# Rhyno Lite wheel for heavy rider?



## alaskadude (Nov 9, 2013)

When I get back from traveling I am going to build a Surly Troll from the frame up. I had planned to use Rhyno Lite 26 inch wheels with schrader tubes. Now I read that a Rhyno lite is not strong enough. I weigh 240. (iused to weigh 258 before biking addiction and veg/fish diet) anyway, any experience with Rhyno lites from 230+ riders?


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## AlexCuse (Nov 27, 2011)

I guess it depends on you terrain but I had a rhino lite rear for a while and it seemed indestructible. I fluctuate between 220 and 230 without gear.


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## paxy (Apr 6, 2012)

300 lbs here. Been running them for the past 18 months and they have been indestructible. I've broken a few spokes as well so I'm not going easy on em.

Mounting tires can be a bit of a pain but not too bad once you get the hang of it.


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## Realslowww (May 17, 2011)

I run MTX 33's , how much more heavy duty are they over the Rhino ? Because the Rhino are lighter would this make them a good bit faster on the road ?


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## 11053 (Sep 19, 2009)

Durability + longevity will have more to do with the quality of the wheel builder's work than just part specs.
A high quality build goes a long way compared to "heavy duty" parts on a mediocre quality build.
Cheap factory built wheels? Could be good, or could be bad.
Same wheels built up by a quality wheel builder who understand exactly what your use and expectations are? You'll end up with a longer lasting wheel.
Those are good rims and they should work well for you.


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## Realslowww (May 17, 2011)

I am wondering how much faster a lighter rim would be on the road as compared to my MTX 33's.


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## jeffn5 (Aug 8, 2010)

Im 350 i run one 36 spokes xt hub and 13 gauge wheelsmith dh 
spokes been indestructable built by one of the best.


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## Bike Whisperer (Aug 7, 2012)

The Rhyno-Lite is a solid mid-weight cheap rim. If built well it should hold up for XC riding for most but the heaviest clydes. The MTX33 is a significantly stronger (and heavier) rim that will hold up for almost any clyde no matter how large.


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## Realslowww (May 17, 2011)

Bike Whisperer said:


> The Rhyno-Lite is a solid mid-weight cheap rim. If built well it should hold up for XC riding for most but the heaviest clydes. The MTX33 is a significantly stronger (and heavier) rim that will hold up for almost any clyde no matter how large.


 How bad does the added weight slow a person down on wide open areas do you think?


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## Bike Whisperer (Aug 7, 2012)

Realslowww said:


> How bad does the added weight slow a person down on wide open areas do you think?


Weight will be most noticed slowing you on climbs and when accelerating. The extra rotating weight actually holds momentum better when descending or once up to speed on flats.


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## djjeffa (Jul 27, 2008)

220 lbs and I ride hard broke a few spokes and as far as speed I could get up to 30mph for a short distance lol. 

Sent from my EVO LTE using Tapatalk 2


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## Realslowww (May 17, 2011)

Bike Whisperer said:


> Weight will be most noticed slowing you on climbs and when accelerating. The extra rotating weight actually holds momentum better when descending or once up to speed on flats.


 Thanks,


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## Bikemaya (Sep 24, 2012)

I also am a clyde, I run Rhyno Lites. One of them was a factory built with an XT hub (rear), and I hand built the front wheel with no name spokes from Dans Comp and a Hope hub. Both I hand balanced with more primitive methods (don't have a wheel building stand) Nothing has broken in nine months, wheels feel super solid. I don't ride very aggressively, but I am also a larger clyde. The wheelset feels like they just want to spin and spin, even with heavy duty tubes and heavy tires I put on them. I imagine if I tried to lighten up, I could really haul ass. It's certainly fast enough as is, far faster than the old steel set with no name hubs I ran before, even though that set had far lighter tubes and tires.


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## alaskadude (Nov 9, 2013)

Cool. I think at this point the rhyno lytes will work for me. I dont ride aggressively.Im 56. I use it for commuting, shopping and hauling stuff to my cabin. So, there is too much weight on the bike. Right now Ill look up the MTX33 you spoke of. This bike building project (A surly Troll frameset) is going to be built starting in April when I get home, so I am gathering a lot of good info before I plunge my hard earned dollars.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

The Rhyno-Lite is a stout rim, economically priced, and they will hold up to you just fine. They are also kind of on the wide side which is a good thing if you're going to be riding a rigid bike like the Troll because a given tire will have more volume to it on a wider rim than it will on a more narrow rim. That will yield a softer ride and be less likely to roll off the rim.

The biggest downside to you would be that tires can be difficult to deal with because the Rhyno-Lite has a relatively shallow spoke bid. A little on the fugly side IMHO, but that's my issue (opinion) and you may like the looks of them just fine.


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## alaskadude (Nov 9, 2013)

jeffj said:


> The Rhyno-Lite is a stout rim, economically priced, and they will hold up to you just fine. They are also kind of on the wide side which is a good thing if you're going to be riding a rigid bike like the Troll because a given tire will have more volume to it on a wider rim than it will on a more narrow rim. That will yield a softer ride and be less likely to roll off the rim.
> 
> The biggest downside to you would be that tires can be difficult to deal with because the Rhyno-Lite has a relatively shallow spoke bid. A little on the fugly side IMHO, but that's my issue (opinion) and you may like the looks of them just fine.


I think the rhynos are pretty cool looking, and like that they are wide. They can handle fatty wheels. This whole thing came about because I saw a Troll on campus, and it had fatty wheels, and I knew I had to have one. Here I am 56 years old and still trying to impress college chicks with my boss lookin' bicycle.


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## Bikemaya (Sep 24, 2012)

Ohhh ya, I forgot to mention the tire size I am running in my Rhyno lites! I have the biggest my frame would take, porky 2.35" Hans Dampf (which I also seem to recall some saying they run big). They sure look huge! Like, fat bike huge to my eyes, especially because I run them at 28psi(front) and 32 psi (rear), they flatten out even wider.


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## Realslowww (May 17, 2011)

alaskadude said:


> Cool. I think at this point the rhyno lytes will work for me. I dont ride aggressively.Im 56. I use it for commuting, shopping and hauling stuff to my cabin. So, there is too much weight on the bike. Right now Ill look up the MTX33 you spoke of. This bike building project (A surly Troll frameset) is going to be built starting in April when I get home, so I am gathering a lot of good info before I plunge my hard earned dollars.


 Go to Bens cycle, they have really good deals on Sun rims. They lace free of charge. I have bent MTX33's so I am staying with these. I hop curbs going 30.


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## Medic Zero (Jun 8, 2011)

alaskadude said:


> When I get back from traveling I am going to build a Surly Troll from the frame up. I had planned to use Rhyno Lite 26 inch wheels with schrader tubes. Now I read that a Rhyno lite is not strong enough. I weigh 240. (iused to weigh 258 before biking addiction and veg/fish diet) anyway, any experience with Rhyno lites from 230+ riders?


Where'd you read that Rhyno Lite isn't strong enough? 280+ here, Rhyno Lite's are all I run. Used them for years, including loaded touring. The problems I've had with wheels have usually been with ones that _aren't_ Rhyno Lites and the few times it has been, it's not the rims fault.

I swear by them, I won't run anything else. Heck, I've successfully used a 32H Rhyno Lite as a front wheel. I wouldn't have chosen it normally, I usually go with 36H due to my weight, but I got a deal on Craigslist and decided to try it out. It took everything from heavy loads on my front rack to the occasional surprise pothole hit like a champ.

I appreciate their durability so much, they're one of the few things that I'd be okay having advertising from them on apparel or even buy stickers if they sold them. 
:thumbsup:


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