Commuting with one Pannier

Rapid Rider

Hi, I commute with a pannier on one side. I notice I seem to be having problem with spoke coming loose or breaking on the other side of the wheel to where the pannier normally is. Question is does having a pannier/all the weight on one side of the bike cause problems with wheels. Should I split the load across two panniers. If that makes any sense? :?

Cafewanda

Hi RR. I frequently commute with one (loaded) pannier and haven't had any problems with spokes or the wheels. I would have thought if your rack is on the bike correctly there shouldn't be any such problems apart from balancing and you soon sort that out.

However, I'm no expert so I'm sure others will stop by with better suggestions

veronese68

Never caused me a problem. Had a case of beer in one pannier the other day. Balance was strange, but otherwise no problem.

shm_uk

I guess if you over-fill the pannier with heavy stuff you'll just end up riding around in circles.

snailracer

If the spokes are breaking on the back wheel, well the back wheel is "dished" and asymmetrical anyway - I would expect spokes on a dished wheel to break on one side more than the other.

Jay dubbleU

Cafewanda wrote:

Hi RR. I frequently commute with one (loaded) pannier and haven't had any problems with spokes or the wheels. I would have thought if your rack is on the bike correctly there shouldn't be any such problems apart from balancing and you soon sort that out.

However, I'm no expert so I'm sure others will stop by with better suggestions

I always commute with one pannier including laptop - never had any problems - TBH I don't really notice the weight as far as balance goes.

durrin

I ride with one pannier a lot, and have never had problem other than weird balance.

Rapid Rider

Thanks for the replies. I dont know if it's just that I changed from a Mountainbike to a Giant Rapid one and I havent learned to move around the potholes yet or there is something wrong with the wheel!

bails87

Rapid Rider wrote:

I havent learned to move around the potholes yet !

That might be it!

Who's repairing the wheel afterwards? Are you doing it, or is a 'pro' properly retensioning everything?

Interestedcp

Rapid Rider wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I dont know if it's just that I changed from a Mountainbike to a Giant Rapid one and I havent learned to move around the potholes yet or there is something wrong with the wheel!

The problem isn't potholes, nor is it the pannier. The absolute main reason for sudden early spoke breakage is metal fatigue caused by a badly assembled wheel; too low tension, uneven tension and lack of proper stress relieving are typical causes.
The loose spokes you have observed are strong indicators of a badly assembled wheel.

Occasionally batches of cheap but bad spokes causes similar problems at certain wheel factories.

The symptoms are usually that one spoke breaks on the new rear wheel (typically at the spoke elbow), then later another snaps, then another later again.

Normally a broken spoke isn't a problem on good wheels, but on badly assembled wheels, the second snapping spoke is almost always an indication of so massive problems that the entire wheel is a write off; all the spokes now suffers metal fatigue, so replacing the spokes one at the time doesn't make sense.

Should be a straightforward warranty case, though sometimes some shops imply that spoke breakage is the costumers own fault.
If it isn't under warranty, don't bother repairing it, just get a new rear wheel.

--
Regards

desweller

I once cycled with a 7ft tree in one of my panniers.

Didn't have another one to hand to balance it out, but I didn't break any spokes anyway. Handling was a bit odd. Don't be tempted to try to sprint when you've got a tree on the back - the pendulum effect is quite pronounced.