What wheels do you ride?
 

As a follow-up to my recent fixed gear post regarding 20/24 Wheels. What wheels are all you riding? What spoke count? What tires & size?

I ride a set of wheels I built that I call the AeroClyde wheelset, as documented in this thread from three years ago. My apologies if the walls of text in that thread are overresponsive to your question. :)

As an addendum to that, I just ordered a WR50 rim (32mm outside diamter, 50mm deep) from Light-Bicycle in 28h drilling, and will use the same White Industries CLD red hub in 28h to build a next-gen AeroClyde front wheel. I don't need it, but I really want to build another wheel, and with that WR50 rim representing a better potential match for the tires I'm running on the existing wheels, I thought I'd try the new rim, give in to temptation to drop from 36h to 28h for the front wheel, and see how it goes. I just ordered the rim, so for it to be built and arrive, and for me to build the new wheel, will likely be several weeks. I paid the $85 Light-Bicycle charges to get a custom logo, so when the rim arrives it will have an AeroClyde logo twice per side molded into it (as in, it goes on before they cure the wheel in the mold, so it's on there permanently and molded into the surface).

Anyhow, there are massively cheaper options, but that's what I'm riding.

I've been bouncing up and down and around in between 110-140kg over the past 10 years. On road, I ride 28/32 to Kinlin 28mm deep rims. Had them trued after the first few rides and have stayed true for the next ~5000km. I used to have a set of Shimano RS81 C50 wheels for racing but I sold them after a couple of years as I just wasn't using them enough, but they were nice wheels to ride on and had zero issues with them. On MTB I ride 32/32 wheels I built myself. I don't do huge jumps or big drop offs, but I do ride them hard and they've stayed true for about 18 months so far

I'm running Velocity Deep V 36 spoke rims from Velomine with Vittoria Rubino Pro 700x25c tires. I found it was hard to beat the price ($235 for the wheelset, if I recall) and I'm very confident in the wheels even at 275 lbs.

I have 8 bikes and each one has wheel sets I’ve built. I have Phil Wood hubs (3 sets), White Industry hubs (3 sets), Velocity (1 set) and Paul FHub/RHub (1 set). A few are 36 hole (the Phils) and the others are 32. They all use 2.3/1.8/2.0 triple butted spokes which are either DT Swiss or Pillar. I have used all kinds of different rims with the only thing they all have in common being that the rims are as light as possible. In my experience, rims are only important for holding the spokes. The triple butted spokes do the work and they make for very strong wheels indeed.

This bike, for example, has 32 hole Paul hubs, the DT Swiss spokes and Mavic XC-717 rims, which are about the lightest rims for mountain biking around. Yet it still is capable of carrying me and several pounds of camping gear down rough and tumble Colorado’s dirt roads

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ad856c7f_k.jpgUntitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Three bikes. The first one that came with 32 spoke wheels has Mavic A321 rims, and carried some 300 pounds across the country. (Took about 10 minutes for the shop in Missoula to touch them up!) REI in Bailey's Crossroads (near D.C.) did a fine job getting them ready for me. The other is the fun bike, also 32, with Velocity Dyad rims.

The other bike has 36 spoke wheels, Sun CR-18s. I built the rear, and bought the front (dyno hub).

The wheels I've bought have needed to be re-tensioned, or rather correctly tensioned. It's almost like invoking the p*ncture fairy, but I think the last time I had to fix a wheel was shortly after Christmas of 2018, when I replaced a rim. Proper build is the key; I'm almost running out of broken spokes for various projects, mostly before I bought my tensiometer. (Old spokes are great for fishing chains out of wax, hanging masks from a clothesline, something thin and stiff to poke gunk out of holes, etc.)

Bontrager RL

Lots of bikes, lots of different wheels that came on the bikes. On the bikes that I ride the most, 1) has Chris King hubs with unbranded rims and titanium spokes (28, front, 32 rear), 2) Campy rear hub, Phil Wood front hub, Mavic open pro rims 36 spokes (I built these about 15 years ago), 3) Shimano Ultegra hubs, Velocity fusion rims, 32 spokes each (I built these too). I have some sets of Campy wheels and others.

Velocity A23 32 spoke.wheels handle my 255lbs just fine

For 10 years I rode Mavic Aksium 24/20. Highest weight was 282. I have three sets of these wheels on three different bikes. Never had the first issue with them.

Recently got a new bike that has DT Swiss 1850s with 28/28. Only 200 miles on them so far but so far so good.

Bike Wheel Warehouse BWW Pure V Shimano Deore disc mountain bike wheel set.
36 DT Swiss black stainless steel spokes (2.0mm = 14g), with brass nipples .
26x2.5 Maxxis Hookworms tires.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...387cb228b.jpeg

These are my "commute" wheels. I have the A23OC, but also have 32 spokes. Worked for me from about 255lbs and down, trued once over the past 5,000 miles.

1995 Trek 800 Sport: warped the original rear rim when I was 255lbs. Replaced with a pair of Sun Rhyno Lites and still riding them over 5 years later (but now under 175lbs).

All my road wheels are handbuilt with butted spokes. Thats important.
Ridden between 220 and 240#. The touring bike hauls an extra 20-30#.
28f 32r for road bike
32f 32r for gravel bike
36f 36r for touring bike
24f 28r for road bike
36f 36r for road bike

Appreciate all the answers. Hearing what I felt. Sometimes you just want something to work.

Here are mine on my main bike a Bianchi Volpe. I later had a custom set made for more rugged road and towpath riding. I weigh 234.
:
OEM set:
Shimano Tiagra 4600 Silver Hubs (Shimano Tiagra 12-30 cassette)
Alexrims A23 Black w/silver MSW 700c 36 hole
Unknown spokes
Vittoria Randoneur Reflex Tires 700x28mm (horrible, dead, and heavy)
immediately replaced by Continental GP4000SII 700x28mm tires (they measure 30mm)
Continental lightweight tubes

Custom set (Bill Mould Wheels)
Shimano 105 Silver hubs (Shimano 10spd Ultegra 12-30 cassette)
Velocity Dyad Silver MSW 700c Rims with Veloplugs
Sapim Force Butted Spokes
Rene Herse (Compass) Stampede Pass Std tan casing 700x32mm
Continental lightweight tubes

These can be swapped with no RD adjustments necessary or brake changes.

on this bike (85 team miyata with 105 5800 running gear)

6800 ultegra hubs with mavic open pro rims 32 h, db spokes, conti GP5000 28 mm with conti light tubes at 115 psi..

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1cecce5b5f.jpg

on this bike 84 team lemond with mix of 7200/7400 durace

mavic 330 tubular rims, 32 h, Challenge elite tubular 25 mm at 130 psi hub is sanshin

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b3e32d0fc4.jpg

run 28mm conti gator skins on my other bike 32h cr18 rims on deore hubs

My current bike came with Roval C38 disk, 24 spokes front and rear, running 32mm GP5000TL. Just passed 6,500 miles without a single issue. Haven’t even had to true them yet. All those miles were carrying my 240 pounds.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b18c7bc31.jpeg
HED Ardennes - great wheels and super light. I’m barely 200lb down from 220, with a lift of powerlifting. For heavier riders I don’t know how these would do, but I’ve had zero issues and I’m not a light weight and fairly hard on the wheels.

H Plus Archetype, 36 spokes, Sapim Laser spokes. Continental 4000s, 25s and 28s. 105 hubs.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4bd48e089.jpeg

I have Shimano XT 737 hubs with Rhyno Lite 700c rims, 36 spokes.

I had a broken spoke a few weeks ago, but upon taking it apart I found that it was caused by damage from the chain falling off the big cog onto the spokes. I was afraid the spokes were breaking from fatigue rather than acute damage. So far about 10000km (with much gravel road and loaded touring mixed in) on those wheels.

Would you recommend BWW? I was looking at their pure commute HD wheels and would be really interested in what you thought of their long-term quality and value.

I ride 32h f+r on all my bikes, just the track bike has 28h, the one that has surprised me the most is my mtb wheels which came factory with 15g/1.8mm spokes. Trued once for the first year I owned them due to a random broken spoke at the threads, after a year I finally got around to rebuilding with the same spokes using King hubs I already had, been another 1.5 years and haven't had to true since the rebuild and no more broken spokes.
Everything else is double butted, typically 2.0/1.7/2.0 but some 2.0/1.5/2.0 on the front and 2.2/2.0 on the rear touring wheels. Rims are usually some form of Velocity but there are exceptions.

Rolfe Prima wheels made in Eugene Oregon. I am riding the Vigor RS (OEM) model which is 24/24 for spoke count. These wheels have held up extremely well under my 360 pounds of weight. I ride Maxxis Padrone tubless tires in 700 x 25

I will spend the money when I buy a new bike or when I change my 35 year old steel Centurion into 700r wheels into a touring bike (upgrade wheels, put a 59/39/24 triple in front and go with a big pie plate 11 speed cassette on the rear, and change bars and add brifters).

I’ve purchased five sets of wheels from them . I haven’t had a problem with any of them .
All of the wheelsets I bought are What I would call heavy Duty wheels . They’re not lightweights . I bought them to last and so far they have .
They’ve always shipped within a couple of business days of my ordering .