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On Sunday we were taking our 2nd ride on the tandem since our accident 3 wks. ago (front wheel tacoed, rear wheel & frame okay). A few miles into the ride our friend noticed that the rear wheel was wobbly. Upon closer inspection we discovered a broken spoke. End of ride. Boo.
My question is this: We've had this tandem since Oct. '06, have accomplished 3 centuries & have a total of approx. 1900 miles on it. This is the 3rd rear wheel spoke we've broken in that time. Is this common? Is it the quality of workmanship and/or materials used to build the wheel? Will my losing 10 lbs. make a difference? (Warning: Answering in the affirmative will cost you style points.) Are all tandems so prone to spoke-breaking? The guys at the LBS don't know, my research-prone captain can't find an answer, thus I turn to the greater wisdom I often find here. Yeah, yeah, I'm sucking up, but admit it, y'all like to be called wise. ;)
TIA!
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Great to see you back on the saddle.
We have mistreated our wheels badly on the tandem and never broken a spoke (48 spoke wheels). You might tell us what sort of wheel you have and your team weight. But you should not be breaking spokes, you might have a wheel that was bent when the first spoke broke, and from then on you have had varying spoke tensions when it was trued with the new spoke.
On my singles once a wheel started doing that I have always found the only answer is to start from scratch with a new rim, new spokes and a good wheel builder. Used to do the job myself, but now I don't have the patience and take it to my LBS.
How much do you weigh?
:: scampers for the nearest rock to hide under ::
The great minds will need more info, like type of wheel and spoke count. Wouldn't hurt to mention team weight too. :D
How much do you weigh?
:: scampers for the nearest rock to hide under ::. :D
Hee! Cute!
Seriously...team weight total is 300 lbs. (usually after I have a couple breath mints & a cup of coffee & call it breakfast). We have a Raleigh Coupe tandem with 48 spoke wheels. This rear wheel has been replaced from the factory once, and the LBS did notreport finding any other damage when they did their post-accident inspection.
Hey Doggus, don't come out from under that rock. RedRider breaks spokes from excess use of power, not from overloading.
As someone who believes in high spoke count wheels except for really lightweight teams, I think you guys should get a pair of custom tandem wheels made and be done with it. Note, I said custom, not some off the shelf factory made wheel.
Mike
This is the 3rd rear wheel spoke we've broken in that time. Is it the quality of workmanship and/or materials used to build the wheel? Is this common?
A broken spoke is common when the quality of workmanship isn't up to snuff. The quality of the hub, spokes and rim can also contribute to the likelihood of spoke failures.
Anyway, if you have one broken spoke there's no need to panic. If a second spoke lets go, it's probably time to get the entire wheel rebuilt with new spokes, i.e., start over from scratch, as you'll continue to break spokes until such time as the wheel IS rebuilt.
The best way to prevent broken spokes is to check any new wheel for equal and adequate tension. Chances are, if a wheel isn't true or the tension isn't even, the wheel also wasn't stress relieved. If these workmanship issues are corrected before the wheel is used, no worries... unless the wheel won't hold equal tension due to inferior materials.
Now, even good wheels can go bad. But, in most cases there's a reason such as rim damage from hitting an obstacle/road defect, from a crash or, more obscure things like a stoker who "bounces" when they pedal.
Regardless, a good wheel builder should always inspect a wheel with a broken spoke to establish why it broke before slapping another spoke on. This would include checking for rim damage (something that tandems are more prone to than 1/2 bikes), uneven tension across the wheel, etc... to make sure that you're not sent out the door with a wheel that will continue to give you problems.
So, to your other questions: Are tandems more prone to spoke breakage? Yes and no. Tandems with well-built wheels that have the appropriate number of spokes for the rider weights and useage will last 20,000 miles or more IF they aren't dinged by a pothole and kept true via regular preventative maintenance. For tandems that had poorly built wheels, that aren't robust enough for their riders, or that aren't given preventative maintenance, they'll see far more spoke breakage than similar wheels on a single bike if only because of the greated demands put on wheels by tandems.
OK. I'm going to say this, and please believe me, I am not casting any aspersions. One of the major differences in quality between a relatively "inexpensive" tandem (although at $1300-1500, it's hard to think of your Raleigh Coupe as "inexpensive") and a higher-priced one is in the wheels -- parts, build, assembly. Factory-built wheels, especially factory-built tandem wheels, really need to be properly tensioned by someone who knows what s/he's doing before long miles ensue. Factory-built, moderately-priced wheels tend NOT to come from the factory properly tensioned. They may spin true, but that can be very misleading. Don't know what caused your front wheel to collapse, but I'm afraid I'd have to guess that the OEM wheels were never properly trued and tensioned. Cfblue suggests a set of custom wheels above. Probably a good idea. If you have your OEM wheels replaced/rebuilt, make sure a tandem-savvy wheelbuilder does the job, and get the opinion of this person first regarding the component quality of the wheels before you spend money having them rebuilt.
Hey Doggus, don't come out from under that rock. RedRider breaks spokes from excess use of power, not from overloading.
+1 There is a previous post by RR or her captain about them spinning the rear wheel on hills. I thinks she needs spokes similar to the ones in these dragster front wheels. :D
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/dragsterwheels.jpg
As someone who believes in high spoke count wheels except for really lightweight teams, I think you guys should get a pair of custom tandem wheels made and be done with it. Note, I said custom, not some off the shelf factory made wheel.
Mike
One of the problems with rear Tandem wheels is not the weight- but the power that gets transmitted though it. Off the shelf Tandem wheels are not always value for money or good. I had the standard XT hub on Rhino lite wheels on our Tandem when we got it. Besides the fact that they kept going out of true- they did not feel a good wheel either. Sent them to a wheel builder to sort out and he talked me into a custom set of wheels. A bit expensive but the Standard XT with rhino lites go for the same price at some of the "Tandem" Dealers over here. Those custom wheels are Excellent. They ride and feel beter than the standard ones and only get sent back to him every 2 to 3,000 miles. The XT/ rhinos had to go back after 1,000 and are now in the Shed, unused since the last retrue.
Hey Doggus, don't come out from under that rock. RedRider breaks spokes from excess use of power, not from overloading.Mike
You're saying this in the nicest way possible, right??? :p
+1 There is a previous post by RR or her captain about them spinning the rear wheel on hills. I thinks she needs spokes similar to the ones in these dragster front wheels. :D
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/dragsterwheels.jpg
Nice. I'll take a pair -- we may need the spare. ;)
Just to set the information straight. We have Alex DM 21, 40h 700c stock wheels. We broke a spoke within the first 300 miles and the second one before 500. The LBS warrantied the wheel and I got a new rim. They said there was something wrong with the rim but the factory did not elaborate. We put almost 1500 more miles on it before we broke the third spoke. We did not hit any major pot holes or do anything that would seem capable of breaking a spoke but there you are. I asked the LBS to check out the wheel carefully this time. If this is going to be a regular event we will consider getting a better wheel set. There is a lot of power in the back ;). We have Avid BB7 discs front and back with 6" rotors. I like the bike for what it is and we plan on getting a bunch more miles on it before we get an upgrade. I just don't want to spend a lot of many on components as we don't have a lot of money to spend on it and I am trying to save up for a really good upgrade.
Any suggestions on wheel sets that won't require me selling anything to afford them?
OK. I'm going to say this, and please believe me, I am not casting any aspersions. One of the major differences in quality between a relatively "inexpensive" tandem (although at $1300-1500, it's hard to think of your Raleigh Coupe as "inexpensive") and a higher-priced one is in the wheels -- parts, build, assembly. Factory-built wheels, especially factory-built tandem wheels, really need to be properly tensioned by someone who knows what s/he's doing before long miles ensue. Factory-built, moderately-priced wheels tend NOT to come from the factory properly tensioned. They may spin true, but that can be very misleading. Don't know what caused your front wheel to collapse, but I'm afraid I'd have to guess that the OEM wheels were never properly trued and tensioned. Cfblue suggests a set of custom wheels above. Probably a good idea. If you have your OEM wheels replaced/rebuilt, make sure a tandem-savvy wheelbuilder does the job, and get the opinion of this person first regarding the component quality of the wheels before you spend money having them rebuilt.
ITA. We knew we weren't buying the top-of-the-line tandem. We were trying it out to see if we'd make a good tandem team. I'm happy to say that we've outgrown (or out-powered) this one in less than 7 months.
We were reluctant to spend twice the money at the time, since my Captain had never ridden a tandem & I had very little experience. We've invested in high-quality toys only to find a year or so down the line that they really weren't for (one of) us.
The front wheel collapsed because we were doored last month at the tail-end of a century. (For a couple of weeks we looked like poster children for spousal abuse.) Even so, the front wheel hasn't been the problem child as far as the broken spokes are concerned. It's been the rear wheel.
You folks have pretty much confirmed what I've suspected for a while now. Guess I'll be saving my pennies & cruising eBay for a better tandem.
Thanks all for your help.
RR -- Girl Power!
Powerful stokers break spokes on rear wheels . . .
Recall stoker Kay, at less than 110 lbs, power-torqueing us up a steep climb a few years back . . . Ping! . . . yup, broke a spoke!
Asides from that, do agree that a well built set of wheels are worth their weight in gold. Either $ave some $ and get a new set of wheels, or save more $$$$, and buy a better equipped tandem. By selling the Coupe you can 're-Coupe' (pun intended) some of your original investment (but youll lose out on the $ of the new wheels).
Either way, that Coupe has served its purpose quite well; you found out you like riding TWOgether . . .
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
I haven't read this thread thoroughly, so I don't know if this has been mentioned:
If you have wheels built for your tandem, try to have it done locally. I once had a wheel built for me by a respected and well known builder in the Northeast who fully warrantied his work (I live in Florida). When it began breaking spokes, he offered to fix it for free if I shipped it to him, which would be expensive and leave me without a rear wheel while it was gone. I replaced the spoke myself and trued the wheel. After the fifth spoke broke, I gave in and sent the wheel to him, and he rebuilt it completely. When I got it back, I sold it without putting it on the bike and built my own wheel set, which I should have done in the first place. I've had many thousands of miles on those wheels now with no broken spokes.
The point being that if you have it done locally, service, if needed, will be far less trouble.
For those who are wondering why I didn't build the wheels myself in the first place, it was due to a lack of motivation and the fact that proper components for tandem wheels are expensive if you don't buy in volume, or have a business arrangement with a parts house.
Rick
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