“If you’ve ever looked at the info form on my site, you’ll see that I ask for basic stuff like height, weight, and how long they’ve been riding. This is what Mike had to say about the build: would build them and we would turn him loose and say, “ go pedal fast and hard, big guy…cuz you deserve it” and we would see what would happen. But more than that, it morphed into a discussion on what are the limits of a Clyde’s wheels? How light can you go? Do we need a high spoke count? A freeride/AM strength hub?Īnd the end result was a bit of an experiment in building a wheel set for Jeff-J that may even be flirting with, well, maybe not disaster, but maybe the limits of good sense. Then, a conversation with one of the premier 29er wheel builders, Mike Curiak of Lacemine 29 ended up getting around to a hub suggestion for Jeff-J. An upgrade to a FH-M629 free hub courtesy of Shimano has lasted so far, but there is always that tip toe up the trail feeling that doom is indeed impending. That ended up being a bad idea as several free hubs on his STX and XT level hubs went **ping** when Jeff put the power to them on steep grades. Being a budget rider kind of guy, Jeff typically runs a Shimano hub. Jeff is a smooth rider and as an older guy, does not get too much air under his tires so rims last him pretty well. He will never be fast uphill but get him on a flat or downhill grade and watch those big legs push some mass down the trail. Blown free hubs, stripped pawls, cracked hub shells, etc, litter the garages of powerful, heavy, and aggressive riders.įor instance, Jeff-J aka ‘circus bear on a bike’ runs around the high side of 255 lbs and is 6’6” tall. Spoke count? 36 perhaps? Maybe even an MTX 33 or Salsa Gordo rim. Better check the Flows box on the order form. Forget about lightweight race rims like a Stans Crest.

Typically 29er wheels for a 250 pound class rider need to be pretty burly.

You stress frames, torture cranks and chains brakes get hot, tires need to be big, and the wheels suffer most of all. Here Grannygear gives us the introductions and backdrop for this review…Ī Clydesdale Wheel Build: By Lacemine 29: by Grannygear This review focuses on one such rider: Jeff, and his experiences aboard a hand built set of wheels designed and crafted to work for him. Oh sure, you have your diminutive riders, and “XC whippets”, general weight trail riders, and the like: all enjoying big wheels, but the 29″er accommodates big folks so well, that many have gravitated over to the wheel size.

Typically 29″er riders range into the “Clydesdale Class”: Riders weighing more than 200lbs.

Origin 8 scout 29er