Clyde wheel builder recommendations
 

Looking to have a rear wheel built. I decided on prowheelbuilder but I’m about over them. No response to their online request form and three voicemails. Who else do you guys like for understanding road wheel builds for us?

I had a set built for me by Universal Cycles exactly 2 years ago for my gravel bike. I told them how much I weighed, what kind of cycling I do, and what I expected the whole rig to weigh including touring gear and they put a package together for me. They were reasonably priced. I've had to do a light truing on the rear wheel once, but other than that they've been maintenance free and I would buy from them again.

https://www.universalcycles.com/

6'6" - 340-360lbs.

I have a Vuelta HD set on my road bike which I put on there after multiple "expert" built sets failed or broke spokes within a few hundred miles. I figured the Vuelta would be more of the same, but they were $179 for the PAIR and I gave them a try, 4 years and 7500+miles later, that same wheel is on that bike to this day, perfectly true and going strong. https://www.vueltausa.com/vuelta-whe...mano-1459.html

They don't make a fitment for my thru axle gravel bike, so I went with a Velocity build https://www.velocityusa.com/product/wheels/clydesdale That one has 500 gravel miles on it with no problem.

I started riding in 2013 and have torn up a lot of wheels. In my experience, a bad wheel rarely goes more than 100 miles without a broken spoke and if it breaks another after repair and trueing, it is junk. Obviously the VUelta has passed the test and I have a good feeling about the Velocity gravel wheel as it has taken some hits from a new gravel rider.

DaveW

I’ve had good luck with Colorado Cyclist. I’ve got 7k miles on the set on my road bike and never had to touch them. I get them built as 36 spoke Mavic Open Pro with Ultegra hubs. A lot of people here don’t like the Open Pro, but I think that is because there are a lot of them sold, and many are poorly built

I got my clyde wheels from:

https://www.velomine.com/

very pleased with them. Great build and no complaints. Shipping was good too.
Good luck!

I've ordered a wheel set from ProWheelBuilder a bit over 3 weeks ago. I too noticed they're online request form is really slow right now. Thinking they are really behind on orders like many other companies. But I'm just assuming.

I had noticed that emailing them directly at info@prowheelbuilder.com gets a quicker response. Typically a day or so.

My wheel set is taking longer than normal to build since Velocity is back ordered on the 36 spoke Aileron rear rims. Might be another 3 or 4 weeks till I get the wheelset. Which I'm being patient on since I know this wheelset is going to really last!

Not a "budget" build, by any stretch, but I am fairly impressed with a recent "clyde" wheelset I had done by R&E Cycles (aka Rodriguez Cycles, in Seattle WA). They know "clyde" configurations and have lots of experience building them.

The build: Velocity CliffHanger 26 36H, DT Swiss Champion 14ga, DT Swiss brass nipples, 4-cross lacing, with White Industries MI5 36H hubs.

^ My own choice was for a 26" rim that'd take tires from 26x1.75" to 26x2.35" with ease, and handle "clyde" loads without trouble. They've built equally-stout configs for road, with 26", 650b and 700c rims.

Not a budget build, but the Rolf Prima Vigor RS (OEM) wheelset have done me well for three years and I weigh 365 pounds.

I have these on another bike and love them. Same issue - I need an ISO disc and thru-axle for this bike so I need something different.

Thanks, everyone. Prowheelbuilder did reach out to me. Components are sparse, but that's supply chain this year.

The supply chain might be getting better, maybe. I received notification yesterday that I am receiving my new wheel tomorrow from ProWheelbuilder. So the parts are coming in quicker than what they had told me.

I’m going to have a wheelset built for me by my LBS. the shop is called Bikefix in Oak Park, IL. The builder’s name is Curt, and he’s uber-knowledgeable. I’m going with a set of Boyd or HED. carbon aero wheels with CK R45 or WI T11 hubs, but he has a very large selection of wheel options to choose from and ships anywhere.

I am outfitting a touring bike right now and building two sets of wheels for it. I have been building my own wheels for about ten years now and have had great performance out of all of them. Most of the time I try to make a 36 spoke 3 cross wheels although I went with 32 spoke 3 cross on my mountain bike. I recently finished a set of wheels for the touring bike that have Shimano Ultegra hubs with center lock disc brake rotors (freeza model) and DT Swiss TK540 rims, DT Swiss straight gauge Champion 2mm spokes and brass nipples and a set of 32mm Kenda Valkyrie tires. I like the TK540 rims even though they have a rim brake track; they are bombproof. I used them on a set of wheels I built for my road bike with Dura Ace hubs about nine years ago and they have held up incredibly. I have barely needed to true them in all that time. This set of wheels has been running nicely on the new touring bike (a Lynskey Backroad). I have never had a spoke break on any of the wheels I built. I have another set that I have laced and trued for the touring bike and I am waiting for the tires to come in. They have White Industries CLD hubs and White Industries C25A asymetrical Rims. I used black DT Swiss Champion 2mm spokes and black brass nipples. I am planning to put some 44mm tires that I ordered from my local bike shop; hopefully they will be in soon. I am debating whether to go tubeless or not. I am 6 feet and currently 275 lbs. and I ride about 60 miles in three rides a week on average. I guess my point is there are good wheel builders all around. You don't need to go to an online specialist that charges a premium. I buy all my own components at decent prices and then do the work, but there are plenty of talented people in local shops that would put then together for you as well.
Just be careful about building to light of a wheel. If you are a larger individual do not ride a 24 spoke radial laced wheel or less. There are good reasons that Pro Wheelbuilder will not make them that way for you when you tell them you are over 200 lbs..

I build my own wheels most of the time and like Velocity Chukkar 36 hole rims. I've been using Velo Orange hubs. 10 or 11 speed cassette rear. 2mm stainless spokes. I've tried name brand spokes and cheapies and for my weight, 250lbs, all have worked fine. Recently I bought a Vuelta SL37 aero aluminum wheelset in 700c. This has bigger bladed spokes and fewer of them. It has 12 bladed spokes on the front wheel and 16 on the rear. The spokes are bigger than 2mm. I've had real good luck with an inexpensive aero MTB wheelset from Vuelta so I thought I would try this wheelset. I have over 300 miles on the wheelset with no problems. The wheels are much faster than non Aero. I recently tightened the rear spokes a little. The front didn't need it. I'll let you know if this minimal type aero wheel holds up. In the future I would love to try deep carbon rims with fewer bladed spokes. I strive for reliability and durability. I've had a rim fail because it was made too light. The rim was for a disc setup but at my weight, even with 36 spokes, the spokes started to pull through the rear rim.

Just FYI, my Vuelta HD wheel previously mentioned in the thread went out of true this week. It probably could be fixed, but in my experience once they try to true them, they just start popping spokes. I have a spare Veloctiy wheel that I got when I got this Vuelta figuring the $179 set would never last. :)

Regardless, this wheel had 3 years and at least 6k miles on it.

10/10 would recommend. Except they are on backorder right now :)

DaveW

Vuelta SL37 aero wheelset with 16 bladed 2.3mm or so spokes.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d37a548d64.jpg
80"s Nishiki Sebring showing Vuelta SL37 wheelset. I am 6'5" at 250 lbs. This wheelset gives no indication of being overworked. No noise, no bending, no spoke tension problems, no nipples pulling through the rims. Time will tell.

My 26" MTB 24 spoke Vuelta aero wheelset was 2mph faster than what came on the Trek and lasted for many years. I eventually sold that bike to an equally big man.

If you are still looking, rolwheels dot com has out the box builds for heavy riders. I believe up to around 250lbs.

I would have went with them, but I found a local builder who is/was fantastic. 4 years later and 10k miles and my rear wheel is still true. If you go local, find someone that also does mountain bike wheels as well. Those take a beating and if you are road riding you will be in good shape.

Local folks are usually better since you can take the wheel in to them if there is a problem. My guy actually did a before and after wheel plot that grafted the spoke tensions in a circular chart. You got a snapshot of what the wheel actually looks like with all the individual spoke tensions. This is great because if your wheel has problems they can go back and look at the tensions from the graph and see what spokes are out and by how much.

My wheel done with new everything except my Ultegra hub was 250 which was money well spent.

john

I've had that happen with wheelsets where a spoke fails and for some reason the rim takes a set bent. No amount of pulling makes the rim come completely true again. I find it is really important to equalize the pull of all spokes on each side of each wheel. I do this by tapping the spokes and getting a tone. I then make all the spokes the same tone. I imagine a guitar tuner could be used to help with this work. The wheel has to be true but a lot of times this may leave a few spokes with other tensions. The trick is to work these spokes up or down to the same tension as the rest without going out of true. Again if the rim has taken a bend you are right that it won't true properly with equal spoke tensions all the way round. Another problem area is the join area of a rim. I find that some rims are not as circular as the rest of the rim in the join area and will not true as well as rims where more care was given to that join during manufacture. Good luck with repairing your rims.

Curious if the OP has received the new wheels from Prowheelbuilder yet? It took nearly two months, but I had received both of my wheels from them. The front wheel just last week.

I did, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as we were on our way out. I swapped the cassette and brake disc on from the original wheel and did a 20 mile ride on it.

Ended up taking about 4 weeks, the communication became much better, responded to all of my after the sale inquiries. I'm very satisfied.

Hello , Please can you tell me how many bearings the Velocity Clydesdale Rear hub has in it ? It's not clear to me if it's just 2 or 2 in the freehub and 2 in the hub body // Thanks Don

There are several wheels that Velocity has labeled Clydesdale.

See this link: Velocity - Wheels, Clydesdale

Click on view details of the wheelset you have questions on.

Then choose the image for the hub.

I've looked at a few of these and they show Velocity ATB hub with 4 sealed bearings. 2 on each side.

** I realize you are asking where the bearings are located, at moment, not finding a Velocity schematic's, but essentially should be similar to many other hubs that use sealed bearings. You should be able to view youtube video's that show how to replace sealed bearings in hubs.

Thank You for the Reply .. I see on the Velocity Website this Hub is listed as having 2 (6000) size bearings ... I am "learning" Some of the Hubs I have seen have 2 bearings in the Freehub and 2 in the Hub body at the other end .. I'd like to order a Clydesdale build but am trying to figure out this rear Hub .. I have emailed them ..We will see ..I Hope ..Thank You For the help ... Don

Got my answer .. Velocity emailed me back ..On a Sunday Nite ..I did not expect that . The ATB Hub for rim Brakes I am looking at has 4 bearings total ..I WILL Be placing an order with them ... Thanks Again ...