Originally Posted by
insignia100
I'm now paranoid of the wheels that came on my new-to-me bike: 16 spoke front, 24 spoke rear. I'm more concerned about the front, if only because I may get stranded if a front spoke pops. I could probably make it home if a rear spoke broke while out on a ride. (For reference, I'm 244ish lbs at the moment, though slowly but surely dropping weight.)
I'd like to upgrade the front wheel at least to a 20-24 spoke rim. I've been browsing Wheelbuilder.com and am considering a front wheel using the DT Swiss R 460 rim and a White Industries T11 front hub.
Is there anything else I should consider? I may eventually upgrade the rear wheel, but for the present I'm more concerned with being able to get home if a spoke pops, not necessarily performance.
<sigh> I'm going to have to say this again. If your concern is with the spokes, why are you looking at the rim and hub? Spokes are what break so address that problem, not something unrelated. Frankly, the front wheel is probably never going to have a problem. They are inherently stronger. The rear wheel is weaker because the spokes are stressed more and asymmetrically. Beefing up the spokes on both wheels would go a long way towards making a stronger wheel then beefing up the rim. Adding a wheel with more spokes would also increase the strength of the wheel. Adding beefy spokes (like DT Swiss Alpine III)
and more of them would make for a truly strong wheel.
At a minimum, use an the Alpines with the existing hubs and rims would make for a wheel that is a much better wheel.