wheel builder or even possibly from your local bike shop. As for the appropriate spoke wrench for oval 524, I'm not sure offhand what that would be. You local bike shop could determine that for you in a few minutes.

 

[jbel]

I replaced the pure junk Oval 524's on my Kestrel Talon with Mavic Aksiums and have since put on 2000 miles with zero issues. I weigh 215 lbs and both wheels are still very true. You can find these wheels on sale at online shops for under $300. They are considered "heavy" for aftermarket wheels, but it sounds like you are just getting into the road bike scene, and a few ounces of weight are not going to be noticed.

 

[maydog]

My post was not advocating Aksiums, I just wanted to say that low spoke count wheels can be strong. I have more detailed experiences with these wheels in another thread - one set started to break spokes before 3000 miles. The other had a lot of issues with loosing tension before I applied locktite to the nipples. A higher spoke count, well built, evenly tensioned wheel will serve you well and should not be expensive.

 

[Bill Dusting]

I pop spokes on these, that came with me new Guru, as often as I have hot dinners. "You're one of those guys that cranks big gears!" Uh, yeah, its called training. If they didn't come stock on the bike, I would walk on by.

 

[djepayne]

I bought a used Fuji SL1 last September and proceeded to break 10 of the 12 spokes in the rear wheel on subsequent rides. All of the broken spokes where the radial ones, on the non-drive side. At the bike store I just bought 12 replacement spokes and have no more breaking spoke issues on the rear wheel now. It appears that the factory spokes are sub-par, on the rear wheel, non-drive side.

 

[trinogt]

One of my last long rides on the Oval 524's was a 60 mile solo ride, on a flat rail trail. I had a flat within the first 5 miles, then a rear spoke broke around mile 37. It is hard to decide on longer rides when you are constantly thinking about wheel failure! Mentally, I was beginning to believe that everyone experiences this on longer rides... Good thing I started talking to more people who ride because they all agreed this is not normal.
I started a new job which paid better than the last one some time in late 2012, and i eventually replaced the wheelset with Vuelta Corsa Superlites. 1500 gram wheels. I have put over a thousand miles on them, and have yet to put a spoke wrench to them! However, I did learn after a ton of flats that the flimsy vinyl rim tape needed to go in favor of bulletproof cloth tape (began to notice the punctures were coming through the inside of the tube). Now a flat is a very rare thing. I still weigh 210, and these light weight, low-spoke count wheels hold me up just great and without any worry if I drop off curbs now and then. For around $400, these really can't be beat. Of course, now I would really like the deep dish carbon clinchers of 60mm or more, but it's not like I am racing or anything, just figured they would look great on an aero frame

 

[djepayne]

My spokes are fine after the replacement, however I've had 4 flats in the last two rides, they appear to be from tube pinch however I'm riding a Gatorskin 25mm tire in the rear inflated to 120 psi.