Broken Spokes

y33stu

Hi All,

I'm after some ideas if possible. about 4 weeks ago I broke a spoke on my road bike. I replaced it and trued the wheel at the bike shop. Now since then I seem to braking a spoke at least once a week. Its getting very annoying as you can imagine. I ride a Carrera Virtuoso - a beginner bike from Halfords. I'm also the wrong side of 100kg, so I'm guessing the beginner bike and my weight are the cause - but for 2 years the bike has been fine, not a thing went wrong. I've been riding it for 50+ mile rides through county lanes.

Can anyone suggest what's going wrong?

hulla the hulla

When the first spoke went it would have put an immence strain on the other spokes either side which weakens them making them more likely to fail sooner. What you're probably finding is that as each spoke goes its effecting the ones around it and that is a continual process.

Best thing is either get the wheel rebuilt / trued and correctly tensioned or maybe invest in some more robust wheels that are more suited to your riding.

rafletcher

Spoke failure is almost always the result of (metal) fatigue - the repeated loading and unloading that happens during normal riding means a repeated stressing and unstressing of the spoke around the flages on the hub. When the first one goes (you didn't say where but often the drive side of the rear wheel is favourite - minimal dishing and maximum static tension) it's a signal that all the spokes will be nearing the end of their lives.

A relatively inexpensive bike will have machine built wheels with perhaps lower strength spokes when compared to a mroe expensive bike/wheelset.

So as suggested above get the wheel rebuilt with new spokes. Or buy a better quality replacement wheel.

Your weight is not a significant element in this process.

wombar

+1 to what the others have said. Ideally you want to stop riding as soon as you break a spoke, but that's not always possible if you're 20 miles from home.

Maybe look at getting a fiberfix spoke for future use as that will re-inforce the wheel enough to get you home without (hopefully) doing too much further damage.

Get the whole wheel rebuilt (i.e. replace all spokes) or alternatively look at buying some off the shelf ones. You can get a reasonable set of wheels for ~£90.

y33stu

Thanks all for your help.

I've just gone and ordered a new rear wheel. Hopefully that will solve all my problems and stop me panicing when i'm an hour from home!

Thanks again

rafletcher

And now you can mull over trying to rebuild the old wheel yourself with some new spokes! Or even a new rim as well

mz__jo

rafletcher wrote:

And now you can mull over trying to rebuild the old wheel yourself with some new spokes! Or even a new rim as well

+1.
But before you do check the rear hub. If it is a cheap one the flanges may be not as thick as a better class item which allows a bit more movement under load of the spokes and leads to a more rapid onset of fatigue problems. Try to compare your rear wheel with a more expensive one (with a similar form of spoke, don't compare straight spokes with elbowed ones!) and you might see a difference. It pays to have a hub that supports the elbow of the spoke properly (elbow or bend, I have forgotten the correct word in english)..

andysol

I had the same problem and it was completely resolved when i replaced all the spokes with new good quality ones. Same hub / rim was used

For me this problem was the rear wheel. I guess it takes the most strain


Andy

hulla the hulla

fate must have been listening to this conversation as I broke another spoke this morning....

Christophe.cdb

I had the same problem,

DT Swiss RR1900 rear wheel, broke a spoke, got it replaced, next time out broke another one got it replaced, the next ride the same...
I bought a Mavic Aksium for now so I can keep going and will have the DT Swiss rear wheel respoked. That should sort it out...

If you have several spokes breaking in a short timespan the rigidity of the wheel is compromised, there is no point trying to fix it by replacing spokes...

Wirral_paul

Given the bargain price of some of the off-the-shelf wheelsets around these days, I think having a budget wheel rebuilt would be a false economy really. Something like Shimano R500's can be had for a little over £100 per pair

ugo.santalucia

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Given the bargain price of some of the off-the-shelf wheelsets around these days, I think having a budget wheel rebuilt would be a false economy really. Something like Shimano R500's can be had for a little over £100 per pair

It depends... if you have a good wheelset and invest 50-100 quid in a rebuild, you'll end up with wheels which are worth well over the 100 quid you pay for budget wheels.
There is a reason why some wheels are on sale at 100 pounds a pair... they are rubbish... they might work fine for a season, even two... but then they'll be good for the bin. In the meantime they might give you quite some grief...

Of course I agree it is not worth rebuilding a set of budget wheels

That said, many cyclists around change their bike/parts every season or so, in which case the Shimano/Planet X/PROLite & Co. disposable wheels are probably the best deal

keef66

Merlin have the R501's for £70 a pair. That is a bargain.

MrChuck

Christophe.cdb wrote:

DT Swiss RR1900 rear wheel, broke a spoke, got it replaced, next time out broke another one got it replaced, the next ride the same...

Similar problem with my commuter a few weeks ago- broke a spoke in the front, and then 2 more over the next few days. After replacing the 3rd one it's been alright, touch wood...

geoff_ss

One way of preventing spoke breakages is to fit a small washer on the spoke so that it effectively makes the flange thicker. I've done that in the past for tandem rear wheels which have a harder job than on a solo - especially when touring with panniers. It was quite a common practice at one time.

rafletcher

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Given the bargain price of some of the off-the-shelf wheelsets around these days, I think having a budget wheel rebuilt would be a false economy really. Something like Shimano R500's can be had for a little over £100 per pair

Thats why I suggested rebuilding it himself.

gilesjuk

When replacing the spoke they just tightened it up, but should have rechecked all the tensions and made sure it was fairly even.

A guitar plectrum is your friend. Plucking all the spokes on one side of the wheel (then they other) to make sure they are tuned fairly similar is the first stage of wheel building. After then you make small adjustments to true up the wheel.

gilesjuk

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Given the bargain price of some of the off-the-shelf wheelsets around these days, I think having a budget wheel rebuilt would be a false economy really. Something like Shimano R500's can be had for a little over £100 per pair

True. I would say stripping the wheel and selling the rim and hub separately would raise some money.

Wirral_paul

Wirral_Paul wrote:
Given the bargain price of some of the off-the-shelf wheelsets around these days, I think having a budget wheel rebuilt would be a false economy really. Something like Shimano R500's can be had for a little over £100 per pair

Raflether wrote:
Thats why I suggested rebuilding it himself.

This is very true. At worst its an opportunity to buy a few spokes, sort out a truing stand (or make one) and have a go at building and truing it up even if purchasing some other wheels. I found a download for a wheel building book online. Let me try and find it..[/url][/quote]

Wirral_paul

http://uspace.shef.ac.uk/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/8717-102-1-18381/wheelbuilding%20by%20Roger%20Musson.pdf

In work so cant check the link - but it was find in June when i received it
Not that i'd ever condone downloading a book of course!!

ugo.santalucia

Geoff_SS wrote:

One way of preventing spoke breakages is to fit a small washer on the spoke so that it effectively makes the flange thicker. I've done that in the past for tandem rear wheels which have a harder job than on a solo - especially when touring with panniers. It was quite a common practice at one time.

You will be pleased to know that I still use brass washers for my builds... whenever possible... some flanges have holes drilled in a way that the spoke head sits in a groove, making it impossible to fit a washer

desweller

Wirral_Paul wrote:

http://uspace.shef.ac.uk/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/8717-102-1-18381/wheelbuilding%20by%20Roger%20Musson.pdf

In work so cant check the link - but it was find in June when i received it
Not that i'd ever condone downloading a book of course!!

Given the effort that Roger's put into constructing this book, may I suggest that the classy thing to do would be to head over to WheelPro and make a legitimate purchase?