A Different Perspective on Wheels

A good friend said the other day that a race wheel makes a poor training wheel, and vice versa. It got me to thinking. Logic says that's true, but when we trained on heavy wheels, thinking it made us stronger, our coaches said it just made us slow.

It's also "common knowledge" that a super light race wheel will fall apart under tough conditions, but that isn't necessarily so.

Years ago, I built a light weight front wheel with 28 holes, 2.0 x l.6 double-butted spokes for a racer in Texas who is 6'6", 200 lbs., and was probably the strongest rider - power wise - in the United States at the time. He raced this wheel all season and it was still almost perfect. Testing my theory further, I asked him to try to destroy the wheel with poor cornering and sloppy riding. He tried. He could not do it!

With today's ultra light, durable steel, a framebuilder can build a frame that holds up under the most challenging conditions and lasts twice as long as the old heavy frames.

The same thing is true about wheels.

For example, if you use an open pro Mavic rim SUP-CD-UB-MAXTAL, etc. super anodized with double eyelets, and use 36 DT 2.0 - 1.5 double-butted spokes, build it tight, using a Hozan tension meter, and add a high volume, high pressure tire, you would create a light, fast, and endurable wheel that would perform under nearly all conditions on nearly all types of terrain. (There are obvious extreme exceptions.)

In custom wheel design, the use of heavy rims and spokes is a cop-out, an attempt to whitewash poorly designed and executed craftsmanship. The overkill designs often seen in mass produced wheels is necessary because mass producers are designing for the toughest cases of the general riding population.

For example, the catalog says that the 8 or 9 speed deep V rim with 14 spokes is stiff, aerodynamic and easy to build. It is also heavy, slow, uncomfortable, shifts poorly, and is very expensive. Possibly some of these designs are the result of aggressive advertisers and nervous accountants whose meetings focus on sales statistics instead of quality.

Really good design integrates technical knowledge, individual requirements, and high quality components. It is minimalist, has a dignity and beauty all its own, and gives the rider maximum comfort and performance.

Enjoy your ride.

Joe