Respoke wheel?

desweller

So, one of the spokes on my rear wheel broke at the elbow. The wheel is one of the Planet X Excellight/105 jobbies from the beginning of the year. I knew I should have checked the build before I put them on the bike but hey ho.

Reckon I can get away with replacing the one spoke or should I splash out on a full set of 32?

ugo.santalucia

Try to replace one and if another one pops, then get the rear rebuilt (I am assuming it's the rear).

I reckon they used Sapim Race, so those or DT comp and it should be 292 if it's the drive side or 294 if it's the non drive side. Your LBS should be able to sell you a single spoke or do the job for you.

These spokes should last in excess of 10,000 miles, unless you are > 18 stones, if you've done significantly less, then it's a bad build

desweller

I'm ~13.5 st. The wheel's done perhaps 2,000 miles. It's a bad build.

Bike shops in Gloucester are a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to these things. London it ain't. I will be doing the work myself; I knew I should have checked it/retensioned it when it turned up but was too lazy to get the wheelstand out of the shed. You live and learn I suppose. Doesn't say much for this Pete Spowage character though does it.

The spoke is 294mm long but measures ~14/16/14 (2.00/1.66/2.00) on my micrometer, which is odd isn't it? Sapim Race claim to be 14/15/14. I don't know what tolerances to expect on spoke diameters.

majormantra

Don't they use Sapim Sprints on some of their builds? The Sprint in an OEM only spoke that's about 1.7mm at the thin section.

ugo.santalucia

DesWeller wrote:

I'm ~13.5 st. The wheel's done perhaps 2,000 miles. It's a bad build.

Yes it is... :?

DesWeller wrote:

Bike shops in Gloucester are a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to these things. London it ain't. I will be doing the work myself; I knew I should have checked it/retensioned it when it turned up but was too lazy to get the wheelstand out of the shed. You live and learn I suppose. Doesn't say much for this Pete Spowage character though does it.

I don't think your crop was advertised as been built by someone in particular, or was it?

DesWeller wrote:

The spoke is 294mm long but measures ~14/16/14 (2.00/1.66/2.00) on my micrometer, which is odd isn't it? Sapim Race claim to be 14/15/14. I don't know what tolerances to expect on spoke diameters.

Right, then they are not Sapim Race and Major Mantra is probably right...
They could be crap spokes... Sapim has a reputation, but that's due to 2-3 products in their range, the rest is not exactly awesome. That said, even crap spokes last 4-5 K. Are they Sapim spokes? If so they shouldn't have anything stamped on the dome, while the Sapim logo should be stamped close to the J bend

desweller

No branding on the spokes at all. So not Sapim, unless the Sprints are not marked.

I am inclined to bite the bullet and replace all the spokes now.

I seem to remember taking the mick out of Planet X's use of Mr Spowage's name at the time. It seemed like they were trying to create his reputation by themselves.

desweller

NB Forgot to add, thanks for your help gents.

ugo.santalucia

DesWeller wrote:

No branding on the spokes at all. So not Sapim, unless the Sprints are not marked.

I am inclined to bite the bullet and replace all the spokes now.

I seem to remember taking the mick out of Planet X's use of Mr Spowage's name at the time. It seemed like they were trying to create his reputation by themselves.

Planet X do it all the time... they pick some local guy and make him into a legend... they probably fail to realise that most of their customers are not from Rotherham... remember Paul Curran the legendary wheelbuilder??? And the PRO peloton legend Jamie Burrows???
They also lie on RRP of the stuff they sell, they play tricks like... how many times do you read "from 9.99" just to realise that the 9.99 option is never in stock?
But hey oh, we all love Planet X anyway!

If you know how to build your own wheels, you should be on the job already...

desweller

I usually roll my own, and have never had a spoke failure in my own builds, but these were cheaper than I could get the parts for IIRC. I'll replace the one spoke and see what happens.