TransitBiker

So, spoke on rear wheel did a thing.

Any guesses as to why? Only remotely heavy load I've done is grocery shopping. Didn't even have bags on rack last few rides. Maybe someone kicked it?



Sad me is hoping it gets fixed ASAP.

- Andy

wolfchild

Do you remember one of my replys in your previous threads ??...I said too much weight on your rear wheel, and you need to spread out the load more evenly. I also said make sure your rear wheel is tensioned properly... It's obvious that the rear wheel wasn't tensioned properly, spokes shouldn't break on a brand new bike... Replacing broken spokes, wheel building and wheel trueing is an important skill that I think that every cyclist should learn. If you don't know how to do it then take it to a professional wheelbuilder to do it for you.

TransitBiker

The shop i got it from was supposed to do this before i took it home. Again, only heavy load i've done was groceries, otherwise i've not even had the bags or anything on the rear. Bike is far more responsive with nothing on it.

What would have caused this insofar as tension on the spokes?

I don't really have spare money for all of these tools and parts, but i have a birthday wishlist. That list includes all mantinence/upkeep tools and a few spares like brake cables, conduit, spokes, screw sets, light bulbs, chain, chain tools, small pump and tubes. My plan is to carry this stuff in one bag all the time.

- Andy

e0richt

I had a similar problem with my trek 7100... couldn't go 5 miles without breaking a spoke... no help from the LBS until I decided to purchase another wheel, which cost me another 100... don't like the LBS too much now, but with the new wheel, the bike has become my commuter of choice.

TransitBiker

Ya. I have a like/dislike relationship with the shop in town here. So glad it IS here, but it leaves some to be desired.

Thankfully i may not have to take it to the shop after all.... Will update.

The bike is 2 years old when i got it, so it's not shocking that the spokes may be on the wobbly side, who knows what happened in that 2 years sitting there..... The place i got it (bustleton bikes) is definitely a good place to go though. The guys there are about as varied and as the folks on here and they are friendly and very knowledgeable. They have an extremely varied collection of models, brands etc, where as most shops are really heavy in one brand/company. it's just an all around really great place and im glad they had the bike of my dreams.

As for the wheel, its not the end of the world, it will get fixed and i'll be back riding in no time. Looking forward to it!!

- Andy

cyccommute 

I doubt that it is anything you did. A spoke breaking at the nipple is rare...<1% of the time in my experience. Spokes usually break at the hub. It's likely a fatigued spoke or a defect that finally broke. I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

The repair is simple enough and doesn't even require that many tools. You'll need to remove the cassette (or freewheel), remove the old spoke and thread in a new one. Then you'll need to tension the spoke and true the wheel. You can true the wheel while on the bike and the only tools you'll need are a cassette removal tool, a spoke tool and, maybe, a chain whip. There are work arounds for the chain whip that you can find on the interwebs.

Even with the chain whip, I suspect you'd spend less on the tools needed than the shop would charge for the repair.

-=(8)=-

+1

acidfast7

this didn't even happen on my BSO

this is one of the reasons, I don't like the milk create ... it distributes the weight further rearward and higher than a proper system.

bikemig 

Spokes can be (and sometimes are) defective.

fietsbob

Just replace the spoke and get on with your life..

Tundra_Man 

I think I've broken rear spokes on every bike I've owned. I'm a clyde. I just chalk it up to fate that about every 1500 miles or so I'm going to lose a spoke. Sometimes as soon as 500 miles, sometimes I can go as far as 2500 miles. But it seems to be inevitable for me.

Also, I haven't had much luck with having spokes replaced. Once a spoke breaks and I have it fixed, I know I'm going to start losing additional spokes on that wheel about every 100 miles. I've had a few different shops do the replacements but my results are always the same. So I wind up buying a lot of new wheels.

Got a stack of them in my garage that I intend to use to learn how to build my own wheels, but I never seem to find the time. Always something else to be done that takes higher priority.

spare_wheel

oh please. truing is something that more mechanically inclined cyclists should learn how to do. however and imo, building wheels is something very few cyclists should do. not dissing the enthusiasts who do this but i doubt that there is a huge monetery advantage for anyone who does not do this on a semi-professional basis.

i personally get my wheels built/repaired by people who have been building wheels for decades. and since i provide my own hubs, a perfectly trued and tensioned wheel with a guarantee is more than worth the small labor and parts cost.

spare_wheel

your experience is wrong. a well built wheel should not lose spokes every 1500 miles. and a properly re-built wheel should not continue to lose spokes.

since you are a clyde i suggest that you stop buying low spoke count wheels and/or start buying higher quality wheels. and if you buy factory wheels you should get them trued and tensioned by an expert ($10-15). i also suggest that you stop going to the shop that performed spoke replacements because they either did not know what they were doing or they were unwilling to tell you that the rim was toast.

ItsJustMe

I bought a Giant Seek 0 last fall. By spring I had replaced EVERY rear, drive side leading spoke - they all broke in < 1000 miles.

I think the tension was OK, they're just ****ty spokes. I replaced them with Wheelsmith spokes and none of those have broken yet despite the first one being on there since 200 miles on the bike, they're tensioned the same as the other spokes on the wheel (I didn't retension the whole wheel, I just replaced the spokes one at a time).

I had the same exact problem with my Giant Cypress that I bought 10 years ago. I broke 12 spokes in < 1200 miles, the same spokes.

I had hoped that spending $1200 instead of $300 for a Giant bike would result in better quality wheels, but it seems that all Giant bikes, or at least all uprights, have spokes that are made out of discarded tin cans or maybe dry spaghetti.

-=(8)=-

I make sure they are TIGHT when I get the bike ~ Ride for a week or two, and check/re-tension. There will be a few out.
After that, if its a mildly decent rim like an Alex, it will last a loooong time without snapping anything, in my personal experience.
It's all about how it's put together the first time.

metz1295

if you're in tight with your LBS guys, they'll probably do it for you at a minimal cost. pay the cost of the part, grab a pizza and a 6 pack and they'll probably do it for free (almost since you bought pizza and beer, but they'll probably share while you wait).

just yesterday, I took my bike in to my LBS because I mucked up the front derallier trying to make a 'minor' adjustment. I brought cookies and brownies that were leftover from a work function. they were all over it. 15 minutes and a "you do it this way dummy" tutorial later, I was heading out the door.

other examples from the past. I was in one night getting some advice, but had my 2 year old with me. the teen working in the shop pretty much kept the youngster out of mischief while I was talking to the man in charge. handed the teen a five for his lunch the next day. also, after I picked up the bike (had to do a layaway plan), I took them a pizza one night for dinner.

these types of gestures go a long way with those guys.

disclaimer: this level of attention doesn't fly in chain stores like performance.

Tundra_Man 

I don't ride low-spoke count wheels (generally 32 spoke count.) And the reason I'm planning on trying to learn how to work on my own wheels is because I haven't had any luck at the shops in my area (haven't gone to just one, but in my area I only have about three to choose from.)

ItsJustMe

When I gave up on the factory wheel from my original Giant hybrid, I bought new spokes and rim and reused the hub. I built a new wheel, the first I'd ever done. it lasted 16,000 miles without me ever touching it again after it left the stand and was dead true to the end. The axle eventually broke and I replaced the wheel.

So no, breaking spokes is NOT inevitable and it's NOT normal. Unless maybe you just are putting so much weight on it, or you're an absolute monster for power output or something, or if you're doing something silly like using 28 spoke wheels on a tandem or a fully loaded tourer or something.

Andy_K 

You're definitely right about the costs. It is by no means cost efficient to build your own wheels.

The reason I think wheel-building is a useful skill for a cyclist to have is that building a wheel is a really good way to learn how to true a wheel. If you just grab a spoke wrench and start tightening and loosening spokes just to get the rim to move where you want it to, you're as likely to make the wheel worse (in the long run) as you are to fix it. To properly true a wheel, you have to understand the dynamics of the whole wheel. You have to understand that even tension is more important than simply making the rim line up. You have to be aware of the possibility of spoke wind-up. Etc. If you do understand this properly, you have wheel building skills even if you've never laced a wheel.

If you've built a wheel, replacing a broken spoke is a pretty simple task. If you haven't, it might not be.

The biggest benefit to building your own wheels is that you get free lifetime ride-along support from the wheel builder.

Andy_K 

You say the spoke "did a thing." Did it actually break, or did it come unscrewed? I don't see threads on the loose spoke, but I also don't see part of it in the nipple.

Someone mentioned that having spokes break at the nipple is rare. I haven't had it happen. I have, however, had a spoke come unscrewed. I caught it before it came out completely, but it was very loose. I'm pretty sure that was caused by insufficient initial spoke tension.

Were you by any chance hearing a clicking sound from the rear wheel before this happened?

TransitBiker

I think it may be a defective spoke, or something happened during assembly or shipping to damage it that lead to premature fatigue and it breaking. It broke near the top of the threaded area, with about one full thread turn remaining.

While i do appreciate the "fix it and get on with it" attitude, which is how i normally operate.... i have no real way of getting it to the shop unless i walk it there (2.5 miles, about an hour and a half one way walk, then another hour and a half back plus time at the shop. The original place of purchase is not walkable by any stretch of the imagination. I still have to go there to get the brakes checked due to them seemingly disintegrating on the rear set. Taking it to two shops for two different things is not practical, so thats why it is a "show stopper". Have to figure out some kinda solution, becase as it stands now i'm all ready out up to a week with no ride, NOT good. The perils of living car free, i suppose.

BUT! I am confident that once the issue is looked at, i'll be happily on my way!

Thanks all for the input!!!

- Andy

TransitBiker

There was a tapping sound, but i later, after the discovery, heard it as i tested to see if that was the noise, and it seems it was loose and flopping around for a large section of that trip. I've been told that riding with it out could have damaged the other spokes & the whole thing may need to be re-spoked.

I also did not have the tire in the back at max PSI, so i do not think that was a contributing factor. After seeing some of the nasty road cancer that has been left untreated in the area, i've decided max psi is not a good thing.

- Andy

Andy_K 

It might be worth adding an emergency spoke to your toolkit for the future.

With a 32-spoke wheel you can probably make it ride-able even with a missing spoke, though you have to do sub-optimal things to the adjacent spokes. For a 2.5 mile ride it wouldn't be too bad. With a 36-spoke wheel it would be less of an issue.

ItsJustMe

I think wheel building can be cost effective if you're repairing, like if you have damaged spokes (I had to replace about a dozen spokes on my rear wheel last week) or if you taco a rim and need to replace the rim but use the same hub and perhaps reuse the spokes as well.

Besides, it's not all about cost effectiveness. It's just fun to make stuff, and fun to use stuff that you've made.

Andy_K 

Very true. I've built six sets of wheels in the past four years, and I'm currently planning number 7. I was kind of bummed last year when I found a guy selling a lightly used set of wheels nearly identical to the what I was planning to build for my singlespeed -- same rims but better hubs for half the price of the components I had planned. I grudgingly bought the wheels because I couldn't think of a justification for not doing so. That singlespeed is my only bike that doesn't have wheels I built myself. Maybe I'll take them apart and rebuild them.