Wheels for a big person

[mail@nickavery.com]

I've a rugby player's build - around 110kg and I'll happily do 24/25 kph runs on my Dawes Galaxy. My problem is that I have never got past my constant shredding of rear wheels. I ditched the original generic 36 spoke factory wheels for 32 h - Shimano FH-M756 XT disc 6-bolt Freehub on 1 Mavic XC421 MTB rim disc 32 hole 29 inch with double butted Sapim Race Spokes. Still wreck them.

I spoke to Ribble about replacements and they recommended a lower spec wheel than I already had. I don't tour, I do ride outs, training runs and commutes ,never worse than gravel. .

Anybody any solutions that don't involve a self propelled tractor ?

[mattsccm]

You don't say what you are trashing. 36 spokes would help a touch but more to the point , who is building your wheels? Change the builder.

[slowster]

I suggest you call Spa Cycles and ask to speak to their wheelbuilder, and tell him what you've said in your OP. I would expect he will be able to suggest a better and stronger rear wheel than you currently have, i.e. 36 spokes with double butted on the non-drive side and single butted or plain gauge on the drive side, and probably an Exal DC19 or Ryde Sputnik rim or similar.

I would be concerned that your MTB rim was not suitable for the tyre width that would fit in a Dawes Galaxy. MTB rims are typically only suited for use with wider MTB tyres and correspondingly low tyre pressures. A relatively much narrower touring tyre will require much higher pressures, even more so with a heavy rider. If your tyres are at much higher pressures than the rim is designed for, that is probably a significant factor in your problems with spoke breakages.

As for your 'self-propelled tractor' comment, the Exal DC19 and Ryde Sputnik are relatively heavy touring rims (660g and 690g respectively). They will inevitably be heavier than most MTB rims. It is only the much wider MTB tyres and lower pressures that make it possible for MTB rims to weigh less.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk

[mig]

would echo the wheelbuilder comments. naming parts is merely a shopping list. it is how those parts are assembled that often makes the difference.

also how do you 'sit' the bike when riding? always on the saddle crashing along typical british tarmac? picking a line as best you can and un-weighting the rear over the worst of it?

[mail@nickavery.com]

Thanks that's really helpful.

[alanesq]

Hi,

I was around 125kg and also I tend to carry a lot of cargo (two panniers full of shopping etc.), I not surprisingly had a lot of trouble with spokes breaking in my wheels. I would find a wheel would be fine for a while but as soon as one spoke broke then no point replacing it as the others would soon follow...

I found the components used are not really that important as much as the quality of the wheel build.
i.e. buy a new wheel which has been hand built or have your existing wheel completely rebuilt would be my suggestion, explaining that you want them to be as strong as possible.

I bought a couple of hand built wheels for around £200 and never had any problem after that

[tatanab]

110kg, that's a shade under 16 stone, so not massively heavy at all. As others have said, quality of build is as or more important than the individual parts. You could use thicker spokes, 13 gauge plain or single butted, certainly I would not use fewer than 36 spokes. Think of tandem rear wheels with the load they carry without a problem. My old 36 spoke tandem wheels, back in the days of 120mm rear spacing, were built with 13 gauge and gave no problems.

Again, as hinted at above, riding style. I know fairly average weight people who wreck wheels because they ride like a sack of spuds versus much heavier people who have no problems.

[Jamesh]

Here is a interesting question..

If your a 75kg spinner going up a hill say 10mph up a 10% is the loading on the rear wheel equal to the 75kg stomper who is out the saddle at the same speed?

Head says surely the load the wheel sees is the same forces to produce the same power output

Heart says no the spinning us loading the wheel less.....?

Cheers James

[willcee]

interesting contris.. I'm presently 230 lbs using either Fulcrums or Mavics in a well powered E bike and I would bet using worse terrain than OP, the Fulcrums slackened once, my old builder thread locked the tight side and the n/side.. no more issues on either of my Factory build wheels, or any others for that matter ,I would guess like others have intimated that riding style has more to do wth this issue than any wheel fault, as I have said for years to chaps that take up cycling,.... it takes a lot of time to perfect, some never do, riding 30 plus miles without hurting oneself or the bike, and many read that you can do a minimum of training, pay for a bike fit?? which is usually too drastic for any newbie, they all wish to look cool if indeed that has any place in comfortable cycling,long cycling ,commuting or just cycling for pleasure..bomb proof wheels are uncomfortable, I have a pair , they are hanging in my workshop and have been for a year.. if your interested 700 Novatec disc hubs, 11spShim Black Ryde rims 36s/s spokes..180 PLUS delivery....will

[nez]

I've a rugby player's build - around 110kg and I'll happily do 24/25 kph runs on my Dawes Galaxy. My problem is that I have never got past my constant shredding of rear wheels. I ditched the original generic 36 spoke factory wheels for 32 h - Shimano FH-M756 XT disc 6-bolt Freehub on 1 Mavic XC421 MTB rim disc 32 hole 29 inch with double butted Sapim Race Spokes. Still wreck them.

I spoke to Ribble about replacements and they recommended a lower spec wheel than I already had. I don't tour, I do ride outs, training runs and commutes ,never worse than gravel. .

Anybody any solutions that don't involve a self propelled tractor ?

I put handbuilt DT Swiss MTB wheels on my Dawes Super Galaxy. In the past I was perfectly capable of turning a wheel into a Pringle. Not now.

ps someone further up suggested properly matching tyres and wheels. I agree - but as I remember Dawes Galaxys were originallly supplied with 38mm Marathons. I have mine on 33mm Challenge Strada Bianca - actually they are 36mm

[mail@nickavery.com]

Thank you all for the many comments - which are really helpful. Logistics meant that my rebuilt wheel was done at my nearest independent - Cyclerevolution in the West End. I do try to adopt a defensive cycling style on difficult surfaces. The damage was done to the original 36h wheels when I was 10kg heavier ,with laptop, shackle lock and cable and change of clothes in the panniers and I was commuting in London where you don't always have the luxury of avoiding put holes.

I live in East Anglia so long climbs are not part of my life. Interesting what Jamesh says, maybe I shouldn't be regarding standing on the pedals as a sign of weakness. I did my first long distance cycle ride over 45 years ago so I'm not a chap who has just taken up cycling. Wilcee good to see a bit of trolling around this and easy to talk about riding style when you use an ebike so dont actually use your legs.

Mine is the Galaxy AL Cross which came with 37mm Silentos which I "upgraded" to Marathons. I'm slightly confused as to how MTB hubs are both designed for wider tyres (slowster) and more narrow tyres 33mm Challenge Strada Bianca (nez)..

I'm rather hoping the solution is narrow tyres as Marathons are great at what they do, but that definitely does not include being fast and comfortable.

[slowster]

I'm slightly confused as to how MTB hubs are both designed for wider tyres (slowster) and more narrow tyres 33mm Challenge Strada Bianca (nez).

Your rim has a 21mm internal width. Mavic recommend tyre widths between 35mm to 69mm for the rim, which is pretty much in line with the ETRTO standard of 35mm to 64mm.

It weighs 448g per rim, which is very light for a touring rim. When gravel bikes appeared on the market there were reports of people choosing MTB rims because they were lighter/cheaper than road rims with a similar internal width, and having problems as a result with tyres blowing off the rims because they were using higher pressures than the MTB rims were designed for. With wide tyres at lower pressures more of the force from impacts when riding will be dissipated by the tyre and the air inside it. With higher pressures necessitated both by narrower tyres and by a relatively heavy rider, more of the impact force will be transmitted to the rim and spokes. I do not know whether it applies to Mavic MTB rims, but I think at least some MTB rims use softer alloys than road and touring rims.

I'm rather hoping the solution is narrow tyres as Marathons are great at what they do, but that definitely does not include being fast and comfortable.

If you are using the Plus version of the Marathon, I don't think that is a good match for your rim. The benefit from having a light rim is outweighed by the extra weight of the Marathon Plus, and the comfort advantages of a wide tyre at a low pressure on a wide rim are likely to be lost because Marathon Plus tyres favour being pumped up very hard to improve their rolling resistance.

[willcee]

Trolling be damned. not my intention ever. I rode normal lightweights until my hips had enough and during the wait on subsequent surgery and after that was using E power before and after each hip replacement , I was doing long miles when I was 12 and I'm 3 score and 10 in November..So Its called Experience.... and long years working at race machinery cars and bikes...will

[PH]

Over the last twenty odd years, I've weighed anywhere between 92 and 120kg, I'm not particularly easy on equipment, often carrying luggage, don't shy away from rough surfaces, and I've broken more frames than wheels! OK, it's not a huge sample, two frames and one wheel, which split around the spokes. A couple of hubs as well, but not till I'd had plenty of use from them.
You haven't said how they're failing, however it is I suspect it's either inappropriate choice of components, or poor build quality. As tatanab said, 110kg shouldn't be too much of a challenge for a well built wheel. Are they all failing in the same manner? Front and back?
I have 32 and 36 spoke wheels, I'd prefer 36, certainly wouldn't use less than 32. I've used tyres from 28mm to 40, you can now have wide and supple and fast, it just costs more, tyres like the Schwalbe Supreme, or if particularly flush the G-One, are worth considering. IMO for those our weight, 35mm is probably the sweet spot. If you're looking for a strong road style rim, the H Son Archetype is nice and recommended for heavier riders by a few wheelbuilders. For a touring style rim, or maybe just spending less, have a look at the Halo Classic, I've had a pair for a couple of months, too early to consider longevity, but they seem fine. For really bombproof the Andrea series from Ryde probably fit the bill, I have a pair of 321's and they're probably bombproof, though heavy. There's many others. but those three cover my cycling.

[TrevA]

110kg, that's a shade under 16 stone, so not massively heavy at all.

Erm, no it’s not. 110kg is 17st 5lbs, I know this because that’s around what I weigh, on a good day! 100kg is just under 16st.