Originally Posted by
nashvillwill
Thanks for reading everyone!
So, I break a rear spoke typically about once a month. It's really getting frustrating and I'm looking for advice. I don't know much about wheel quality and maybe it's time for new wheels, but a few basics first.
That often happens when you combine 200 pounds with machine built wheels.
Broken spoke count=8 (in the last 500 miles)
Expect all the spokes in the failing group(s) (rear drive side and rear non-drive side) to go because they fail due to fatigue and those spokes have all seen the same number (about 750 per mile) of similar stress cycles (they've got similar residual stress in the elbows from the forming operation, similar tension, the same unloading from your weight, similar bending in a non-drive side that's too loose).
Are the wheels I have decent? I thought they were, but I'm beginning to question that.
Do I need a higher quality spoke?
You need a higher quality wheel build where some one takes the time to achieve uniform tension and stress relieve the wheel to remove the residual stress from the elbow forming process.
If you would suggest a better quality wheel, then I don't even know where to begin. Custom built? Off the shelf? Brands/types? Could I do only a new rear wheel, or is it most sensible to upgrade both? I dont are about wheel weight, just dependability. My budget would MAX at about $250. Is that even reasonable for a good wheel?
New spokes will run $0.40 - $1+ each depending on whether you buy on-line and do the work yourself or pay your LBS. I'd choose DT 2.0/1.8 Competition spokes with brass nipples. A complete wheel build is free with your labor but takes patience and is easier with a truing stand and dish stick. It should run under $70 (SF Bay area commercial rent and labor is high) although it needs to be done by a competent and reputable individual if you farm it out.
Choosing a currently reputable shop with more than one mechanic on staff is _NOT_ enough. I folded one under-tensioned wheel from a formerly reputable shop and started building my own wheels because of that. Cleaning up after the other formerly reputable shop I delegated to because I didn't feel like building a wheel for my wife that week took more time than if I'd just built the wheel from scratch and would have meant the right length spokes so I wasn't in danger of running out of thread.
You need to replace all the spokes in the failing group(s) (as in rear drive side or non-drive side).
Also, if anyone wants to suggest a good starting point for "wheels for dummies", I'm all ears.
Read
_The Bicycle Wheel_ by Jobst Brandt.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bicycle-Wh.../dp/0960723668
He tested it on his grade school sons by having them each build a wheel set with no additional help.
If you follow the directions it will take you a while but you'll end up with wheels that stay true until crashed and don't break spokes in the first few hundred thousand miles.