Best 26" wheels for touring south america

[dabster]

Can someone please recommend me the Best 26" wheels for touring south america?

[Valbrona]

1/ Go for 36h. 32h rims/hubs might, in fact, be more widely available in South America than 36h, but 36h rims/hubs should nevertheless be obtainable. ANd 36h are, of course, that bit stronger than 32h.

2/ Go for Shimano/SRAM hubs because of the obtainability issue. Avoid Rohloff because if a tuck rolls over the back of your bike you will be much better off with derailleur gears.

3/ Plain gauge spokes. They are stronger than DB and replacements are more easily obtainable than DB.

[willem jongman]

I think the advice against the Rohloff hub is nonsense. By no wmany have travelled the far corners world of the world with them. And 32 spoke Rohloff wheels are very strong, because the wheel is not dished. Avoid the latest generation XT hubs. These now have thicker aluminium axles to loose some weight. Unfortunately the smaller balls also make for a less robust hub. LX is now the hun to get. If you wan to play safe take a spare freewheel mechanism with you. When a Shimano hub fails badly, it is often the freewheel mechanism. If you want really bombproof and don't mind the money get Phil Wood hubs. Most wheelbuilders will argue that butted spokes are actually stronger.
Willem

[rualexander]

Sun Ryhno or Rigida Andra rims would be my suggestion, probably the Rigida Andra CSS version if you are away for more than six months.

[PH]

If you haven't already seen it Cass Gilbert's American blog is worth a look, he goes into a bit of detail about kit, but it's mainly worth looking at for the photos;
http://whileoutriding.com/
Have a great trip.

[531colin]

Sun Ryhno or Rigida Andra rims would be my suggestion, probably the Rigida Andra CSS version if you are away for more than six months.

AFAIK Andra rims have the spoke holes drilled at an angle to match the angle between the spoke and rim when using a very large hub, eg hub gear, hub brake, electric hub..........http://www.rigida.com/en/products/hybride-city/rims-5
this probably makes them unsuitable for normal size hub flanges.

[rualexander]

Sun Ryhno or Rigida Andra rims would be my suggestion, probably the Rigida Andra CSS version if you are away for more than six months.

AFAIK Andra rims have the spoke holes drilled at an angle to match the angle between the spoke and rim when using a very large hub, eg hub gear, hub brake, electric hub..........http://www.rigida.com/en/products/hybride-city/rims-5
this probably makes them unsuitable for normal size hub flanges.

Best to check with the supplier I guess. SJSC have two versions, one for Rohloff (and presumably other high flange hubs), and one with regular spoke hole drilling.

[georgew]

3/ Plain gauge spokes. They are stronger than DB and replacements are more easily obtainable than DB.

Well, I'm not sure this is true.

[gilesjuk]

3/ Plain gauge spokes. They are stronger than DB and replacements are more easily obtainable than DB.

Well, I'm not sure this is true.

Indeed, DB are a bit more stretchy around the middle so will withstand more abuse before snapping.

[Valbrona]

3/ Plain gauge spokes. They are stronger than DB and replacements are more easily obtainable than DB.

Well, I'm not sure this is true.

Indeed, DB are a bit more stretchy around the middle so will withstand more abuse before snapping.

Of course, DB spokes are more likely to flex rather than break when stressed. Great if you want a 'flexy' wheel. Build that exact same wheel in PG spokes and it will be noticably stiffer.

[531colin]

Sun Ryhno or Rigida Andra rims would be my suggestion, probably the Rigida Andra CSS version if you are away for more than six months.

AFAIK Andra rims have the spoke holes drilled at an angle to match the angle between the spoke and rim when using a very large hub, eg hub gear, hub brake, electric hub..........http://www.rigida.com/en/products/hybride-city/rims-5
this probably makes them unsuitable for normal size hub flanges.

Best to check with the supplier I guess. SJSC have two versions, one for Rohloff (and presumably other high flange hubs), and one with regular spoke hole drilling.

That'll teach me for not checking your link!! Every day's a school day
(Actually, Rigida's own site is hopeless.)

[531colin]

Indeed, DB are a bit more stretchy around the middle so will withstand more abuse before snapping.

Of course, DB spokes are more likely to flex rather than break when stressed. Great if you want a 'flexy' wheel. Build that exact same wheel in PG spokes and it will be noticably stiffer.

Oooooh goody! loads of wheel myths!
You won't feel any difference between plain and butted spokes, any more than you feel a difference between large and small flange hubs, or deep and regular section rims. (Or wheels with the spokes at optimum tension, and wheels a bit slacker, come to that)
This is because the TYRE deforms exactly 593 times further than the wheel.
Spokes break at the bend due to fatigue. Even spokes that break in a crash were fatigued before the crash. You can break un-fatigued spokes, you get a ductile (plastic) failure, and a loud bang. (I have never done it in a wheel)
To increase spoke fatigue life, you need a rigid rim and stretchy spokes to "share out" a load between the maximum number of spokes. Or spokes thicker at the hub end. Or spokes made of fatigue resistant stainless. (See Sapim's website)
You can make the difference in "stretchiness" of plain (or single butted) spokes versus double butted work for you.
When you load a dished rear wheel, the non driveside (slacker) spokes will go slack while there is still some tension in the driveside spokes, so the driveside spokes pull the rim over. Ideally, you want stretchy spokes on the non driveside, and stiff spokes on the driveside, so both sides go slack at the same load and the rim stays straight.
The difference in stretchiness of plain (single butted) and double butted spokes is not enough to achieve this, but it goes some of the way.

[georgew]

You can make the difference in "stretchiness" of plain (or single butted) spokes versus double butted work for you.
When you load a dished rear wheel, the non driveside (slacker) spokes will go slack while there is still some tension in the driveside spokes, so the driveside spokes pull the rim over. Ideally, you want stretchy spokes on the non driveside, and stiff spokes on the driveside, so both sides go slack at the same load and the rim stays straight.
The difference in stretchiness of plain (single butted) and double butted spokes is not enough to achieve this, but it goes some of the way.

This agrees with Paul Hewitt's methodology when building wheels. Rear are built with DB spokes on non-drive side and PB on drive side. Makes sense to me.

[dabster]

I think the advice against the Rohloff hub is nonsense. By no wmany have travelled the far corners world of the world with them. And 32 spoke Rohloff wheels are very strong, because the wheel is not dished. Avoid the latest generation XT hubs. These now have thicker aluminium axles to loose some weight. Unfortunately the smaller balls also make for a less robust hub. LX is now the hun to get. If you wan to play safe take a spare freewheel mechanism with you. When a Shimano hub fails badly, it is often the freewheel mechanism. If you want really bombproof and don't mind the money get Phil Wood hubs. Most wheelbuilders will argue that butted spokes are actually stronger.
Willem

Willem - when you say LX hubs are best to go for now, do you mean the Deore or SLX?

[willem jongman]

I think LX is now called SLX, but look for steel axles. Cannot get to the Shimano site at the moment.
Willem