Wow i am gobsmacked ,i have been struggling to get hold of some superstrong wheels and to be honest thought reduced spokes aero wheels would be out of the question and that more spokes than the standard 32 was the way i would have to go…
Then a shop told me to try a Shimano 105 wheelset.
16 spokes (i killed a 24 spoke bontrager race rear in 2 hrs)
Aero rim , cool look , nice hubs and the best bit i weigh 280lbs and they should be dead but they are not , they rock.
i struggled like hell to find a set of strong wheels and i thought these would be out of the question but they arent.
This is just for info for anyone searching , i struggled and if you are , then try these .
I must say that these wheels are amazingly strong! I bought a set mainly for their durability and reasonable price. I have been extremely satisfied so far.
A couple of months ago they passed a stiff test to their durability. I was riding one day and a car turned right in front of me. I hit the side of the car and bounced off. Fortunately there was no injuries or any damage to the bike. I even went back into work that afternoon (I was riding at lunchtime). I knew that even though the bike “appeared” to be O.K. that I should still take it into the shop and let a mechanic check her out for safety. I was amazed to find that the wheels were perfectly “true”.
My story is unbelievably lucky. I have already knocked on some wood. I still have a hard time believing that I could hit a moving car turning in front of me and not have any damage to me or the bike!
My bike came with a pair of Shimano 540’s. In one tri, last year, I hit an 8-10 inch service hole (the cover was 3 in below the pavement) at 25+. The aerobars went down about 60 degrees, but the wheels were fine.
H3’s are supposed to be bomb-proof, but I’ve only had mine for 2 races. I don’t have enough experience.
When riders ask for strong training wheels, 32 or 36 hole Mavic open pro or cxp 33 rims with 14 gauge straight spokes with 3x lacing comes to mind.
When a “big” rider asks for strong aero wheels, it would be hard to beat Hed 3 tri spoke wheels for aero qualities or durability. They are a little “stiff”, however, as wheels go.
The Shimano 105 wheelset that you discovered to be so great may be “aero” by virtue of reduced spoke count, but that’s about it. When a spoke breaks in a low spoke count wheel, they are almost always unrideable. A 280 lbs rider asks a lot of a wheel.
I hope the Shimano 105 wheels you discovered work well for you and prove both dependable and durable.
I know two guys that have the ultegra model of those wheels, and after a year of riding…they both keep popping spokes. The break at the rim, and neither are happy with the wheels.
