Bicycle Mechanics - Spokes consistantly coming loose

I'm a fat man, 290, and I have a few spokes that are consistantly coming loose ever few rides. I've been remembering to tighten them up every so often but I woudl really like them to stop. What appears to be happening is during a tough climb a couple of spokes are bing pulled from their nipples so that they have no tension on them. They are always easy to tighten back up and true the wheel. I am riding Mavic CXP21 wheels, 32 spokes. I guess I should probably replace the spokes that are doing this? I thought about puttign thread lock on them but figure that may not be a good idea for future maintance.

I'm a fat man, 290, and I have a few spokes that are consistantly coming loose ever few rides. I've been remembering to tighten them up every so often but I woudl really like them to stop. What appears to be happening is during a tough climb a couple of spokes are bing pulled from their nipples so that they have no tension on them. They are always easy to tighten back up and true the wheel. I am riding Mavic CXP21 wheels, 32 spokes. I guess I should probably replace the spokes that are doing this? I thought about puttign thread lock on them but figure that may not be a good idea for future maintance.


I had the same problem with a 36 spoke, 4 cross wheel I had built for me. It was a Mavic rim, but I forget the name of it. I'm a big guy too, 280-285. Basically, every 60 to 120 miles, I'd have 1 or 2 spokes very very loose, or a broken spoke. I was continually taking the wheel back to the shop that built it and they tried everything, but it never stopped happening. I eventually gave up on the wheel (and the shop for that matter, in terms of wheels... i still go there for other types of work).

I had a master wheel builder build me a pair of wheels with Velocity rims, 14 gauge spokes, 3 cross pattern, 36 hole ultegra hubs. I have well over 6000 miles on the wheels now and had one spoke break... that's it. No loose spokes. I have been taking them in every couple 1000 miles just to have him give them a quick check and I think the first or second time he did a quick truing, but every other time he hasn't had to really do anything to them.

If you can find a real wheel builder in your area, I'd suggest taking your wheels to him/her. I'm surprised you are running a 32 spoke wheel. My bike came with 32 spoke wheels, and I basically shredded the rear wheel within a month. Going down a hill at about 34 mph and two spokes broke at the same time. The wheel was so out of true after that it was almost locked up against the frame.

If you can find a good wheel builder, he/she may be able to just re-true and retension the wheel using locktight or something similar. However, it's been my experience and I've been told by two different wheel builders that once you start breaking spokes on a regular basis or the spokes won't stay tight anymore that the wheel is pretty much hopeless. It'll just keep happening on a regular basis and drive you nuts.

Good luck and I hope you figure it out.

It may be that you have stripped the threads out of the nipple. The spokes are stainless and very hard. The nipples are brass and are soft. They may be aluminum. At 290, I hope not.

I would replace the nipples on the ones that are loosening up. For a couple bucks, you could just replace the spokes too.

Sounds like a bad wheel build to me. Spoke prep is always a good idea. I have used blue Loc-Tite on wheels I ride a set I did for myself and have had zero problems. A local tri athlete uses a set I built for him using the same method and loves them. Also Sapim makes spke nipples that are self locking. I built a set using those for my wife and they are superb. As a matter of fact Sapim spokes is what I use exclusively. I figure if Lance and the USPS team uses Sapim they are good enough for anyone else right?

Next time you have a rear wheel built you should probably ask the mechanic to construct it for your weight. I hear if you radially spoke the non drive side of a rear wheel it will help reduce the tension shifts that cause spokes to loosen. Deeper rims are also good for heavier riders, or so I am told. ;)

It may be that you have stripped the threads out of the nipple. The spokes are stainless and very hard. The nipples are brass and are soft. They may be aluminum. At 290, I hope not.

I would replace the nipples on the ones that are loosening up. For a couple bucks, you could just replace the spokes too.

I agree with Avalanch but I'd take it one more step. Now that you have had to fiddle with this wheel repeatedly, it's likely that the spoke tension isn't very uniform anymore. I'd try to find somebody who could take a tensiometer and retension and retrue the whole wheel.

Gotta be a bad wheel build. I'm 300 lbs and bought new Sequoia, stock crappy AT400 rims with 28 spokes on the front (23mm tire too). The LBS employees even said those were crappy wheels for my size.

I ride some harsh highway at high speeds, and after a hundred or so miles that 28 spoke front tire's still in true, although I did order some Mavic CXP-33 with 36 spoke 14 guage 3-cross pattern from CO Cyclist site. I'm not sure I should have ordered those wheels given the reliability of my stock wheels. :)

The fact "one or two spokes are getting loose" may be two factors. You could mark the ultra-loose spokes with tape to see if it's always the same spokes that are loose.

- Those nipples have stripped treads. Replace these nipples and you should be OK.

- Not enough tension in the spokes. Undertensioned wheels tend to loosen very often. Do as usual and straighten the wheel; then turn all nipples by 1/2 turn or 1 full turn.

- Twisted spokes. Sometimes, when you screw on a nipple "just a bit", you hear a "ping" and the spoke turns with the nipple. So you are actually twisting the spoke rather than tighten it... and the wheel will remain true until your next bump. Keep two fingers on the spoke itself as you tighten its nipple to make sure the spoke doesn't turn. When you tighten by, say 1/2 turn, it's better to turn by 3/4 turn and turn back 1/4 turn after.