Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Sigh... stupid crow's foot rear wheel

Second busted spoke in three weeks this morning, 2 blocks into my 3 mile ride (walked today... walking sucks) to work. So now I'm having it rebuilt as a 4 cross. Anyone else here have 4 cross on their rear wheel? How's it hold up?

no spoke wrench in your bag? even w/ low spoke count wheels i can fudge it enough to get me to my destination... sucks regardless!

4-cross is monster lacing - I only see that on BMX bikes and tandems. It should be totally bombproof.

2nd busted spoke in 3 weeks....damn...who is building these wheels?

I don't think it was the builder, it was my fault. I wanted that pattern even after I had been gently steered away from it. Radials on a fixie rear wheel just aren't a good idea. I knew that when I had the wheel built, I just thought it would be different for me.

wait...u built a radial rear wheel?

No, I built a crow's foot rear wheel.

Ah, that'd be the problem. Torsional force means you have to have a cross.

Pics please when it's finished, I wanna see what a 4x fixed wheel looks like.

No, I built a crow's foot rear wheel.

yea a crows foot shouldn't be blowing spokes like that =\

yea a crows foot shouldn't be blowing spokes like that =\

Maybe you're right, I'm not saying you aren't. I was told that this could be an issue before I had the wheel built, though, and here it is.

Pics please when it's finished, I wanna see what a 4x fixed wheel looks like.

looks like any other 4x wheel..

Your spokes aren't breaking from the lacing pattern. Crow's foot is a STRONG pattern. It's something else. Which spokes are you breaking? Leading, trailing or radial?

Radial, on the rear wheel. My front wheel is fine. And again, you could be right about it not being the lacing pattern. Just sayin', people told me this would happen.

Also, brakeless probably had something to do with it as well.

Broken spokes are generally a sign of an under tensioned wheel. I would have the builder take a look at it and go over it with a tensionometer. Also, brakeless should have no bearing on the situation at all.

We used the tensionometer 3 weeks ago after the first spoke broke. And brakeless could very well have bearing, I'm apply force against the direction of the wheel, and the spokes are caught in the middle. Just a guess, I don't really know.

you seem to have all the answers. what exactly is it you'd like to hear?

I'm willing to bet the lacing IS the fault...did you pinch the radial spoke between the crosses? The radial spoke should be outside the rest...here:

http://www.geocities.com/spokeanwheel/lacingcf.htm

It sounds like a poor build that's all.

Never said I was looking for answers. Just sharing my experience about my crow's foot wheel. I think it's ironic that when I was talking about building the wheel, people were advising me against it and now that what I was told then is happening now people are saying it isn't the wheel. Anyway, sp00ki, you seem to pick a bone with me pretty often. What's up with that?

sorry, didn't realize. nothing personal, i respond soley to the words, not the worder.

I'm willing to bet the lacing IS the fault...did you pinch the radial spoke between the crosses? The radial spoke should be outside the rest...here:

http://www.geocities.com/spokeanwheel/lacingcf.htm

It sounds like a poor build that's all.

The radial was behind the crosses, not pinched between them. Would having them outside/in front of the crosses make a difference?

Why 4 cross? 3 cross will be plenty strong.

Other reading (http://www.geocities.com/spokeanwheel/lacinglp.htm)

3 cross is plenty strong, isnt 4 cross used in keirin?

yep...the crossed spokes are putting lateral tension on the radial spoke...not good...the radial spoke should be OUTBOARD of the cross.

yep...the crossed spokes are putting lateral tension on the radial spoke...not good...the radial spoke should be OUTBOARD of the cross.

Hmm, I'll have to let them know about that. Either way, it needed to be rebuilt either as a different pattern or to relace all the radial spokes. As for 4 cross rather than 3 cross: They didn't have the right length in the shop to do a 3 cross, and I still want to have a lil' sumphin' different than the usual 3 cross and it just happened to work that way. Not like I got over-paranoid about the wheel and decided to go suuuuuper bombproof. Either way it should be pretty rad.