GMoser85

I have recently purchased a Felt F30x. I absolutely love the bike, as a Clyde rider, I have taco a few rims on my Schwinn mountain bike and I would like to not do so on the Cyclocross bike. I have read 32, 36 or even 40 spoke wheels are the way to go. Colorado cyclist does custom wheel builds, max is 32 spokes. I have read and heard Mavic wheels are legit, most say velocity are the way to go but they(Colorado cyclist) don't build on velocity. Am I better off finding someone (likely local shop) to do a velocity or are a Mavic open pro worth my while? Also hubs, How much better are a DT Swiss vr shimano 105, or really another? Spokes? Spending more on spokes really better? if so what makes them better? and nipples?

If I was to go to a local shop, do I order everything take it in or are they good with walking me through the process to build it custom?

brawlo

How heavy are you? How much offroad riding will you be doing?

A well built 28 spoke wheel can outlive a poorly built 40 spoke wheel. Make sure the build quality is there. If you want a utilitarian not going to break wheel, then I'd say 36 spokes is more than enough. A higher profile ~30mm high rim will be a much better and stronger rim than a low profile box section rim. IMO Mavic Open Pro rims are poo. I replaced a set of Velocity A23 rims with them and they were terrible. I've kept one and built it into a permanent trainer wheel, but I won't ride on them again on the road. My first road wheels were a 2nd hand set of Mavic CXP30 28/28 wheels and for the majority of their 4 years under me I was 140kg. They never went out of true and I rode them hard. My current road wheels are a custom build 28/32 Kinlin XC279 to DA rims. Aside from their initial truing after the first few rides, I haven't had to touch them. I've built myself a set of MTB wheels last year 32/32 to DT H522 rims and DT350 hubs. I am not a kind rider to those wheels and they seem to be holding up fine.

Rims - there's a LOT more options out there than just Mavic and Velocity. Look around and find something that you like. Places like Prowheelbuilder have a huge assortment of gear to give you some idea of options, but there's even more out there than what's in their hands.

Spokes IMO, double butted for big guys. They have the give/stretch needed for our weight. Straight gauge are strong, but I believe that they transfer forces to the hub and rim contact points that would normally be taken up by the thinner gauge of double butted spokes.

Nipples - brass

Re your local shop, it depends. If they're cool with you bringing in the gear, then why not? If you're happy to source from OS you can get components for a lot cheaper than some shops can buy for. I had my nice carbon track wheels built that way. OTOH some shops feel that it's pretty rude to do this and feel that you should have purchased from them. If they offer a great service then I'm ok with that, but any price premium NEEDS to come with the appropriate level of service they are charging their premium for.

GMoser85

Tank you for the response and help!

I am about 125 kg now. I do about 40% of my riding in gravel/dirt right now. The roads here are pretty chewed up, often with roots, man hole covers, pot holes etc so there is plenty or off road conditions.

When I go back to work I will have a bike trailer and 2 kids in the back adding an additional weight to the rims.

I will check with my local shops and see what they do.

mstateglfr 

Go to prowheelbuilder.com and have them build a wheelset.
Handbuilt, properly tensioned, and laced to handle your weight.
bitted spokes are lighter and effectively stronger than plain gauge.

for 130mm rim brakes-
A handbuilt wheelset with 32h 105 hubs, double butted sapim spokes, brass nipples, and h+son archetype rims. Triple or quad laced. Costs $375.

For 142mm disc brakes-
32h bitex ra12 hubs, same spokes and nipples as above. Laced triple cross. You could do h+son hydra rims too. $475 or so.

GMoser85

Thank you! I will definably be checking out prowheelbuilder.com