Ride OEM wheels until they break, or trade-up when new?
 

I'm going to be picking up a new bike soon (Topstone 105), and I understand that the general consensus is that the 28-spoke wheels probably won't hold up to a Clyde (295# / 135 kg) very well for long-term durability.

But my question is this, should I just ride them until they break (maybe pay a few $ to get them fully de-tensioned/re-tensioned when new), or sell them as-new or trade up for something more durable / reliable? Seems like if they're going to get used up anyway, they have the most value new, and I could put that towards a better set of wheels to start.

If I just keep them and ride them 'til they break, then I can start riding right away, and can dispense with shopping for new wheels and getting them built.

I can't decide...what are everyone else's thoughts on this?

I always ride what comes stock until I break a spoke or two then buy a new set. But that is me.

You might be surprised how long you can go on them. I rode a whole season on a 28 rear 24 front at 336 pounds before I broke two rear spokes one day. Then upgraded.

I say ride them and then buy when you can.

Start by asking your shop how much they charge to tension and stress-relieve the two wheels on the bike. (And ask to see the tensiometer in their shop!) If it sounds high, or they give you a song and dance about how they don't need a tensiometer, smile, take the bike, order your own tensiometer, spoke wrench, and a copy of "The Bicycle Wheel." Retension your own wheels and ride them into the ground, then order a beefier wheelset from someplace else that knows how to build a wheel for clydes.

If they can do it, have the tools and the skillset, then it's just a question of price. Pay your money and make your choice.

Those are supposed to be Condition 4 rims...... All Mountain... fairly beefy rims, but 32 spokes would be better.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...ers_Manual.pdf

I'm goin to estimate those rims have a 120kg limit. WTB doesn't say.
If it was me...I would check to make sure all the spoke tension was even. If you can't do yourself... take to somebody that knows WTF they are doing....not somebody that will just tighten them up.
I've bought wheels that were machine made, and although they were true, the spoke tension was all over the place. Usually the wheels that come on the bike are machine made.

Then ride lightly..... I am 14 stone

Correct spoke lines, stress relieve them, and achieve adequate uniform tension.

Heavier tandem teams are fine on wheels with fewer spokes.

Spending more on machine built wheels isn't guaranteed to improve longevity.

I have had very good luck with Velocity's hand built wheels.

Anyway, an an uber-clyde (345#) I have broken my share of spoke until landing on some Vuelta HD for my road bike and a velocity 40spoke for the gravel. The problem I have had is when a spoke breaks, most of the time the wheel goes out of true enough to be a problem right away. Like end the ride and call the wife to pickup problem. And even when its not that bad, it still wobbles enough that I immediately turn around and go home. My road bike definitely has terrible tire clearance.

I also think that things (and wheels) are very, very, very different for clydes who weigh 225# versus those of us on the other end of the scale.

Neither of these things make anyone else wrong and me right, or vice versa. I think you need to evaluate how and where you will be riding and tire clearance on the bike as part of your risk assessment. Breaking a spoke on my regular 16 mile morning route (8 miles out, back, on MUP) is way different (for me) then the time I broke one 55 miles into a century...that was a long limp ride back home trying to be careful to not bend it more.

DaveW

I'll certainly be spending most of my time close to home...and by that I mean with cell phone service and a reasonable length/cost Uber ride back to my car or home.

But I also plan on being farther afield and doing longer rides as well, so I need to keep that in mind.

I learned this lesson to some extent when I bought a set of wheels from a guy who said they were "ready-to-ride". I didn't take into account that he weighed like 140 pounds. While I didn't break a spoke, they definitely could have been higher-tension. That was a (seemingly) long 2-mi walk back to the car. And it wasn't a junk wheel...hand-built (supposedly), A23 rims and DT Swiss 2.0-1.8-2.0 spokes, 2-cross. I think it's just not adequate for me, even after multiple trips to the mechanic. That wheel won't stay true for more than 100 miles.

With reasonable spoke counts, you can make wheels true without all of them.

32 is reasonable.

Keep a spoke wrench in your tool bag in case you break one or bend a rim on an obstacle.

The above is wise and very relevant to your situation or worries.

Low-quality wheels have poor odds in lasting under the weight you carry. I have no idea how much it costs to rebuild or modify a wheel from 24 spokes to 36. I do know how much wheels, both alloy and carbon cost from low-end to high end.

I don't have anyone to come and get me if I break down so I have upgraded wheels both for improved performance and reliability and durability. At 230 pounds and given other priorities specific to me I ended up with 24 spoke carbon wheels after going through two sets of alloy wheels--on POS grade and one of definitely decent quality. For me after the rear wheel on those broke on my choice was to either upgrade to a 36 spoke on the alloy or go with the carbon. Again, that was what I deemed best for me.

Good luck getting a satisfactory solution to your question followed by safe and quality riding.

The weak point is generally the rims, and those are some heavily built WTB rims on that wheel set. My first road bike came with 28/28 Mavic CXP30 wheels while I was sitting at 140kg. I rode the hell out of those wheels and could never kill them.

Get someone to check the tension and ride the hell out of them

i myself am a long term thinking cheapskate. if the selling dealer will give you a good value for the new wheels that are on the bike i would upgrade to HD wheels at purchase. basically if you can buy the HD wheels and get over 50% off i would go with new HD wheels
my thinking to justify this is you will be getting a good discount on HD wheels that won't be available to you later.
yes you can ride the tread off the wheels until the spokes break and then buy new wheels. in my opinion this is short term saving illusion with long term $$$ consequences.
by my thinking is you will need to spend $$$ to fix these wheels when you break a spoke, then sell them for significantly less than what you could have gotten for them when new. then spend full price on HD wheels. you will have spent more $$$ in the long run if you go this route.
the only way this will actually pay off is you own the bike and the HD wheels a LONG TIME.
this is my opinion on this, your actual experience may be different.

Ride the stock ones until they give you problems or are holding you back. Personally I have never been in a situation where a new set of wheels would do anything but make my bike look better and my bank account smaller. If I was one of these 120 pound pure climbers or I was a strong crit racer, maybe a new set of wheels would benefit me. But I'm neither of those things. And my stock wheels are still fine after 6000 miles. I'll probably end up replacing the whole bike (2008 model) next year.

I'm late to the thread but I'm in the ride what you have camp as well. When I started riding I was over 300 lbs on old, used BSOs. (super low quality 26'ers, threaded freewheels, single wall rims...) They held up shockingly well. Yes, I totally had my share of broken spokes in the rear and even had to swap it out completely when I had to make an unplanned curb drop. The LBS was able to make it rideable, but it was a bit too far gone after that.

...I guess I'm saying replacing spokes is pretty inexpensive and it will definitely make you appreciate a nicer wheelset down the road.

Get your moneys worth out of the stock wheels, beat em' to death and have a good pair built before they croak. Wheels are like shoes, different kinds for different rides.

When I bought my bike I was not as heavy as you but the bike came with stock Shimano wheels. Never really thought about it at the time but those wheels are still true today after 3 years of riding. When I upgraded to a new bike 3 years ago, the stock wheels that came with the bike (Fulcrum) went out of true within months. I opted to have a new set made and those went out of true too after several months. They were purchased online from what I thought was a decent builder.

I then found a local wheelwright and went to see him and after speaking with him, decided to have him build a rear wheel. I kept the front wheel since it was not the problem. 3 years later, and my rear wheel is still true. He is local so I can go back and see him if something goes wrong. He also provided me with a wheel calibration both before and after the build that showed spoke tension that was plotted to a graph that was circular like a wheel so you could see the tension on every spoke. That way, if I brought the wheel back in, he could check the spokes against what was originally set. I thought this was very cool. My total rear wheel rebuild with new spokes, rim and nipples set me back with labor about 250.00. I reused my Shimano hub that originally came with the bike since it was an Ultegra hub.

Long story short, you will probably have your rear wheel go out of true at some point. I would ride it until it does and then have one built. This way it will buy you some time to look around for a good wheel builder and talk to them. Nothing less than 32 spoke count though.

john