Carbon gravel wheels for a heavy rider

[Kubackjeee]

Get tire inserts for sure that's the most important part. Your rim will be safe then and you can go carbon.

I would pair them with carbon wheels not aluminium because of the depth and inner width which will help comfort and strength. You can really get top quality carbon wheels from china. I source mine from yuanan (owner of elite wheels) as you can build them to the specs you want and they cost like 500$ with shipping. I am riding hard on gravel and also recommended them to friends as heavy as you and it all good. I think you can't go wrong with those wheels. There are also other options you can buy directly from the website like ican, elitewheels, winspace.

But remember for your weight inserts are w must.

[AFE]

I am heavier than you but with a little lower FTP. I ride DT Swiss GRC 1400 Spline without inserts since quite while without any issues. Same with ZIPP 303s. No problems at all + they are stiff enough.

[Mr.Gib]

As mentioned:
DT Swiss 350 hubs
28 steel spokes (I prefer j-bend over straightpull)
Brass nipples
Carbon rims from LightBicycle, Nextie or Farsports

Since BlackFriday is around the corner, you should get some good deals from all these 3

With no disrespect to the other suggestions, the recipe above is certainly best for you. It's a little over your budget but in the long run far better value than most other options.

100kg, 2 meters tall, you are definitely going to burn through bike parts faster than most. But wheels will really suffer if they are under built.

[JoninSweden]

Thank you for all the suggestions.

If I can find a decent wheel builder here, it might be the best option to go down that route. I really like the idea of the DT Swiss 350s, in terms of toughness and ease of servicing.

Does anyone have any thoughts on going with a wider, XC style rim? On my 1st gen Canyon Grail, I currently run 45mm front and 40mm back, but would like to go to 47/42. It seems a little odd to have a 25 ID rim for a 47mm tyre.

Forgive the naivity of the questions, but is there a benefit to going to so a 30-33mm ID rim? Harder to find aero rims at that size, but then the tyre would cut a better profile through the air on a wider rim. They seem cheaper too.

[JoninSweden]

Does anyone have any thoughts on these gravel wheels from Superteam?

https://www.superteamwheels.com/product ... bon-wheels

They seem to have a good reputation amongst the cheaper Chinese wheel makers.

[jayjay]

Does anyone have any thoughts on these gravel wheels from Superteam?
https://www.superteamwheels.com/product ... bon-wheels
They seem to have a good reputation amongst the cheaper Chinese wheel makers.

The hubs are often crap in these cheap wheelsets

[JoninSweden]

Does anyone have any thoughts on these gravel wheels from Superteam?
https://www.superteamwheels.com/product ... bon-wheels
They seem to have a good reputation amongst the cheaper Chinese wheel makers.

The hubs are often crap in these cheap wheelsets

That would be my concern, hence the earlier musings on the idea of having a set built.

I appreciate the feedback though

[wetpaint]

You could get the Supertema wheels and just replace the hub later if it comes to it. They're not very expensive and even if you blew up a hub you still wouldn't have as much into them if you had to replace one.

However if you can get into a Light Bicycle or other name brand Chinese wheel for $1k with DT350 hubs you're getting a really nice wheelset. My Light Bicycle WR45s were great off road, never went out of true in 7000 miles, held up fine to bumps, smashing big rocks accidentally. Mike are hookless, my thought was they should theoretically be stronger for rim and rock strikes with a sold hookless bead vs hooked

They're not on my road bike since I sold the bike they were originally on

[JoninSweden]

You could get the Supertema wheels and just replace the hub later if it comes to it. They're not very expensive and even if you blew up a hub you still wouldn't have as much into them if you had to replace one.

However if you can get into a Light Bicycle or other name brand Chinese wheel for $1k with DT350 hubs you're getting a really nice wheelset. My Light Bicycle WR45s were great off road, never went out of true in 7000 miles, held up fine to bumps, smashing big rocks accidentally. Mike are hookless, my thought was they should theoretically be stronger for rim and rock strikes with a sold hookless bead vs hooked

They're not on my road bike since I sold the bike they were originally on

I did look at Lightbicycle, but they seem to be an expensive choice here in Europe. Does anyone have a link to a European distributor, or a direct seller in China?

[jayjay]

You could get the Supertema wheels and just replace the hub later if it comes to it. They're not very expensive and even if you blew up a hub you still wouldn't have as much into them if you had to replace one.

However if you can get into a Light Bicycle or other name brand Chinese wheel for $1k with DT350 hubs you're getting a really nice wheelset. My Light Bicycle WR45s were great off road, never went out of true in 7000 miles, held up fine to bumps, smashing big rocks accidentally. Mike are hookless, my thought was they should theoretically be stronger for rim and rock strikes with a sold hookless bead vs hooked

They're not on my road bike since I sold the bike they were originally on

I did look at Lightbicycle, but they seem to be an expensive choice here in Europe. Does anyone have a link to a European distributor, or a direct seller in China?

WR45 wheelset:
https://www.lightbicycle.com/700C-tubel ... bikes.html

[pdlpsher1]

Does anyone have any thoughts on going with a wider, XC style rim? On my 1st gen Canyon Grail, I currently run 45mm front and 40mm back, but would like to go to 47/42. It seems a little odd to have a 25 ID rim for a 47mm tyre.

Don’t go wider than 25mm internal. For gravel tires you want a light bulb shape. It gives you a suspension effect that will give you a better ride, fewer flats, and more predictable cornering. You lose the vertical tire sidewall by going with too wide of a rim. The vertical sidewall has a host of benefits as mentioned earlier. You get fewer flats because the vertical sidewall isn’t exposed to road hazards like rocks.


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[JoninSweden]

WR45 wheelset:
https://www.lightbicycle.com/700C-tubel ... bikes.html

Thank you for the link. By the time it's specced up and delivery is taken into account, it's knocking on the door of a $1000. Not impossible, but equally, a big spend.

I think I'd go 65mm rather than 45mm, as climbing is something I'm strong at, but holding speed on the flat is something that's still a weakness.

[JoninSweden]

Don’t go wider than 25mm internal. For gravel tires you want a light bulb shape. It gives you a suspension effect that will give you a better ride, fewer flats, and more predictable cornering. You lose the vertical tire sidewall by going with too wide of a rim. The vertical sidewall has a host of benefits as mentioned earlier. You get fewer flats because the vertical sidewall isn’t exposed to road hazards like rocks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for the advice - it's really appreciated. I am stil learning and this is very valuable.

[jayjay]

WR45 wheelset:
https://www.lightbicycle.com/700C-tubel ... bikes.html

Thank you for the link. By the time it's specced up and delivery is taken into account, it's knocking on the door of a $1000. Not impossible, but equally, a big spend.

I think I'd go 65mm rather than 45mm, as climbing is something I'm strong at, but holding speed on the flat is something that's still a weakness.

The WR65 should be the same price

[satanas]

If you get an i30 XC rim there may well be problems with tyres blowing off at your weight. Bear in mind these are intended for ~55+mm tyres at <30PSI. If you instead use 42mm tyres at much higher pressure they might not stay on, whereas the i25mm rims are intended to take tyres from ~29mm (current ETRTO lower limit) upwards, so should tolerate much more before blowing off.