Tour bike set up advice please....

Arequipa

Hi! I have a Canyon Endurace with full ultegra..
Last summer I fit a rear rack with x2 pannier bags and a small handlebar bag to the front.
I toured down thru Europe with no probs.. I used the Mavic Aksium wheels that came with the bike..

This year I got my lbs to build Mavic open pro wheels with 32 spokes and ultegra hubs.. Again i cycled south.. Same pannier setup: about 5kg in each rear pannier & 1-2kg in the front handlebar bag.. It was a tough trip.. I got lots of punctures & 2-3 broken spokes: one time on the open road & another when climbing a really steep mountain: it just pinged & snapped: it was a lot of hassle fixing them in the middle of rural Spain!

So my question is: how do I really strengthen my wheels, so they can take the weights.. I weigh about 84kg & I can reduce the pannier weight to 6kg at the rear...

Any advice on a wheel setup?
I have read about DT Swiss Alpine spokes...
My bike is not an ideal touring bike.. But it is comfortable & very fast!



A

coastwatch

It sounds like the wheels were not built very well, they should have been fine for the touring you were doing.
Assuming the rims are not damaged, you could get them rebuilt (with new spokes). I think you might be better getting them done by a recommended wheel builder.

Trojan

I've 32 spoke Mavic Open Pros with Ultegra hubs on my touring bike and I weigh... a lot. I got my wheels built by Cliff, formerly of Cyclelogical and last time I saw him he was in the bike shop opposite Grogan's on South William Street. I think many folks in the cycling community would recommend him as one of the best wheelbuilders in Dublin. Go in and have him take a look at them for you.

Arequipa

Thanks a mil for the replies!
Yea, maybe the spokes werent strong enough..
I was disappointed as last year with the Mavic Aksiums, i had no probs!
I remember Cliff in Cyclogical..
I will try & talk to him...

I am planning a West Coast Us trip next summer!

Miklos

I would definitely endorse Cliff for wheel building, I have a set of Ultregra/Open Pro wheels he built for me on my steel bike and they are bulletproof.

Interesting choice of bike for a tourer! Is it the disk brake version with the clearance for big tyres?

coastwatch

Arequipa wrote: »

Thanks a mil for the replies!
Yea, maybe the spokes werent strong enough..
I was disappointed as last year with the Mavic Aksiums, i had no probs!
I remember Cliff in Cyclogical..
I will try & talk to him...

I am planning a West Coast Us trip next summer!

I'm not suggesting there was anything wrong with the choice of spokes, just the quality of the wheel building, maybe over tensioned spokes.
Better to use new spokes to rebuild because some of the originals maybe close to failing.

Arequipa

Hey! Yea, Cliff sounds like a good guy!
Maybe i could get really strong spokes..

My bike is the Alu Canyon Endurace AL with carbon forks..
I got a tubus adapter kit which attaches the rack thru the wheel quick release & via clip attachments on the seat stays..
The bike is not designed for touring but i have got over 3.5km on single trips on it...
Ideally i would love to travel really light (credit card tour!) but west coast us has great bike & hike camping options from what i hear!

Donie75

I am a lot heavier than you and my Open Pro's with Ultegra hubs have been bulletproof. I had a set on my old bike too and they never even needed truing.
Interesting to hear you are touring on an Endurace Al. I'm looking at the 105 version for a winter bike but I like the idea of a bit of touring also. Do you find the Endurace comfortable?

ford2600

An open pro isn't a touring rim, something like this is light for a touring rim but strong. Your bike came with 23mm wide rims (I think) so should fit

https://www.dtswiss.com/Components/Rims-Road/TK-540

Given your weight and load, with a properly tensioned wheel you shouldn't have had any issues though; so new wheel builder for certain.

Harry Rowland, Mike Conway (Google his name and 23mm) DCR Wheels are some of the better known UK builders. Have a look at their sites you'll get good information

Maybe bring a Kevlar spoke for peace of mind also if you decide to rebuild Open Pro.

BTW

Arequipa

Thanks a mil for your feedback!
Yea, i was disappointed to get the few broken spokes..

The Canyon Endurace is not ideal for touring.. There is a slight wobble from the loaded panniers..
But i fit the bike perfectly.. It has great gears & is light & fast..
I can easily enough cruise at nearly 30kmph..

Thanks for the advice re the wheels...
So if the wheels are strong enough, even with my bike, the spokes shouldnt fail?
ie.. Is it just the bike is unsuitable?

ford2600

To make a strong wheel you need decent components but importantly well built with high and even spoke tension; the limiting factor on tension is the rim.

Your spokes could have failed for any number of reason but given they were decent quality it all comes back to the build.

Building quality wheels isn't easy but for a professional bike shop 32 spoke 3 cross with ultegra hub and open pro rim is pretty run of the mill stuff.

If your bike is comfy that's the most important thing, lads get too hung up on bike types.

Definitely get a kevlar spoke and learn to fit it. Light and it'll get you easily to nearest bike shop.

Arequipa

Thanks a mil for the advice!
Any brands of Kevlar spokes you'd recommend?