learnem

I am going through spokes at the rate of about 3 per week. @ $20 a pop at my LBS, it is getting expensive. I am 6' 3" and 240 lb

My bike is a 22.5 trek 7.1 fx

I was going to have my LBS build me a wheel they insisted was "bulletproof" setup, which would have been a velocity chukkar with a 36s hub with a bigger cassette, with offset spacers for the 10 cassette and me only have a 7 gear rear.

It sounded doable, until the owner of the shop called and told me it was going to be $300+ to build the wheel My bike only cost me $400 from the same shop!

So I am looking for a more reasonable alternative, no more than $100, that will help stop my spoke problem.

Is there a way to convert a rear fixie wheel to use a cassette, with outside bearings?

Thanks in advance.

FBinNY 

First of all the shop should have stopped after replacing 2-3 spokes, especially if the time between visits was getting shorter.

There are ways to build more bulletproof wheels without going crazy. Many members here, including folks weighing more than you, probably stronger than you, and doing loaded touring in hilly areas report going thousands upon thousands of miles without any spoke failure. All this on conventional wheels with no special measures except good build.

IMO- a decent builder should be able to build you a decent wheel on your hub (32h ?) with a reasonably light rim and double butted spokes. The cost should come out less than half of what you've quoted, and you'd still have full range gearing.

The suggestion to reduce the number of sprockets, and add spacers instead it totally useless, since the freehub is still the same width, so the dish wouldn't be improved. If you have a steel frame, and it's currently 130mm spacing, the only special measure I'd consider is spreading the frame to 135mm and using a wider (mtn?) hub to reduce dish somewhat. If your hub is now 130mm, it could possibly be respaced to 135 with a longer axle and a 5mm spacer added to the left side.

There are also some decent quality wheels that can be bought for roughly what a rebuild costs, and this may or may not be a good option depending on the rims offered, and the quality of the build. Many here on BF speak of the need to rework factory built wheels, which kind of offsets any possible savings.

BTW- I'd be willing to build you a wheel on a cost of materials plus labor basis, and if it breaks down within a year refund the labor. At the rate you're going you'd be even within 3 weeks.

Jeff Wills

I'm your size... OK, I'm an inch taller. As FB said, the bike shop should have stopped replacing individual spokes after 3 had broken. As a rule of thumb, once three spokes have broken, it's time to suspect them all and rebuild the wheel. Metal fatigue has set in, and replacing them individually will not resolve the root cause, which is that the wheel was not properly tensioned to begin with.

I build my own wheels. Nothing fancy, just basic, sturdy parts. I then make sure that the spokes have plenty of tension- not having enough tension will allow the spokes to flex, which is where metal fatigue sets in. Since I learned how to properly tension a wheel, I haven't broken a single spoke. IMO, all you need to do is have the shop rebuild the wheel properly.

deacon mark

depending on your needs I have a set of road wheels Vuelta xrp that are bombproof cheap pm. Something is clearly wrong with what is happening.

Drew Eckhardt 

Your bike was assembled using inexpensive parts bought by the trainload with an OEM discount using robots where practical (like building the wheels) and cheap off-shore labor where not. The manufacturer decided they'd make more money with the occasional warranty repair from larger people riding their bikes enough in the warranty period to break spokes than if they slowed down production and spent more on expensive hand-labor or a stress relieving robot from Holland Machine.

The new wheel will be assembled using quality parts, bought in just the quantity needed at full retail price, and assembled with expensive but not necessarily competent labor (a shop here would charge you $70). If (I wouldn't bet on anyone one but a single person operation with a good reputation) they do their job well the spokes will last hundreds of thousands of miles through many rim and bearing replacements.

Apples and oranges.

You have a metal fatigue problem. It'll go away if you replace the spokes (about $1 each), bend them to enter the hubs and rim properly, tension to an appropriate uniform high tension in each side, and stress relieve.

It's not difficult - Jobst Brandt tested the instructions in his book "The Bicycle Wheel" by having his grade school sons each build a pair of wheels with no other instructions - but is time consuming and more enjoyable with a truing stand ($50). I and others with the right disposition find that relaxing especially with beer. This is your best option and least expensive in the long run since it means any time you bend a rim or wear out the brake tracks you can quickly lace a new on one and be back in business for xx,xxx miles.

If you aren't a DIY sort of person you'll want to delegate to a reputable one-man operation because many mechanics aren't experienced enough to build quality wheels quickly and default to quick and bad. Many of those people will want to use a new rim to guarantee it's straight and not risk their reputation on issues.

FBinNY is clueful and should do a fine job if you take him up on his offer.

No.

bigfred 

I'm about 6'5", 250lbs and build my own. As has already been stated, wheel durability, assuming the components are basically fit for intended use, is largely about build quality.

Large riders need realatively high and even tension. Without that spokes flex and recover, leading to breakage.

If you're bike is built to the specifications I found online, you already have a 32 hole Formula rear hub. If your rim is not damaged, your solution could be as simple as purchasing and having properly installed 32 new spokes. Or, if the existing rim has suffered abuse, a new rim in addition to the spokes.

Simple straight gauge spokes from DT, Wheelsmith or Sapim should only be about 0.50c per spoke. A new rim of suitable durability from Velocity or one of a few other vendors should be found for around $60. There is a definate case that can be made for double butted spokes building into more durable wheels for clydes. Those can usually be had for approximately $1.00 each.

So, for between $16-$92 you should have the components you need. Then it's simply a matter of weather you want to pay someone to build up the wheel or do it your self. I, like many of the clydes on this forum have taken to building my own. With very little practice I started achieving results far superior to anything I ever experienced from the shops. They plain and simply can't afford to take the time to be really pedantic with regard to tension equalization. I figure the little time it takes me to do that is more than made up for by not needing to drive back and forth to a shop. I really don't mind spending an extra 30-60 minutes on my own wheel, when doing so ensures that I'll get 20,000 trouble free miles out of that wheel over the next few years.

If you want to do it yourself, all you need is the correct size spoke wrench and an upturned bike. The one additional expenditure I would recommend to a new builder is investing in a Park tensionmeter. It's not neccessary, but, it certainly quickens the learning process surrounding spoke tensions and equalization.

If you would rather have the wheel built for you ask around your local cycling community to find the best "wheelsmith" in your area. Unfortunately, I have only once ever met a shop mechanic that didn't believe they were excellent at "truing" wheels. This usually isn't the fact. Interview your prospective "wheelsmith". Start asking about target drive and non-drive tesnions, stress relieving, acceptable variation in spoke tension and use of a tension meter. If they start poo pooing these things or are unwilling to discuss them, walk away. It's true that a really well practiced wheelsmith can build a perfectly satisfactory wheel without the use of a tension meter. But, they should still be willing to discuss the aforementioned subjects with you, explain what they will deliver and offer you some form of warranty against spoke breakage for the life of the rim.