Originally Posted by
SethAZ
I broke a rear hub flange on a 24-spoke Bontrager wheelset riding hard over a train track. Would it have broken if I'd ridden lighter and unweighted the wheel? Probably not, and I am usually very good about doing that, but this is the kind of thing people do every day in the real world. I was around 275 or so at the time. So what's the OP to do, rely on your 10 years of not breaking a 24-spoke rear wheel, or rely on my experience of breaking a 24-spoke wheel? I have had other experiences as well, such as a 32-spoke rear wheel eating itself after not all that long a time. Granted, the rim in question (first-gen Pacenti SL23) was found in practice to be susceptible to exactly what happened to me (cracks around the spoke holes), but my heavy weight, even with 32 spokes, almost certainly precipitated that rim's demise sooner even than it already did with thinner riders.
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I once built a set of wheels for a guy and told him the wheels were going to be total crap, it was some ultra-light rims from the late 80s-early 90s and even though they were 32 hole there was just no hope for them. He was a cat2 racer and probably weighed all of 130-140lb. Building them it was obvious they just wouldn't be up to the task. We trued those wheels 4 times in 4 weeks before he took them to another shop, who trued them twice. A third shop relaced them and then he brought them back to us for new rims and spokes. Problem was two fold, rims were weak and he rode like a bull in a china shop thinking with his weight he could plow through everything. He was known for blowing through wheels with no effort while despite having 80lbs on him and able to keep up with him in the cat 3/2 training rides my wheels never had issues, but I ride lightly and at the time rode 28h. Where you ride and how you ride can matter as much as what you ride; there are wheel combinations I would have no problem building for a 250lb person even with 28 or 24spokes though I would prefer above 250 to build 32h for greater longevity even if the wheels were strong enough.
Originally Posted by
chadtrent
I'm not a wheel builder and don't claim to be. But what you mentioned is the key - even spoke tension and a decent build. I recommend anyone of any weight take a wheelset to a reputable wheel builder and have them go over it before they ride them. That's just common sense. That's what I've done on every set I've ever owned.
Is there merit to buying a 32 or 36 spoke wheel? Sure. I never said there wasn't. I'm just saying that in my experience having 24 or 28 spokes is not a reason to not consider a particular wheelset.
Even though certain builds can support certain weights for reasonable lengths of time, I do think as a general rule it is best if people over 200 avoid 24h all together and over 250 avoid 28h. As I mentioned above, wheels can be built in the right combination and the rider does matter but it doesn't mean you should expect it to work past a certain point.