mrrabbit 

There must be a secret desire to ban "Fred's" and "Fatties" from road bikes here...

I mean seriously...suggestions for a touring bike? What is wrong with helping a guy out in making a lightweight road racing bike feasible?

Geesh!

90% of my ride buddies - on the few occasions I go out for an all day ride - are "fatties" - who just so happen to love nice road bikes and a fast decent downhill after they've earned the hill.

One owns a couple dozen rode bikes including Gios, Miele, Poliaghi, and the GT's from the mid-90s. His Poliaghi is his favorite ride, the Gios the nicest to look at...most are Super Record or newer Record equipped. The key for him is to go with double-walled double-eyeleted rims with 14/15/14 or straight 14 spokes - with myself doing the builds and getting the tension right. 32 holes works just fine.

Try to be a little more encouraging folks...

=8-)

dwr1961

[QUOTE=Panthers007;9013470 ...So I bought some Mavic A719 rims, Shimano Ultegra hubs, and DT double-butted spokes. My build was/is 32-spoke X3 and laced. MUCH better![/QUOTE]

Yes! Get a set like these and you will not have a problem.

Alternatively, you can buy a cyclocross frame, mount a set of "29'er" wheels on it and be bulletproof...

I weigh 195 and have busted my share of rear spokes - so this is the voice of experience speaking .

SSBully

x2! It helps to know how to ride "lightly", or unweight the proper wheel before impact though. I agree that you can have light and durable and be a clyde, but the wheel gestapo will tell you no way! You can only ride heavy 36h wheels. Your budies wheels will last because a competent human put the time into them to make sure they were right before they were ridden.

dwr1961

I'm sure it is possible for a 20-spoke wheel to be strong and durable. I also don't see the point in tempting fate by riding a set if I'm well into Clydesdale territory. The weight savings is minimal and the added cost is (usually) significant.

I don't mean any disrespect here, but the only reason to run a lightweight wheel is to get the responsiveness needed to accelerate with the bunch and to climb at race speeds. A Clyde's going to have a difficult time with these issues - with or without low spoke-count hoops...

Ever seen a 20-count wheel with a busted spoke? It's not going anywhere. This is truly an area where the risk vs. return is not worth it. I'd never advise a big guy to ride a low-count wheel unless I was the guy building it and was willing to stand behind my build. Most of these "sexy" wheels are cranked out in a factory - and they don't need a heavy rider to damage them: One pothole, or one mishap is all it takes.

Unless someone is paying you to race it is best to be cautious where your safety is involved.

SSBully

Point well made.

Mr Danw

You are safe for most bikes at your current weight. Walmart has a Schwinn road bike with a "lawyer limit" of 275#

SSBully

Complete with a host of parts that will grenade on your first ride, or shortly thereafter!

Mr Danw

OK a bicycle shaped object

SSBully

DMF 

The OP seems to have disappeared.

DiabloScott

The Clydesdale sub-forum is a much better place to get this kind of information since the people there can actually speak from experience - only a few here can say the same.

https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...ysprune=&f=248

FLYcrash

Hi!

Fit is critical. Make sure that the bike feels good when you test ride it.

+1 on the comments to spend on good wheels. Have a friend or mechanic true/tension them up nicely if you can't do it yourself. I personally err on the side of high spoke counts; my nice bike (a light touring bike) has 36 spokes front and rear, and I weigh 140. The wheels with fewer spokes will probably work, but I like the idea that the wheel won't be unrideable if a little something goes wrong. It emboldens me to venture farther from home. Clearance for fat tires is something I prefer for the same reason. That bike has 33mm tires.

Also, take all of the performance-oriented bike hype with a grain of salt. Any bike that fits well, is mechanically sound, and allows a riding position that gets you out of the wind (e.g. drop bars) is plenty for anything but competition. Again, my nice bike is steel with heavy components chosen for durability over weight. It is rather heavy compared to some of my friends' "racing" bikes, and I don't suffer for it on rides.

In the ~$1000 range, I often recommend Surly's offerings to my friends.

Best of luck!

DiabloScott

norwood

Hang in there, someday you'll understand "most".

The comment was "Ever wonder why most tandems use AT LEAST 36 spokes?"

Your photo proves that not ALL tandems use at least 36 spokes. There's almost always exceptions to everthing. BTW, one broken spoke and that tandem becomes unrideable. And broken spokes aren't always weight related. The odd stick, or trash, or something solid kicked up into the spokes can occassionally break them.

DOS

I am your size. 6 ft 235. I ride cannondale CAAD7 that I have had for 5 years. I agree with suggestions that wheels are the issue and that the bike you posted is too small. I have 58cm but test ride some to ensure the proper fit. 36hole 3x wheels have served me well. The recs about getting 28mm tires is simply not true. The issue is air pressure. get tires that can take 120psi or better and you will have no problem with pinches (assuming you keep them inflated) going as narrow as 23mm (I have been riding 23mm vredestein fortezzas witout issue -- no flats, comfortable ride). That said, 25mm will make the ride a bit more comfy without sacrificng much speed.

MrCrassic 

I'm not qualified enough to answer your question, but that is a LOT of money for a CAAD4. I'd reconsider, if I were you.

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tmac100

When I got my bike I had been riding a Peugeot 10 speed for over 20 years and wanted something better, and that would fit. A custom frame and forks by Aarvon Stacey was (is still) quite robust. The wheels were built on never-laced PW hubs: 48 spokes on sun Rhyno-Lite rims. 26" wheels with 4X spokes are stronger than the 700C wheels. Man is the bike strong. Cost a bit, but undestructable in normal use YMMV.

froze

Wow, welcome to the world of no freedom of speech. I make mention that the above quote is the most ignorant statement I've heard all year on this forum, and that for the poster thinking that 36 spoke wheels are all cheap crappy wheels was also ignorant and the poster had to be poser and this fricken BikeForum deletes it!!!!!

And Bike Forum janitor, I didn't threaten the guy, I didn't call him a name except for posing as a cyclist, which if you read his post you would agree with me!!!

Anyway SSBULLY; why don't you E-Mail Peter White at: https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Wheels.asp and tell him what you think of his "cheap crappy" 36 spoke wheels he makes. By the way, he makes the best wheels in the industry and is the foremost custom wheel builder in the world. I'm sure Peter would enjoy a good laugh, doubt though he would bother even answering your silly remarks!!!!

SSBully

Again, you're too stupid to read a statement and then comprehend it. If you run crappy components in your wheel build, then, yes, 36h wheels will take mor spoke breakage and abuse before becoming unsafe/unridable. Now quit calling me ignorant when it's clear that you are projecting. Does your mother know that you interupt when the grownups are talking?

GeoLes

Sorry to disagree guys, but I am a 6'4" 240lbs clydsedale and I ride a carbon frame with Mavic Cosmos 28-spoke radial front and 32-spoke 1-cross rear, 23c wheels. I have been riding this particularly bike for the last 8 years. I do 2 - 3 metric centuries a year on this bike on roads varying from smooth to rough. I have had the rear wheel trued once in the last 8 years with absolutely no problem with the front radial wheel. While these are light wheels, they are by no means ultra light. I can appreciate the fact that you can go heaviier on the spoke count for safety sake. I guess I am the exception to the rule.

Panthers007

I have a set of Peter White-built wheels. I specified 36-spoke X3 laced. They are superb! Spoke-tension is symmetrical and even. Perfectly trued. And have not needed even a tweek. Peter is a master of his craft.

Tom Stormcrowe

Let's bring the conflict level down here, and accept that different jobs take different hammers, if you'll pardon the metaphor.

chipcom 

I run between 230-250lbs and have had zero problems with the 3yr old hand built 32 spoke Fusions on my road, ss and xc bikes. Can't say the same for some of the cheaper wheels like DC19s and such that come stock on many lower-end bikes.

froze

Quit calling you ignorant? Ya gotta be kidding? And I always interupted grownups when they were talking, so there!!!

So let see if I've got this right from you. Crappy components on a 36 wheel will cause breakage of the wheel, but if those same crappy components are on a low spoke wheel that's ok?

I would rather have crappy components on a 36 hole rim then on a 20 spoke rim...why's that you scream?Because if a crappy spoke breaks on a 20 spoke rim I'm going down or at least walking home, if a crappy spoke breaks on a 36er at least I could still ride it home.

You logic is very poor at best. Even a cheap crappy 36 spoke rim will way out last a mediocre low spoke rim. So again your ignorant...at least on this subject.

Calling you ignorant doesn't make you stupid, nor means I was calling you stupid. Ignorant means you don't know enough about the subject your discussing, it doesn't mean your ignorant or stupid in all things. So let's put this in it's proper prospective...your ignorant on this subject. If you want to gain some information on this see the Peter White site I gave you, he has some information on that site about this stuff, and he's even written world reknown books on wheels and their construction.

froze

It's ok to disagree, my disagreement to SSBully was not about whether or not low spoke count wheels would hold up but reference to 36 spoke wheels being crappy then changed his tune a bit.

You are an exception to the rule in general. Do you ride in mountain areas? I have a friend in So Calif that is exactly the same height and weight as you, and he tried several different low spoke rims and they've all failed. But he's even had several aluminum frames fail as well, including 2 Vitus's, a Klien and 2 Cannondale's over a period of about 20 years. Now that's he riding a Rivendell with 36 spoke rims from Peter White for the last 8 years he hasn't had one problem, and he's even been doing loaded touring on it! He also has a Tommasini Tecno set up the same way with 36 hole rims and no problems with it either. But this guy is monster not a dough boy.

But for added assurance a 36 hole rim would be better for you, if you break one spoke you will taco the rim and depending on how fast your going will depend on how badly your hurt.