GuitarRider2002

I have a Trek hybrid that I use as a commuter. I weigh about 200lbs, and I've had lots of problems with the factory wheels, even before I rode it as a commuter. Broken spokes, and they will not stay true. The bike currently has rim brakes, but I have bought a nice Surly steel disc fork, so after I build these wheels it will have a disc in the front.

I've considered DT Swiss R460/470, but they seem to have a pretty narrow internal width, I run 700x35s on this bike. I'm looking at Astrals, Velocity or H Plus Son. I don't have any experience with these, and I'm having a hard time finding any youtube videos even. I've thought about the Mavic 319s too, people seem to have mixed opinions on them.

Hubs will most likely be Hope Pro 4s. I'm guessing it won't hurt anything to lace a disc hub in the rear, and just not install the rotor. Not sure where to find 135mm hubs without a rotor mount that are decent quality.

Plan is to do a 32H in the rear, and a 28H up front. I'm sure any of these parts would make a good wheel set, and this is a lot of personal preference, but would love others opinions.

Thanks in advance.

Russ Roth

If you're building them it often is nicer to do 32/32, although the hubs have different flange spacing it isn't a huge difference and it lets you buy just 1 or 2 boxes of spokes depending on the left/right side lengths. Velocity Dyads are perfect for the job as would a sun rhino lite though the sun might even be a little overbuilt. Disc hub on the back is, as you assumed, no big deal and adds just a touch of weight but longer term usefulness since the hubs should last a while.

grizzly59

32 spoke 3x both front and rear

base2 

Zac19's aren't exactly flashy, but they are inexpensive & more than up to the task.

I'm a big fan of Velocity & own multiple sets each of Dyads, Cliffhangers, Aeroheats, A23's, Chukkers...But for a simple commuter duty on a commuter bike? Zac19 rims are about $20USD each vs the $80-100+ each that Velocity commands. I'd put the $160 savings into reasonably good quality hubs.

For no particular reason, I like Hope hubs.

Bill Kapaun

A proper spoke tensioning should alleviate broken spokes.

You might consider an offset rim for the rear such as this. It evens spoke tensions between sides, making a much "stronger" wheel.
Run the numbers through SpoCalc.
https://www.velocityusa.com/product/rims/a23-oc-622

dedhed

Mavic A-319, A-719

Sun CR-18
Velocity atlas, cliffhanger

cyccommute 

The rim doesn’t matter. Look at what is breaking on the wheel and fix that problem. Your rim isn’t breaking...your spokes are. Use different spokes. My preference is to use DT Swiss Alpine III. I also use Pillar PSR TB2018 although those are harder to find. The only place I can find Pillar is at Bdop Cycling. They are relatively cheap but shipping does add to the cost.

I use the lightest rims I can find at a similar weight to you. But I use the strongest spokes I can find.

And, yes, tension matters but honestly, tension isn’t going to fix a spoke breakage problem. Stronger spokes solve spoke breakage problems.

Bill Kapaun

I'm at the age where dead friends have been dead twice as long as I thought, but it seems to me there was a batch of bad spokes from about 12-15 years ago.
You didn't specify what year/model TREK.

Personally, I'd just get new spokes & nipples & rebuild the wheel properly. Ride until it's dead.
No screwing around with new hubs/brakes etc.
Lace the front X2 and you can save the weight of about 1/2 spoke. Use 15/16 ga. DB instead of 14/15 ga. and you save a few more grams.
Enjoy the weight savings of a 31 spoke wheel.
Going to a 32mm vs 35mm tire would probably make up for any weight advantage of a new wheel set.

BTW- My hybrid wheel set have 32 spoke Sun Rims M13II's w/25mm tires. I'm about 200 now, but was 250 when I built them.8 years ago.

squirtdad

sun cr18, 32/32

cpach

Sun CR-18s really are a pretty good budget choice, so if your budget is stretched that really is a reasonable suggestion (assuming you don't ever plan on running tubeless). I like Velocity a lot--Cliffhanger, Atlas would be good choices.

Also, just do a 32 or 36h rim in the rear. Really, if you're concerned about durability and you're commuting, the very small weight difference is not worth the pretty significant difference in durability.

I agree that a lot of your concerns could likely be addressed rebuilding the stock wheels well with butted spokes.

cyccommute 

You are making another mistake in thinking that the rims have to be wide for relatively narrow tires. The DT Swiss R460 rim is 23mm wide which is a very wide rim. The Mavic A319s you are looking at are 19mm wide. Both would be adequate for a 35mm tire. I use 17mm Mavic XC717 rims with 55mm tires. My touring bike is using a Velocity Deep V with 35 mm tires. The Deep V has an internal width of 14mm. I wouldn’t think twice about going with a wider tire on either rim.

GuitarRider2002

I appreciate all the replies.

I'm definitely going to get the Velocitys, not sure which one though. If I were on a very tight budget, I would just rebuild the factory wheels with some DT Swiss spokes as I'm normally quite frugal, as it is I'm blessed to have much more than I need or deserve. Also, I'm no longer able to physically drive, so while it's my back up commuter, it's pretty important to me.

I've almost talked myself into doing a 36H rear and 32H front. I always lace the front with less spokes, per the old Sheldon Brown advice.

I will post some pictures when I get the wheels built.