Hi Thomas, My first thought was that you might have a habit of getting the bike going "cowboy style," with it leaned way over. You probably don't, but any sideload on a wheel like that is going to jack it up in short order. The other weird thought is... do you often lock your bike up where a car could hit the rear wheel when they park? Like on a sidewalk in a shopping district?
I'd try to get some weight off the rear wheel by dropping the bar and/ or getting a longer stem. That will let you shift your body forward easily and fluidly, to unweight the rear wheel and saddle for bumps. I used to beat wheels down, until I started getting nicer ones. Your hubs and rims sound plenty nice enough, but it could be that a wheelbuilder (or you, it isn't rocket science) should tension and stress-relieve the next wheel before you ride it. I've had great luck with CR18s. A 250 lb rider just isn't that heavy to me (I'm 231 and losing). Definitely get the alignment checked - I have no experience with that, but I trust the people who've recommended it. Philip McMinnville, Ore On Apr 19, 10:02 am, Thomas Lynn Skean <thomaslynnsk...@comcast.net> wrote: > Hi, all. I seek counsel. > > I weigh about 250 lbs. I often carry 10-15 lbs on a rear rack. I ride > a Trek hybrid, sitting bolt-upright. (By the way, this Trek is about > as Riv'd up as any Trek could be. Actual Riv relevance: Later this > year I'll also be riding a Hillborne and any counsel I receive will > apply to it for sure; maybe/maybe-not for the Trek. Also, the riding I > do is very much non-clubby, non-race-y, and non-trivial in distance; > this seems to match up with Riv philosophy and thus seems appropriate > for this group.) I use 700x35 tires on 32- or 36-spoke wheels at about > 60 psi. I ride 70-100 miles/week 12 months a year (I bet that'll rise > when I get the Hillborne), over half on limestone trail. I'm actually > pretty easy on the bike in general, avoiding obstacles/rough path > where practical, lifting the wheel and slowing down when I don't avoid > the hazard. > > My problem is that I haven't gotten more than 1000 miles on any rear > wheel without complete failure (cracked hub, bent axle) or the need > for repair (hub overhaul, multiple spoke breakage, rim *way* out-of- > true-or-round). The wheels I've used include some cheapies and some > good ones. Some were better to use than others. But all were okay to > use (until they failed :( ). More wheel details later. > > My preliminary question is: should I simply expect to have these > problems every thousand (or two) miles? That is, will I likely have > problems like these at that rate no matter *what* wheel I have? If so, > then my plan will likely be to go for a value proposition instead of a > reliability one. That is, I'll settle with a cheap wheel, always > having a backup, knowing that I'll have to replace/repair/adjust more > often than I'd like. That'd be okay, I guess... though it seems wrong > in some profound way; after all, I've literally never *had* to replace > any of my non-Pasela tires. I've put at least 3000 miles on my most > recent set and still *could* use the originals the Trek came with. (I > went through 4 Paselas in short order, with all of them failing in the > same way with a sidewall eruption. Too bad. I liked the gum sidewall > look.) > > However, if these wheel problems are avoidable (yes, yes... I know... > losing 80-90 pounds would go a long way; let's assume that's not > happening short-term), what kind of wheel will avoid them? Wheels I've > used thus far include: > > --- Shimano RM60 (Alivio-ish?) hub / 32 2|1.8|2mm spokes / cheapish > Alex rim - lasted about 1000 miles before breaking spokes, eventually > on 3 rides in a row > > --- 105 hub / 36 2mm spokes / Sun CR18 rim - lasted maybe a little > over 1000 miles before 4 holes-worth of drive-side hub snapped off of > the hub body > > --- Deore hub / 32 2mm spokes / Sun CR18 rim - lasted maybe 400 miles > before breaking spokes on 3 or 4 rides in a row (had 2 of these on the > the theory that the first one was not "prepped" properly... 2nd one > was no different with "prep") - eventually I bent an axle on one of > these, the other one (having been re-laced and re-trued and > overhauled) is now my snow/ice wheel and will see little mileage > > --- XT hub / 36 2|1.7|2mm spokes / Velocity Synergy OC rim - lasted > around 1000 miles before periodic ka-tink ka-tink noise appeared in > the hub; am currently looking into whether this is a fatal problem or > simply a maintenance issue > > Now, if the current XT-hubbed wheel's problems turn out to be readily > solvable (adjustment of bearings, regreasing, something like that) > then I'm happy to stay with this kind of wheel. The spokes seem to > maintain tension reasonably well and the rim has only minor touch-up > every few hundred miles to keep it very true and round. I like the > fact that the drive-side spokes are not *that* much more tight than > the non-drive side because of the asymmetry. > > However, if it turns out that it *is* a fatal or unacceptably-severe > problem (and surely one can appreciate my pessimism on this matter), I > wonder: What sort of wheel do I need? > > I don't want to needlessly ride a wheel with 48 spokes and a 3 pound > hub (exaggerating, perhaps... but still... you get the point). But I > will ride a 48-spoke-3-pound-hub-wheel if that's the only way to avoid > these problems. Nor do I want to pay $500+ if a $200 wheel will give > me a reasonable level of reliability with reasonable ride quality. > Let's assume for argument's sake that I would be willing to go for the > $500+ wheel if it would be expected to simply work (and work well, of > course) for 1000s of miles with only normal maintenance-type service. > > Help? Thoughts? Musings? > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. 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