I keep breaking spokes

I have gone through about a spoke a week on my rear wheel for the last five weeks. I have been to two different bikes shops to try and solve the problem. Both shops say my wheel looks fine and have identified the problem as bad truing. One mechanic thought it was b/c I did not have DT spokes.

I am at my wits end. Any advice for me?

Here's some info about my bike:
--Schwinn Cream, I've had it for just over a year
--Internal Shimano 3-speed (few months newer than the bike)
--Spokes have broken on both sides (not just the driver side)
--The breaks I've heard have been after a bump. Today the break was as I was pedaling as I was leading off from a stopping position. It seemed to happen right as I was shifting gears but I guess that is a coincidence.
--I usually ride with a pannier on the one side but it rarely has more than 5-15 pounds in it.
--I have broken spokes here and there but never continuously like this.

Thank you for your time and advice!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sam S on May 21, 2009 at 11:47am
Have you replaced all the spokes with new ones? (By "all the spokes" I mean "including the ones that haven't broken yet"). That would be my advice.
Permalink Reply by joe on May 21, 2009 at 12:28pm
i had the same problem about 2 years ago...replaced the spokes and had my rear triangle adjusted...it was off a lil to the right...after that it was fine. till i got ran over. broke most of them again. :)
Permalink Reply by Tyra on May 21, 2009 at 12:43pm
hi joe, what is the rear triangle?

joe said:
i had the same problem about 2 years ago...replaced the spokes and had my rear triangle adjusted...it was off a lil to the right...after that it was fine. till i got ran over. broke most of them again. :)
Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on May 21, 2009 at 1:31pm
There was a bad batch of metal that was turned into spokes a few years ago. An expensive metal needed for strength was omitted and most spoke brands were affected. This sounds like that problem. Have the wheel rebuilt with all new spokes. If you had a 8+ speed rear wheel, which is highly dished, I would suggest a non-drive side half radial. Since you have an internal, you should have little to no dish.
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on May 21, 2009 at 2:59pm
i agree.

i wonder if its the same spoke spot everytime. .

h3 said:
The shops should have recommended a complete rebuild of the wheel by hand (?)
Permalink Reply by joe on May 22, 2009 at 5:50am
rear triangle is the rear portion of the bike that looks and is a triangle..
Permalink Reply by Jeff Koss on May 22, 2009 at 6:01am
Happened to me a few years ago when I bought a new wheel after one was stolen. After the 3rd spoke that broke I had them all replaced with mentioned DT spokes, and haven't broken one since. The shop I bought it from charged me about $40 to do the replacement, which is more expensive than the parts cost, but he felt bad for selling me a problematic wheel.
Permalink Reply by dittoottib on May 22, 2009 at 6:17am
bad spokes, for sure. get someone to replace all of them. if you cant find someone to do it for a reasonable cost, ping me as ive got all the tools and capabilities to do so.
Permalink Reply by Tyra on June 9, 2009 at 1:59am
thanks for all of your replies! i got my rear wheel rebuilt a couple weeks ago and was given a discount. having your feedback under belt going into the bike shop helped me feel more confident. i've ridden about a hundred miles on it and it is rock solid. woot woot!

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