Black Spokes

hednesfordxcer

For all those who know me, I've been having problems with black spokes on my back wheel, basically they keep breaking (9 in 6 months, on cassette side). So this morning I finally told Halfords I want it re-building with shiny nice silver ones with bigger heads, and they kindly obliged. I hope that's the end of problem. By the way staff at Cannock Halfords have been brilliant throughout, and can't fault the service, I still reckon black spokes are weaker though.

dunker

nah it's what's under the paint and how they're built that counts um i hope, black spokes here.

Peyote

I always thought black spokes were fundamentally weaker than silver ones, but not so much that you noticed it in real life, i.e. the difference between them was so small that you could only tell they were weaker using specialised lab equipment.

Never noticed the difference myself, I've broken black and silver spokes in my time!

Seagull

I had the same problem and it went away with silver spokes. maybe just look and better bikign skills though.

Ninja

Had my wheels built by poshbikes,not broke a black spoke yet

supersonic

Black spokes are no weaker than silver spokes. Its simply bad luck if this has happened to you. Its is possible that said black spokes were a cheap spoke, and the new silver ones were not: you have to compare like for like.

nicklouse

hednesfordxcer wrote:

For all those who know me, I've been having problems with black spokes on my back wheel, basically they keep breaking (9 in 6 months, on cassette side). So this morning I finally told Halfords I want it re-building with shiny nice silver ones with bigger heads, and they kindly obliged. I hope that's the end of problem. By the way staff at Cannock Halfords have been brilliant throughout, and can't fault the service, I still reckon black spokes are weaker though.

sounds like poor quality spokes rather than the colour.

Gingersaurus

I've had black spokes on my jump bike for about a year now, never broken one, and they've taken a beating too.

bullcross

there just silver spokes painted black lol

Dr_Death

This myth all stems from a batch of faulty black spokes from dt swiss years ago.....

Black spokes are no weaker or stronger than silver ones, it's like saying a black anodised frame is weaker than a silver one.....

wwjjtt

i have heard that black spokes have a different coating. as standard, they are no weaker, but if you take off the paint then it causes a weak spot. it was from a reliable source but i'm not 100% sure.

Red Panda

My spokes are black and are fine...well so far anyway and I ride most days.

Is this story whats called an urban myth?

wwjjtt

yea possibly...i'll do some recearch and let you know.

Steve Austin

Everyone knows Silver spokes are stronger :roll:

BigAl

Dr_Death wrote:

This myth all stems from a batch of faulty black spokes from dt swiss years ago.....

Black spokes are no weaker or stronger than silver ones, it's like saying a black anodised frame is weaker than a silver one.....

What do you mean? Black ano frames are weaker everyone knows that.

And blue ano ones are faster and way cooler than any others

Gingersaurus

Red is the fastest colour. FACT.

Steve Austin

Gingersaurus wrote:

Red is the fastest colour. FACT.

100% factumondo :facT:

madmole

Spokes snapping is totally due to under-tensioning of the wheel when its built.

No difference between black or silver at all, thats an urban myth

I suspect its more a case of the Halfords guy doesnt use a spoke tension meter when he builds and builds loosely (Most wheels are), then as the wheels rotate, each time they are at the bottom the spoke loosens more and the neck is stressed on the hub shoulder, after a few thousand revs it has work hardened, gone brittle and broken.

If you build the tension up enough then the spoke never un-tensions enough to allow movement and work hardening

Steve Austin

I built a fair few wheels without a tension meter and they been fine...

Someone who can't build wheels is someone who can't build wheels, its not about their tools.

dave_s

I know Stif used to refuse to use black spokes in their wheelbuilds but not sure if they still do that.
In my experience black spokes are definitely no weaker than silver ones.
Just get decent spoke, I've never had probs with DT Rev or ACI double butted spokes in black.
Makes a difference if you get a decent wheelbuild in the first place though from somewhere like Merlin Cycles or Stif

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

Never broken any of the black spokes on my bike, and it's getting on a bit!
I am also fat and rubbish, so they can't be bad.
I have seen hubs finished so badly they have caused the spokes to break.

Drfabulous0

I have a mix of black and silver spokes on my rear wheel because I didn't have enough of one colour, there doesn't seem to be any difference between them, but as red is the fastest colour how come no-one makes red spokes?

madmole

Steve, I've built wheels for many years without a spoke tension meter as well and never had a problem at all, then I bought the park meter and was glad I did

Going back and measuring old wheels I'd built that had stayed true for years I saw up to a 20 lbs tension difference on the spokes, despite them all feeling the same and sounding the same (always looser it seemed). Now using the meter I can build wheels that are spot on tension wise, and KNOW they are not over or under tensioned

Dont think the meter means you build any better wheels, but it certainly helps to build more consistant wheels and I would definately recommend one for your wheel building kit

Agree with you though that a duff wheel build is a duff build, meter or not. You should see some of the wheels that come through my workshop!! its a wonder they even lasted enough to get to me. I'm amazed at how many folks think disconnecting the brakes is a suitable way of dealing with a buckled wheel

John Stevenson

DT Swiss claims that the problem is that some cheaper black spokes do use a coating process that reduces their fatigue life. Of course DT makes this claim and then adds that its spokes are coated by another process that doesn't affect the properties of the underlying stainless steel.

This rings true in one way: you used to be able to get shiny chromed steel spokes. They looked very nice when they were brand new, but their medium-term performance was dreadful. They broke at the bend, a classic symptom of fatigue failure.

If cheaper black spokes get their colour from an electroplating process similar to chroming, that would explain poor durability.

Splasher

Gingersaurus wrote:

Red is the fastest colour. FACT.

Not necessarily. Blue GSXRs have always been the fastest.