A run of broken spokes

the_chief15

Over the last 5 months I've had 5 broken spokes, 1 front under heavy breaking, 1 rear after hitting a pot hole, and 2 rear and 1 front avoiding an inconsiderate driver while going over a speed bump.

I am a heavier rider, around 100kg, but have never experienced any wheel issues in the past other than crash damage.

The wheeles are about 15 months old which leaves me wondering is this just a run of bad luck or is it more likely that these rims and/or spokes are just giving out on me due to lack of durability.

fat daddy

I have never had a spoke go in my entire life, so I would say 5 in such a short space is not normal.

when the spoke goes, how are you repairing it ... yourself or a LBS ... there is the possibility that its been badly repaired and you have some spokes under a lot more tension than others.

and what wheels are they .. are they designed for 50kg weenies ?

ugo.santalucia

It's spoke fatigue... it will keep happening... get rid of them if they are cheap or get them rebuilt if they are expensive

keef66

In 45 years of cycling I've only had one spoke break. That was a bladed rear drive side spoke on a budget Shimano RS10 wheel. On close examination it was clear it had been gnawed a bit by the chain in an earlier overshifting incident, so I put that down to being self-inflicted. DIY replacement of the broken spoke and it's been fine ever since; those wheels are now just over 10 years old...

In my defence I only weigh 63kg and all my riding is for leisure and on quiet country lanes; no commuting or speed bumps.

Sounds like your wheels need rebuilding or replacing...

964cup

What's the spoke count on the wheels, how are they laced and what rims/spokes/hubs are they? 100kg (plus the bike + assorted kit, so 110kg or thereabouts) is over the limit for a lot of factory wheels; if you're also a powerful rider you'll be putting a lot of stress into the spokes and it isn't terribly surprising if they're breaking. I'd suggest you need to go for a wheel specifically for the "larger" rider - Hunt have just released one for sensible money, otherwise any decent wheelbuilder can build you something unbreakable (although they are likely to be pretty heavy unless you spend a fair bit). Up at the pricy end, Zipp do a "Clydesdale" (their words, not mine) build of some of their wheels as a special order, and as a recent BR article pointed out, Lightweight Meilensteins are rated to 120kg (!).

the_chief15

Repairs have been performed by 2 different LBS.

Wheels are 32 spoke, shimano m525 hubs, Alex ATD470 rims, came with the bike so won't be worth rebuilding, just not sure if there is any value in repairing again.

cycleclinic

It is spoke fatigue. When ones goes and a shop repair it by putting in a new spoke that does not mean the fatigue suffered on the other spokes has been set to zero. So another breaks in time you get it fixed again. Another will go and so on.

Who have to have the wheel rebuilt or get another wheel.

100kg is not that heavy. I build wheels for 120kg riders that never break a spoke. The receipe is simple but they have to be built properly

Why are they not worth rebuilding. the hubs can be service and the rim will be fine. a rebuild wont be much more than £50. you cannot buy a well built new wheel for that.

karlkras

But beware, there are plenty of bad builders out there.

the_chief15

Any reccomendations for a good builder, possibly in the Nottingham/Derby area?

kayakerchris

Mike Conway is a great wheel builder. I have a set of carbon wheels which are a delight and just got a carbon rim dynamo hub from him. cannot recommend him enough.

priory

http://mick-brown-cycles.co.uk/wheel-building/

near the man in space pub in eastwood mick browns built me a wheel maybe 20yrs ago and it is still going no probs.. I cannot remember having even to true it. I weigh 95kg. If it is still the same builder he must know how to do it by now.
many wheels have collapsed under me down the years.

cycleclinic

or post it to a wheel builder. with interparcel you can book it in for £11.90 next day in the u,k which if you factor your time and fuel costs could be cheaper than driving it to a shop.

shortfall

I weigh around 17 stone and have broken my share of spokes over time. The only handbuilt wheels I've never had broken spokes or truing issues with are a set of handbuilt Ambrosio exellence rims laced onto Record Hubs with DT Swiss spokes. These were £400. Factory wheel wise I have a set of Campagnolo Zondas and some 80mm Bullets and they are both absolute bomb proof. The Zondas are all the wheel most of us would ever need, light, strong, aluminium brake track, fully serviceable and easily adjustable Record quality hubs, great looking and (relatively) cheap. Strong, light, cheap - pick two the saying goes, but Zondas tick every box if you consider 300 quid to be cheap which I do in the context of road cycling.

cycleclinic

It is not hard to build £300 wheels for a 17 stone rider that never go wrong. I do it all the time. In fact buy using silver spokes it can be done for less and they need not even weight much.

All I am saying zonda's do work for many but there other options at a similar budget.

How good a wheel is depends enitrly on how stiff it is, is it tensioned properly, stress relieved properly and how even the tensions are. The receipe is pretty simple

the ambrosio excellence rims are narrow and shallow and therefore not that stiff. When building with rim like that a 36H rim is needed on the rear and even then I would not consider the wheel to be that stiff. It is probable though that the wheels where just not built right.

shortfall

thecycleclinic wrote:

It is not hard to build £300 wheels for a 17 stone rider that never go wrong. I do it all the time. In fact buy using silver spokes it can be done for less and they need not even weight much.

All I am saying zonda's do work for many but there other options at a similar budget.

How good a wheel is depends enitrly on how stiff it is, is it tensioned properly, stress relieved properly and how even the tensions are. The receipe is pretty simple

the ambrosio excellence rims are narrow and shallow and therefore not that stiff. When building with rim like that a 36H rim is needed on the rear and even then I would not consider the wheel to be that stiff. It is probable though that the wheels where just not built right.

My handbuilts were super reliable but you're right they were never that stiff and hard efforts caused caused brake rub. They were also a bit hefty. My Zondas I got for £220 on a Ribble promotion 3 years ago but post Brexit they're another £100. They're the best wheels I've ever had and if they were still available for £220 I wouldn't consider anything else as at that price you could afford to bin them if anything went wrong. Now they're a bit pricier you do have to weigh up the cost and inconvenience of repairs and spares versus handbuilts but in my experience they just don't go wrong.

shortfall

Where did my reply go?

ZMC888

It's partly due to design. There is a need to use cheap components to save costs including cheap spokes and no eyelets in some of the cheaper factory wheelsets and they then suffer from metal fatigue. I have mountain bike wheel-sets (Fulcrum and Spank) where you get one spoke or nipple let go and the tension causes another to let go within a month or two.

Also there is a fashion to use less spokes to save weight, and also to use the same amount of spokes front and rear for some symmetrical visual stupidity. So many companies like to use 24/24 spokes when all logical sense says front 20 rear 28 or front 18 rear 30 would be much more logical. Every factory wheel-set I get the rear gets trashed in 10,000 kms on my terrible roads, but the front is factory fresh after years. Tells me that the front wheels are massively over-built, and the rear massively under-built. Next time I'll have my wheels hand built exactly as I want them.

cycleclinic

24 spoke rear wheels can be very reliable but it requires the right components to be laced together.

Eyelets are not necessary on the right rims although 24F/28R is not a bad spoke count for many.

The componennt selection is as important as how they are built.

shortfall

Here goes again, my replies aren't making it to the forum. Buying factory wheels can be expensive in terms of repairs, and difficult to get a mechanic who knows what he's doing, particularly with campagnolo. However my personal experience with Zondas is that they just don't go wrong.