Serial Broken Spokes

[Bill Hole]

I just replaced the wheel set on my commuter for this very reason. After three spokes, I saw the handwriting on the wall and bought a set of 36-spoke wheels. I squeezed and plucked the spokes to be sure they were tight before mounting, and I expect them to work much better than the Shimano HR-500’s that came on the bike. This is the second bike I’ve bought in recent years that required new wheels because of spoke breakage. I have little faith in original-equipment wheels.

The longest-lasting wheels I’ve ever had were the set I built myself in 1981 for my old Falcon 10-speed. They’re still rolling.

[Terpfan]

So opinions requested on this same subject. My relatiely newish (bought in late sept) road bike (ridley fenix) broke a spoke on rear wheel two weeks ago. I think on drive side. Anyway, I got in maybe two-threeweeks of riding before another spoke broke (maybe 500 miles, tops, between breaking). But i keep thinking it can’t be the wheel as it’s so new and my hybrid took 3 yrs to need a new wheel. Is my mechanically stupid mind just way off and it’s just crappy stock wheel? I’m going to check to see if there was any warranty on it.

[hozn]

Yes, crap wheel. Well, badly built wheel. It could probably be salvaged but likely needs to be completely detensioned and retensioned in order to ensure that tensions are even – and also that they are high enough (if the wheel is sufficiently spec’d I am guessing the wheel was under tensioned).

If there was no specific trauma (e.g. chain chewed through spoke), the spokes breaking is a symptom of a bigger problem; replacing the broken spokes won’t solve the larger issue.

[Jason B]

Ok, ok, cheap wheels, poorly made wheels seems to be obvious for the broken spokes, but what about riding style contributing to broken spokes? (Not insinuating anything Terpfan, just broadening the topic)
I have a buddy who got a decent bike with some decent Folcrums, nothing super special but a solid level wheel. He has broken many spokes. I have to think his constant mashing style, with swaying attack-like spurts, terribly inefficiently mind you, has to do torque damage. No???
Also, I have another buddy, great rider. Built himself a beastly set of wheels with sapims and alchemy elf and (the other alchemy) with on par rims (can’t remember). He has spurts of soaring power attacks. He also breaks spokes regularly. Granted, cavendish can churn out twice as much power with with nary a ping. barring having Marky’s fleat of wrenches to finely tune his precious spinners, can’t power surges and riding style have some play in the broken spoke arena? Nes pas?
Here’s as question, do sprinters break more spokes?

[brendan]

The old-timers (compliment) at Bicyclespace built up a pair of bombproof wheels for the big dummy a little ways back. Sapin heavy-duty spokes, rhyno lite boxy rims, etc.

Neither light nor cheap (for their class of rim), but hopefully no worries for the next 5-10 years.

B

[hozn]

I’m no expert here, and I may be well be wrong (am happy to be wrong!) but from what I have read, I don’t think riding style — at least in terms of torque — is going to be a singnificant factor in breaking wheels. Apparently forces due to pedaling torque are less significant compared to forces from braking torque and far less significant than forces due to rider weight and impact. So definitely heavier riders or people riding on rough terrain (and riding “style” could be a factor there) are going to need stronger wheels.

I will admit here that I do feel that braking force — specifically disc-brakes — is a significant factor. This is because I have broken (a few!) spokes on disc-brake wheels. I am willing to concede that there were probably some mistakes made in those earlier builds — and likely my wheels weren’t under sufficient tension. I now treat front (disc-brake) wheels more like rear wheels in terms of going for maximum/recommended tension for the rims. I also pay a lot more attention to stress relieving spokes and also ensuring that spokes don’t wind up when building. And I use thinner / more elastic spokes (Sapim D-Light or CX-Ray). And I prioritize tension balance over perfect trueness, since a disc-brake wheel being slightly (e.g. 1mm) out of lateral true isn’t going to cause any brake rub. So far I haven’t had any issues since refining these techniques, but both of my recent disc wheelsets each have only 3k miles on them, so they’re still babies.

If a wheel is built correctly and still breaks, then my first instinct would be that there are insufficient spokes. More spokes means, obviously, more sharing of the load when the rim deflects (which it does in the normal course of riding) due to impacting a hole (or a curb) or even just as the wheel rotates. It is the dramatic changes in tension that cause spokes to break, so finding a spoke that is very elastic may help or adding more spokes so that any single spoke is changing less. Etc.

[Terpfan]

Could be my riding style, although I doubt it given I don’t have that much power. I suspect it’s just a crappy wheel combined with dealing with random bumps on MVT/DC roads. I literally broke one or two spokes in three years on the hybrid and logged thousands of miles before needing to replace the rear wheel. I’m going to shoot them a note asking more about bike warranty because it will blow if I have to drop a few hundred for a new wheel just months into riding it. We shall see.

[Terpfan]

@Terpfan 109570 wrote:

Could be my riding style, although I doubt it given I don’t have that much power. I suspect it’s just a crappy wheel combined with dealing with random bumps on MVT/DC roads. I literally broke one or two spokes in three years on the hybrid and logged thousands of miles before needing to replace the rear wheel. I’m going to shoot them a note asking more about bike warranty because it will blow if I have to drop a few hundred for a new wheel just months into riding it. We shall see.

“We stand behind every product we sell. If an item does not meet your expectations, simply return it. We guarantee your money back for a full year. After one year. we will provide an exchange, repair, or store credit to ensure you have product that meets your needs. If you have lost your receipt, we will provide a store credit at our current price.

You can get help with this from our Customer Service folks. They can be reached at 800-727-2433 or EMAIL them at customerservice@performancebike.com They will be happy to assist you.”

Well, I guess I’ll just bring it at the next broken spoke. What’s funny is they seem to think I want the money when I fact, I just want it to work.

[hozn]

Yeah, performance is great about stuff like that. Good — hopefully they can get that bike back on the road. I am not sure I would trust them to actually rebuild the wheel, but YMMV.

[Terpfan]

@hozn 109639 wrote:

Yeah, performance is great about stuff like that. Good — hopefully they can get that bike back on the road. I am not sure I would trust them to actually rebuild the wheel, but YMMV.

Oh, I’m still riding until my next spoke breaks (hoping it clears the end of BAFS at least).

And agreed, I am a little nervous about them on a rebuild. Although I went to the one in Springfield and the lead maintenance guy there seems good.

[Terpfan]

@Terpfan 109935 wrote:

Oh, I’m still riding until my next spoke breaks (hoping it clears the end of BAFS at least).

And agreed, I am a little nervous about them on a rebuild. Although I went to the one in Springfield and the lead maintenance guy there seems good.

That didn’t take long. Less than two weeks later (and I only rode half of the days in between with snow/work/etc), another broken spoke on rear tire. I rode hybrid in today and tomorrow I will take it to Performance and basically say I need you guys to give me a wheel that works. Otherwise, the bike has been fine. The only other plus is that I’ve become an expert at knowing exactly when the spoke tension goes even modestly.

[Terpfan]

@Terpfan 111485 wrote:

That didn’t take long. Less than two weeks later (and I only rode half of the days in between with snow/work/etc), another broken spoke on rear tire. I rode hybrid in today and tomorrow I will take it to Performance and basically say I need you guys to give me a wheel that works. Otherwise, the bike has been fine. The only other plus is that I’ve become an expert at knowing exactly when the spoke tension goes even modestly.

So heard back from Performance that Ridley denied the warranty on rear wheel. Their rationale was two-part. One, Ridley claimed they have never had anyone claim a wheel warranty issue. Two, they claimed it should have had a claim from the first broken spoke. Both the Performance employee and I thought those are total bs responses given every wheel is built individually so saying the others were fine is pointless and because the regular response to any broken spoke is not to presume wheel failure, but to change the spoke.

Anyway, Performance guy said he will push back on Ridley given it’s their product. Then mentioned they could do a wheel for me for $100 and no labor installed. But I said I was only five months into one year warranty so I don’t think I should be paying. He said he’ll try with Ridley again and then we’ll go from there.

So, awaiting his call back and keeping my fingers crossed that Ridley has an iota of customer service although not expecting it.

[dasgeh]

@Terpfan 112731 wrote:

So, awaiting his call back and keeping my fingers crossed that Ridley has an iota of customer service although not expecting it.

Have you tried twitter?

[Terpfan]

@dasgeh 112738 wrote:

Have you tried twitter?

Not yet. I’m thinking social media is my next outlet if Performance doesn’t succeed, but I figured best to let them try first.

[hozn]

@Terpfan 112731 wrote:

the regular response to any broken spoke is not to presume wheel failure, but to change the spoke.

I would suggest that a broken spoke (from stress, not some known trauma, like a chain off the big cog) — especially on such young wheels — should be assumed to be a symptom of a larger problem with the wheel. Spokes will keep braking until the root problem (undertensioned or unevenly tensioned wheel most likely) is fixed.

But of course, I agree that to use that as reason not to honor warranty is dumb. I would recommend not getting factory-built wheels again. Folks like Easton hand build their wheels and my limited experience suggests that they do a good job.

[Author]

Posts