i have been reading and searching for past post but i could not find anything that really answered my question. I am 6'2" and tip the scales at 230 pounds and am looking for the lightest possible wheelset that can hold me. I ride many mountains and come down at over 47mph so i need something that is going to hold up. i would like to have rims in the 40'smm as i do ride a lot on level ground and would like to have the aero effect. i have been looking at two wheelsets the extralite 44 that come in at 910 grams and i called and the guy at extralite told me that they would hold me. i have been also looking at the ax lightness 42 and the rims say they can hold 110kg but then every wheelset that i see says it is only good for weights up to 90kg and the hubs seem to be okay for my weight so i am not sure. I am not a racer but like to ride as hard as i can. my current wheelset comes in at 1210gms and this will be my first nice wheelset. I have not been riding for that long so i do not know all the technical stuff about wheelsets as most of you do that is why i am asking for your help, the only problem i see is most of you do not come in over 200 pounds. Any advice you can give would really be appreciated. I would not like to spend more than $3800 on the wheelset. please let me know if you need any more info. thanks.

You could build up a set of Enve 45 tubys. Those laced up to Extralite SX hubs would tip the scales at just under 1000 grams in a 20/28 hole count.

_________________
http://www.zencyclery.com

http://www.wheelbuilder.org

I looked at doing that too, but i was hoping i could drop more weight than that. I was looking on your webpage because i wanted to go with dash hubs on the ax lightness rims but found out on your site i was too big for them. So i am asking if first you think the guy at extralite is correct and that wheel would hold me and second do you think 910 grams is too low for the kind of riding i do?

Great questions.

In my experience, the SXs can handle guys of your size. The heaviest rider we've put on them was 215 and we had no issues. The flange spacing is decently wide, and for their weight they are pretty darn durable.

Going much lighter than that though is going into unknown territory really. I think that the SX combined with the 45 tuby really is the best combination of weight and durability.
The Dashs are gorgeous hubs, but I definitely wouldn't trust them at your weight.

_________________
http://www.zencyclery.com

http://www.wheelbuilder.org

1200g is pretty good going for a guy your size,
That is a structure thats holding about 10x it's own weight.
What else out there does that and can travel at speed over varying terrain.

Weight off your bike will not help any more than weight off your body. You can spend a lot of money to save 1/2 lb and make your bike more fragile... or you can lose 1/2 lb. Same effect. Rims and tires are one place that has a bit more pronounced effect, especially on handling. Light rims make the bike handle "lighter", which you may or may not like.

You are in the heavy range for a rider on typical (ie normal weight) bike parts. So it would be wise to not go crazy with weight. A 150 lb rider might be fine on a carefully selected and exotic 10 lb bike, but you outweigh him by 50%, and you need a bike that is 50% stronger and stiffer.

If you really want to go this route, I'll 2nd Zen's suggestion of the Enve 45s, but you might be better served by Tune hubs if you can find them.

_________________
formerly rruff...

I agree that the best way to loose a half pound off my bike is for me to get a half pound off my body. I don't have more than 10 pounds of fat to loose to come in at 4 percent. I came in at over 190 in the ninth grade. In college I weighted 218 at 6 percent body fat. I have not been hitting weights for over 5 years and the muscle does not leave me. I just want you to know I have a six pack, I am not a fat 230. I have only been riding for six months but I love it. I had looked at the enve rims but the ax rims said they could hold me and I think they are better looking and they are lighter. But from what I have read the enve are said to be much stronger at only 20 grams per rim heavier. I don't know what to do now as I was going to have my wife get them for Xmas for me. Thanks for the comments

Sounds like you are even stronger than the typical 230 lber... which should lean you towards stronger, stiffer components.

How much does your bike currently weigh? Does everything seem adequately stiff and strong?

If you do a lot of long rides, your upper body muscle should reduce pretty quickly.

_________________
formerly rruff...

I have a 2012 felt f1 with 12 reds on it. It has a zipp sl handle bar, sella slr seat and kcnc seat post. I think the bike come in at 13.8. It feels strong but I only have been riding for a little bit so I haven't been on all the bikes. The bike I rode before the felt was a giant tcr with dura ace top to bottom and it weighted 15 pounds with pedals and the felt is a much better bike. It is not close between the two. I want to bring down the bike two mid 12's so I was thinking a new thm fork, ax lightness brakes and these new wheels and I would be there.

I ride 100 miles a week and between 60-70 miles on sat. and I have not seen any of the top muscles come down, I wish I would be loosing muscle because then I could be getting better parts like you guys

There are other constraints keeping me from exotic bike parts...

You might have to reduce protein intake also. Then your body will have an incentive to take protein from unused muscle.

Curious why you like the Felt-Red so much more than the TCR-DA?

_________________
formerly rruff...

You have been in this game for 6 months. You will soon learn that while you can ride light and exotic wheels, the question will be how long they will last. That I can answer: not long. At your weight you will even distort the pawl seats of all but the most robust hubs. The will lead to ratchet mechanism failure. As for the rest of the wheel, get used to breaking spokes or having wheels that don't handle well, too flexy, rub brakes, etc.

I weigh less than you but I am still on the large side for a cyclist. I have given up on getting optimal handling and ride characteristics from anything less than about 1300 grams. My favourite in light gear/tubulars so far have been the latest from Zipp but with higher spoke counts. But for serious hard riding I prefer H-Plus Son Archetype built on either Chris King R45 or Shimano Dura Ace hubs - 32 spokes rear, 28 in front. Everything else by comparison including the Zipps feel flimsy. You might consider some good factory sets like Fulcrum Zero, etc.

Go ahead and get some light wheels but make sure that you have a real set available to use while the light ones are in the shop. Also realize that performance gains in your situation will be next to nil.

_________________

And change up your food intake/macronutrient composition.

As regardless of your body fat percentage, you're simply very heavy for a cyclist.

_________________
Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

The tcr over a 200 mile trip I had an average of 14.8 mph I live in a real hilly area. The felt over the same 200 mile I averaged 16.4. When I was on the giant I was killing myself to get to that and on the felt I felt like I was barely pedaling. I know I am really big for a cyclist but I just started doing this, I only know how to be a D1 athlete which does make me eat a diet that is hi in protein and low in carbs and fat. What does a cyclist diet look like? I would just like the lightest bike I can. So that being the case I am trying to get the best set I can. If the wheels break down I will use the ones on the bike now. But I have never broke spokes or hubs so far.

230 pounds and cycling don't don't work very well together once the road points up. I was reminded of this again trying to ride up the hills in the Maui mountains this week

A 12 lbs bike won't make you appreciably faster in this case (it sounds like you already have an awesome bike). Maybe focus on aerodynamics instead of low weight if you are looking for a project?

P.S. Look at EE brakes if you want a lightweight pair that also works great.

_________________
My Bikes

My Photoblog