Bicycle Mechanics - spokes broke on wheel

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stumpelcenter
02-10-04, 10:18 AM
Hey everyone, I was testing my bike the other day, was going to take it out for a spin, when I noticed that one of the spokes broke on my rear wheel. My bike is fairly new, bought it in July last year, and this is the second time I have had a problem with the wheel. The first time, I went to the bike shop where I bought it and the mechanic just fixed it, well he said he did. This was about 4 months ago. Everything seemed to be okay until the other day. Also I haven't ridden it for 3 months or so and don't remember any problems last time I rode it. When I take it back to the bike shop, should I expect them to fix it for free again, should I demand a new wheel or what?

The bike btw is a Fuji Silhouette (http://www.fujibikes.com/road/bike.asp?category_short_name=road&myArray=1,2,3,4,5,19,6,7,8,18,16,9,10,20,11,12,13,17,15,14,54,55,56,57&myArrayID=21&yr=2003)

Thanks,
Adam

demoncyclist
02-10-04, 10:44 AM
If the spokes are popping when the bike isn't being ridden, I would say that it wasn't built correctly to begin with, and should be replaced. The replacement wheel should be checked for even spoke tension by the shop before they install it on your bike.
prevail24
02-10-04, 09:05 PM
Many shops do not properly inspect a bike before they send it out the door. Like the previous poster said, it was not tensioned correctly before it left the shop. Also, the spokes need to be readjusted within about 20 hours worth of good riding.
Also, if you are a larger person or a masher, you can also pop spokes on a wheel that does not have a high enough spoke count., Because I am large, I rock a 36 hole rear wheel on my cross/commuter bike. before that, I was busting spokes all the time as a courier.

giantmdb
02-10-04, 09:09 PM
If the bike is under a year old and low mileage they should fix it for free. A spoke is about $1.50 and it would take a good mechanic about 5 minutes to replace it and true the wheel.

Not to get personal but are you a heavy person? Say, 200 +? If not then you may just have a bad set of spokes on the bike. Ask the shop to tension the spokes. They may be over/under tensioned and this can cause premature brakage.

I've have six road bikes and three mountain bikes since 1983 and I've only recently broken spokes (4) and three were on my front wheel with 4000 miles on it. I finally tore it down and did a radial lace on it and no more broken spokes in the past 1000 miles.