So during my extended break from riding due to a broken collar bone I bought a nice set of Ztr olympics on AC hubs second hand for the XC race bike for when I was ok to start entering events again.

Fast forward 3 months, I’ve had a couple of runs on them now, and realise they seem to flex quite badly, I can feel it when I turn aggressively on the bike.

I’m wondering if it is only a matter of time before they break, wheels are true and spokes all seem tight (I’ve given them all the nipples a couple of turns), but I can actually flex the rim by hand if I grab hold of the tyre and wiggle it about

Is it a matter of the fact I have gone too light for my weight? Due to injury I’m about a stone over my normal riding weight (currently 13 10)

What do you think?
1. Keep as race day only wheels, as I lose weight they will be ok
2. Something up with the build take to LBS
3. Sell them and buy something more appropriate fatty

Just give all the spokes half a turn of tension.

You almost never put any sideways load through wheels in normal riding so you should be OK.

you dont say what spokes you have. they might be revolutions which are lightweight and maybe flexy at your weight

You almost never put any sideways load through wheels in normal riding so you should be OK.

??

Think I must be doing something wrong in those berms and rock gardens.

They’ll be fine. Be wary of just upping the tension, they’re not renowned for dealing with v high spoke tensions!

You will die though

Not sure on the spokes, anyway of telling?

Njee – what happens if the spoke tension is too high? Don’t suppose they get flexy do they?

They become difficult to true under high tension. I’d ask a shop for an opinion, hard to desribe online!

The spoke holes crack. I’ve not actually seen it happen, but as they’re not eyeletted, they do have a lower recommended spoke tension.

i have some on race rims they flex like mad but are still going strong after two years of use.

Just to add that flexy wheels don’t necessarily mean they will be prone to breaking. I ran a set of Specliazed Rovals for about 18 months and they were super flexy under my weight, but never collapsed.

Having said that, I grew to hate the fact that I rarely had my front wheel in the same county as the rear. Wheel flex is very disconcerting and if you’re heavy and/or aggressive, it’s definitely not a desirable characteristic to have.

My Olympic rims seemed tough for a lightweight rim.

I’m not as heavy at 11-11.5 stone but they did everything without any fuss from and didn’t seem flexy or fragile.

They were Olympic rims on Sun Ringle Dirty Flea hubs with DT Comp spokes.