32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

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Heltor Chasca
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Joined: 30 Aug 2014, 8:18pm
Location: Near Bath & The Mendips in Somerset

32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

I have a possible, cheap opportunity to get my mits on an older Cube Acid. Most I might need to do is get tyres, pedals and a saddle. It's a 16" with 27.5" rounds. Link to the 'oldest' specs etc I can find:

https://www.cube.eu/en/products/mtb-har ... llow-2016/

The component mix is pretty good (Deore & XT) everything else is 'ok' considering I'll not be doing anything more than long weekends with a bar bag and saddle pack and a couple of small bags I have. I normally tour on my Surly DT which I want to keep set up for paved Touring. This MTB is just for a 'bit of a laugh'. I'll also want to go and have a play in the woods, the Mendips and singletrack trails.

That said: As the wheels and hubs are 32 holes, do you think it's ok? Do 4 less spokes on a 2.5" wide round-thing really matter? I weigh 70kg.

Many thanks.
Last edited by Heltor Chasca on 6 Oct 2016, 8:25pm, edited 4 times in total.
rjb
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Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 10:25am
Location: Somerset (originally 60/70's Plymouth)

Re: 32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by rjb »

I had similar concerns with a 26" wheel I picked up for my tandem. It was a Shimano 32 spoke disc hub with a mavic 317 rim. I re spaced the wheel to 145 oln to suit the tandem which resulted in less dish which helped. All up weight with 2 of us is 130 kg plus the weight of the tandem which must be an additional 20kg plus we have carried panniers with an additional load of 20kg bag of wild bird seed. So 170kg without issue and so far has been ok for 2000 miles but we don't go off road. I would think you will be fine. :wink:
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
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531colin
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Location: North Yorkshire

Re: 32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by 531colin »

You will be fine.
Worth stress-relieving the spokes in these or any other machine-built wheels.
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: 32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by reohn2 »

32's with big rubber(at the right TP's) and a boingy fork will negate a lot of hits,after a short while you'll not give them a second thought.
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Threevok
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Re: 32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by Threevok »

317 rims are pretty tough - I run one on my spare rear wheel with a 32 hole Deore hub - and it's never let me down (unlike my Cross-ones)

I weigh 90+ kilos
hamster
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Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: 32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by hamster »

Ran 32H on 26" for years on an MTB tourer, no problems and I'm a similar weight. Typically 10-13kg of panniers.
Rim was a Mavic 231, somewhat lighter than the 317.
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Heltor Chasca
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Joined: 30 Aug 2014, 8:18pm
Location: Near Bath & The Mendips in Somerset

Re: 32 Spokes for Off Road Touring?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Thank you for the knowledge. Over thinking as usual.

Turns out it's about a year old and in pretty good nick. Just needs a mudguard. I've got a saddle and pedals and I'll see how I go with the tyres. They seem good enough for now. Couple of dry bags strapped on and I'm in the woods for the weekend. I've even bothered to find my old hip flask just for that reason. I must be serious.

Picking it up tomorrow all being good. (It will cost a smidge more than the sale of an old GPS on eBay and two days hedge work this week.)
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