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I am touring with my MTB, now for 4 months. I have been using really good Pacenti 29er rims, but just 2 days ago I cracked the rear one. I am carrying a lot of weight and Pacenti (after I contacted them, great guys) made me notice that the rim even if strong for MTB is not made to carry that load.

I am thinking to replace the rims with E-bike ones, because they are actually made for heavier bikes.

Do you think it is a good idea? The rim I would like to use is a: DT SWISS Rim 545d 700c 28'' black 622-19 vl 6,5mm 36 hole simply eyed

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Does that rim state a load? How heavy are you touring? Not much of the strength of a wheel come from the rim anyway, at least as regards vertical loading. MTB touring can put extra shock loads on a wheel compared to road touring.

A rear e-bike rim has a lot of stress on it, and not just from the unsprung mass of a hub motor but the shorter spokes. So it might be good, but the actual load could easily be less than a loaded tourer.

The e-bike I've ridden is about 30kg bare. That's less than the luggage when I went bike camping. The rider is almost always the heaviest part of the system.

The toughest wheels are probably those built for touring tandems. 40 spokes are common, 48 not unknown.

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  • Thank you Chris, I am carrying around 45kg. I think that e-bike rims might do the trick. I spoke with some rims manufarcturer and they gave me an idea of why it broke. Some extra strenght shouldnbe enough. Of course what youbare saying about tandem wheels is verybtrue, and it is what they said, but I don't want to change hubs too and go too expensive.
    – Paolo Goatspeed
    Oct 7 '18 at 13:17
  • As well, can I use normal spokes on a ebike rim?
    – Paolo Goatspeed
    Oct 7 '18 at 13:19
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    You might be able to find a 36 hole tandem rim, or a 36 hole version of a rim that also comes in 40+ holes. Ebike spokes are similar to touring spokes (thicker than some others) but shorter; the holes in the rim are the same
    – Chris H
    Oct 7 '18 at 13:51
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    What did they say about why it broke? Did some spokes go as well?
    – Chris H
    Oct 7 '18 at 13:51
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    This might be obvious, but 45kg is a lot. Try to reduce it, it makes touring much more enjoyable. Much of it is probably expendable, all cyclists with such heavy loads I’ve encountered carried stuff like hammers, bags of batteries, whole rolls of duct tape, changes of clothing for a whole week (i.e. 7 complete sets of clothing), bottles of wine …
    – Michael
    Oct 7 '18 at 14:21

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