Tandem Cycling - Fuji tandem breaking spokes?

Anybody having problems with rear wheels on the Fuji Absolute tandems breaking spokes? Just spoke to an organization that bought 10 of these bikes, and the group coordinator said he's taken in wheels 12-15 times for broken spokes.

Thanks,
Rich

Anybody having problems with rear wheels on the Fuji Absolute tandems breaking spokes? Just spoke to an organization that bought 10 of these bikes, and the group coordinator said he's taken in wheels 12-15 times for broken spokes.

Thanks,
Rich
I had a broken spoke on the rear wheel on the Fuji tandem. That's the only problem so far. I have the '04 model.

The wheels are most likely machine-built using inexpensive spokes. Machine-built wheels can be reliable IF they have had the spokes tensioned and balanced by the hand of a decent wheelbuilder/mechanic. Knowing that the wheels on my KHS fell into the same category (though they had Wheelsmith spokes) I took both wheels to the local wheel guru for a once-over as soon as I got the bike. Saved me a lot of trouble in the long run.

In theory the spokes should not break and if they do, they should be replace if the bike is within the warranty period. But, in reality a poorly built wheel will never be reliable (even more so on and tandem) and the owner will get tired of taking the wheel back and forth to the shop and the shop usually will do the minimum to get the wheel rideable until the warranty is up. So, the owner will have to bite the bullet and have all the spokes replaced (assuming the rim is serviceable) with quality spokes properly tensioned and balanced and argue with the shop for some sort of credit.

Agree with Galen's assessment. Get a *wheel builder* (not just a shop wrench) to true and tension and stress both wheels.
While a rear wheel is usually the one with spoke issues because of all the torque, get both wheels checked. It'll be a good investment!
Our custom Zona tandem has over 11,000 miles on the wheels . . . all's fine . . . so far.
Have had one front wheel on one of our tandems last 57,000 miles without any spoke breakage.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

While a rear wheel is usually the one with spoke issues because of all the torque, get both wheels checked.

I have been reading Jobst Brandt's "The Bicycle Wheel." Amazingly, the effect of twisting the rear hub under acceleration -- even in a sprint -- makes a pretty small impact on the spokes. Brandt indicates that a fully-inflated tire produces a greater affect on the spokes than the cyclist's pedaling forces!

Seems that things like absolute rider weight, impacts, and side loads are some of the most significant factors.

Also, he says that spokes are almost never broken by a simple too-strong force, but rather fatigue gradually at one end or the other before finally giving in. A spoke that's pulled apart from a huge force (like a massive impact) will break farther away from the end.

A good book, and a real brain-tweaker. I'm learning tons!

-Greg