The Chainlink

broken spoke advice

Background:

My daily coomuter bike is an SE Lager, to which I have added a rear rack and milk crate.

 

The bike is not necessarily heavy (spec says 21.5 pounds) and I have added a few other

things to add a little weight (front fender, pump, etc.).

 

Over the course of the last 6 months (the bike is less than 2 years old btw) I have broken

at least 8-10 spokes (all on the rear) and frankly I am getting tired of replacing them and having the keep trueing the wheel.

The bike has the stock rims (Alex R500, 32 hole, double wall 14gauge spokes))

One shop suggested a wider tire - so I replaced the rear tire with a 700X32; and

that seemed to work well for a while; but I guess transporting grocieries (and beer, etc)

in the milk crate is too much weight combines with chicago's famous potholes; so I

am constantly breaking spokes.

 

I am looking for advice on what course of action is recommended -

 

get a new (stronger) wheel ?   Find a (good/used) wheel or hub/rim combination and

buid it up (maybe lace the spokes so it will be stronger) ?  lose the mik crate ? quit buying groceries or beer ?   HELP.

 

thanks in advance

 

DAN

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on May 2, 2012 at 9:59pm

Weird. Everywhere else on the interwebz has glowing reviews of these wheels. 

People seem to rave about Mavic CXP22 as well.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on May 2, 2012 at 10:34pm

Every one has an opinion on rims so take anything you read with a grain of salt...

In my opinion, if you have only broken one spoke so far, you do not need to replace or rebuild the wheel but I would need to know more details or see the wheel to give you an educated opinion on the matter.  It usually takes some time for a spoke to loosen up, it is my opinion that if you had a spoke wicked loose the shop who changed the broken spoke did not look the wheel over wheel or do a good job of truing/tensioning the wheel when replacing the spoke. Also, FWIW, it is not the loose spoke that breaks but the spokes near it that break because it is not carrying it's weight.

As for rims the CR18 is good if that is what you are looking for appearance wise and don't want to spend a ton of money, a best value sort of thing, but there are lots of much stronger, and lighter, rims out there.  I would suggest doing some research on the matter and making an educated decision.

Buying a whole wheel will be cheaper than having one built to your old hub.  I would not use the old rim either; it is not the best quality but more importantly it has been stressed by having broken spokes so it may not build up the best.  The hand built wheel, however, will be of a much higher quality.

If you have any questions about wheel building feel free to contact me either at Rapid Transit North or here.  Also feel free to shoot me details about your shop visit; I would be interested in details because their explanation seems fishy to me, one spoke does not mean others will follow in many cases.

Permalink Reply by dan brown on May 3, 2012 at 9:17am

good question. short answer : several things.

longer answer :

have the wheel properly trued and tensioned

put less weight in the milk crate (do-h)

I got a wider tire (its a 28 but is the width of a 32 at the tread) and that seemed to help a lot

 

DB

 

 

 

 

it's been an interesting year

S.Presley said:

Seeing this bumped and then reading the thread makes me ask the question...

Dan, what DID you do and how is your "broke spoke" situation now?

Permalink Reply by Liz on May 3, 2012 at 9:39am

If you're looking for a wheel upgrade I would recommend ordering a wheel set from this company, I've gotten 2 wheel sets and both where a HUGE upgrade, the cost of their sets is less than if I ordered the parts and built it myself, and the labor quality is outstanding. 

http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/road/fixed/single-spd-track/ca...

this set http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/road/fixed/single-spd-track/pu... is on sale for 50% off, so $110 for a descent wheel set is a good bargain. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 3, 2012 at 9:42am

Once steel wire passes its yield strength it "turns the corner" and will never be the same again.  It'll just keep stretching and stretching until it hits its ultimate tensile strength, necks and breaks.  A wheel where more than one or two spokes has already broken, and has been ridden "loose" for a while without proper tension has a bunch of spokes on it that have probably turned this corner.  Properly tensioning and re-truing a wheel that has been so abused or wore will not help if ANY of the spokes have passed their yield strength even once.  The'll just keep poppin'

Read more about Yield Strengths and other properties of metals.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on May 3, 2012 at 10:46am

Not really that great a deal for off brand 'cheap V's' laced to loose ball hubs.  There is a set of off brand 'cheap v's' with cartridge hubs hanging up here at Rapid for sale for under $220.

Liz said:


this set http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/road/fixed/single-spd-track/pu... is on sale for 50% off, so $110 for a descent wheel set is a good bargain. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 3, 2012 at 10:52am

Nothing wrong with loose-balls.  They are much cheaper to service if you do them yourself -but I guess nobody does anything themselves any more.  

I just bought a rebuild kit for my eggbeater pedals last week.  $15 for a couple of tiny cartridge bearings and some plastic bushings.  I'm in the wrong business...

Permalink Reply by Liz on May 3, 2012 at 11:36am

I'm not sure I would call these cheap, I've been riding their pour tour rims for over a year, and have noticed a significant improvement in ride quality from previous wheel set, the rims have held up to many heavy loads, curb jumps and bumps without any problems,  the pure areo is a less robust rim so I'm not sure about those.  I don't work for them, but I've ordered 2 wheel sets from them (one pure tour set w/ultergra hub and one fixed maxic set w/ formula hub) and been extremely happy with the quality of their wheels.

Loose ball hubs have been serving me well, cartridge allow for less maintenance but. I usually just have my hubs serviced during my annual tune up, doesn't add much cost. 

 

There's lots of wheels to choose from out there.  Regardless of what you choose in the long run, its worth it to splurge a little and get a quality wheel that can withstand the daily abuse of chicago streets. 

notoriousDUG said:

Not really that great a deal for off brand 'cheap V's' laced to loose ball hubs.  There is a set of off brand 'cheap v's' with cartridge hubs hanging up here at Rapid for sale for under $220.

Liz said:


this set http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/road/fixed/single-spd-track/pu... is on sale for 50% off, so $110 for a descent wheel set is a good bargain. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on May 3, 2012 at 11:50am

I have had my cartridge bearings outlast braking surface on my rims so I'll take that over having to repack my hubs all the time.

Plus you can service them at home and it is even easier to set them up because there is not bearing pre-load adjustment.

James BlackHeron said:

Nothing wrong with loose-balls.  They are much cheaper to service if you do them yourself -but I guess nobody does anything themselves any more.  

I just bought a rebuild kit for my eggbeater pedals last week.  $15 for a couple of tiny cartridge bearings and some plastic bushings.  I'm in the wrong business...

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on May 23, 2012 at 7:30am

aaaaand my 2nd spoke busted this morning. This time, 1 down from the one that busted 3 weeks ago.

 

Would it be wise to spend $20 to have the spoke fixed/wheel trued, or is it better to put that $20 towards a brand new wheel/spoke build?

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on May 23, 2012 at 11:01am

Honestly without being able to look at the wheel and check the spoke tension on it it's impossible to give an accurate answer on that.

Jim S said:

aaaaand my 2nd spoke busted this morning. This time, 1 down from the one that busted 3 weeks ago.

 

Would it be wise to spend $20 to have the spoke fixed/wheel trued, or is it better to put that $20 towards a brand new wheel/spoke build?

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