Wheels vs Roads?

[Strick]

I currently find myself tempted with a new bike, but have some concerns regarding the wheels.
Basically, it comes with 700x28 tyres. Now, I dont tend to drift off the road (have the MTB still if I want to do that), but some of the road surfaces I use could be somewhat "better" shall we say. Bascially tarmac with rough surface, a small stretch of concrete road with the joins in, that kind of thing. How well do 700 wheels cope with this type of surface? Are they more "delicate" than the 26" I'm used to, or am I just worrying for the sake of it?

 

[gaz]

am I just worrying for the sake of it?

Yes

 

[HLaB]

On narrower tyres you'll feel rough tamac/concrete more but 700 wheels will cope just fine, just loosen up on the surface to let your arms and legs absorb the impacts. I wouldn't recommend jumping on or off kerbs though

 

[Strick]

Thanks for the honest and speedy feedback guys.

 

[gbb]

Even cheapish 700 wheels deal with some rough stuff quite well Strick...
My trek 7100FX has some cheap as chips 700 wheels fitted after my son killed the originals, i do stoney paths, woodland tracks, even the occasional rough track on mine...theyve survived 3 years without even coming out of true. TBF the spoke count's high on cheap wheels, that helps, so bearing that in mind, the lower the spoke count, the less resilient to rough stuff they may be.

 

[fossyant]

700's are fine - mine take a battering on a day to day basis. 28mm's a bit wide. I'd recommend 23mm maximum

 

[Strick]

More good info, thanks.

 

[david1701]

admittedly I run 32mm tyres but I do bunny hop my whole bike about a fair bit and the road surfaces in N Cornwall are worse than Beirut

 

[Strick]

LOL, but Cornwall is still a much MUCH more scenic place than Peterborough.

 

[Bicycle]

I'm with the 23mm reply above.

They take all sorts of abuse. It will be a big old pothole that causes big damage.

But they are not MTB wheels. Nor are they meant to be.

No bunny hops (even you, M Voeckler).

I don't ride down kerbs or anything that bounces a lot...

I also only ever put my bike gently on the ground. I see people with lovely wheels sort of slamming their bike into the ground when unloading it. I wince when I see that, but I might be getting old and soppy.

I also wince when I see people put lateral loads on their rims by leaning against bikes at strange angles or wedging them into cars....

I am a sad person...

 

[lulubel]

They'll be fine. As has already been said, the cheaper ones with more spokes are more robust. Lightweight, faster wheels with less spokes are also more likely to be damaged by poor surfaces.

The smaller roads around here (and I have to cover at least 2 miles on them every ride just to get to and from my house) are a mass of potholes, dirt and grit, small tarmac and concrete patches, all overlapping each other, sometimes with a height difference of a couple of cm between one patch and the next .... I have cheapish 700 wheels with 25mm tyres on them, and they seem to be doing OK so far. I do take it steady over the worst bits, though.

 

[fossyant]

They'll be fine. As has already been said, the cheaper ones with more spokes are more robust. Lightweight, faster wheels with less spokes are also more likely to be damaged by poor surfaces.

Sorry, wrong in so many ways.

Cheap wheels are generally machine built at a price point. The use lower quality components and that means, hubs, spokes and RIMS. You'll end up hating them as the spokes often snap because of poor tensioning.

Lightweight wheels are generally more expensive, because to get the weight the quality goes up, and they end up being built to correct tensions.

You want something in the middle - i.e. good quality and relatively light.

 

[fossyant]

For example.

Many mid range bikes come with no name hubs on cheap Rigida or Alex rims. You often hear problems of spoke breakages, poor bearing seals, and wheels going out of true.

Many folk then upgrade to something like Mavic Aksiums - cheapish at about £130 pair, but bomb proof. Spend a bit more £200 plus and you are in Ksyrium range, where loss of weight starts to come in.

 

[Norm]

700c wheels with 32mm cyclo-x tyres and I haven't (yet) found a surface they didn't like.

 

[Strick]

Thanks everyone who has taken the time to give advice. I think the next stage is to go back and see if the deal looks as tempting second time round, try one out etc.