3 broken spokes in a month ??? why ???? will it end ?????

motopatter

had the bike quite a few years with not much use, but added a good few hundred miles this year from commuting...

One spoke went, LBS repaired (£12)
Within about a week spoke no. 2 goes :? I bought spokes and had a pretty good go at repairing if I do say so.
About 2 weeks later (yesterday) another pinged.

The two I repaired were deffo on different sides as I didn't have to remove the rear cassette yeasterday, I am a heavy rider, it's only commuting (with the odd launch of a speed hump 8) )

26" mtb wheel, mtb 2.125" knobbly tyre, bike is older stye f/s GT I-drive

Am I wasting time / money if more and more spokes go? Should I just replace the wheel? (although my budget is pretty small ).

Funnily enough, my even older spare h/t bike which I gave to my dad also broke a spoke on him the other day :? Maybe I'm just due a few broken spokes all at once as I've never had a problem before

The Rookie

My commuter just broke another 'spoke' (actually the head came off the nipple) as I think that is now 5 that have gone I'm thinking of getting some spares.....

£12 to replace a spoke sounds a lot.....

Simon

motopatter

it was with a true up (but you'd expect that wouldn't you?)

I was just wondering if the tensioning done when lbs did the work caused the the next one to go.... I read an article someone posted a link to in another thread which suggests incorrect/ uneven tensions will cause further breaks. But what are the tolerances (for my own respoking).

Interestingly when I initially took the wheel in for first spoke the owner/ mechanic insisted it was not fatigue and that a spoke could just 'go' He said to not believe everything you read about spoke fatigue on the internet - I guess I am a bit gullible, but surely usage causes stresses and failures?
I told him at the time I was concerned I would be throwing lots of money at replacing spokes singularly as opposed to just getting a new wheel.

It's odd as I this lbs has been there for years and I know the owner has more experience than I could forget, but what's going on.....

stimpy_76

I had exactly the same as you - owned the MTB for years and started to put on mileage once I began commuting on it.

I also started to get loads of spokes going on my old MTB commuter - my LBS did me a whole new (rear) wheel for £35. It's a no-name job with unbranded hub and QR but since it's only commuting me on a 23-mile round trip it does the job and no broken spokes for 18 months now.

Much cheaper than £12 per spoke...

Gussio

Would recommend a new wheel, both on cost saving and peace of mind grounds, but also avoiding general incovenience of repeated trips to the LBS. Mavic Crossride offers what I think is good value and you can get it in V or disc version.

As an aside, have you thought about changing the nobblies for something with a bit less rolling resistance? If your commute is on the road, it will make for a much faster experience on something like a Specialized Armadillo.

motopatter

Gussio wrote:

As an aside, have you thought about changing the nobblies for something with a bit less rolling resistance? If your commute is on the road, it will make for a much faster experience on something like a Specialized Armadillo.

it's a relatively short commute - 6 mile round trip (sometimes extend on the way home to 9 or 10 by taking in some off road scenic routes) so no real time savings, plus I need the excersize (sp?) so it's not worth the £20+ to 'upgrade' (and I have a bunch more knobblies in the shed to wear out anyway )

Blue Meanie

"Sometimes spokes just go" - sounds like fatigue.

A slightly loose spoke will stretch every revolution, heating up and cooling, causing fatigue. If you've lost 3 recently, you prob be needing a new wheel or a re-spoke.
Seen as you've had some success with a spoke-key, why not man up and re-build the wheel?
What's the worst that could happen? (err, wheel collapses whilst being overtaken by a truck)