Originally Posted by
pharasz
And the spoke count war is on...
I've put 2,400 miles on my Bianchi Volpe since June of '08. The 32 spoke wheel was fine for the first six months. Then a spoke broke. Then another one broke. Then I had my LBS put heavier gauge spokes on the bike. Last night I found one so loose it was flopping. I ride all paved roads and there is only one speed hump, and no serious potholes. But I weight 190 LBS, and I load a good 25 LBS of gear in my panniers, including my laptop.
On the other hand, on the weekend I ride my road bike with only 24 spokes and I've never had a problem with it. But that bike is way lighter and carries no load. In my experience the weight and load you place on the wheel, and how hard you ride it, makes a huge difference in how well it holds up. I am seriously considering going to a 36 spoke rear wheel for my commuter bike.
There's a lot of variables. When you're riding a road bike with an aggressive geometry your weight is more evenly spread between both wheels. On a bike where you're riding more upright, there's more weight on the rear wheel. Also there's a difference when you're carrying your stuff in a messenger bag on a road bike vs. rear panniers on a more upright bike. Deep profile rims are tougher too than the traditional box style rim requiring fewer spokes.
Aside from spoke count, a lot depends on how well the wheels were built. You may be have just gotten a bad one on your Volpe. My brother was breaking spokes left and right his two year old bike. It was a 32 spoke wheel. Replaced the wheel with essentially the same model and his problems went away.