Originally Posted by
Arvadaman
Albino,
A couple of questions.
Are you breaking spokes on the rear wheel only?
What tire pressure are you riding front and rear?
I am one cheeseburger short of 300 lbs and ride MTBs of the same type and vintage as you. I know they are pretty sturdy and do not break easily for the most part. I just got a DB Ascent EX (1989 or 1993) in Acetylene Smoke paint scheme and it is pretty strongly built.
always the rear wheel.
The other day I broke 2 more spokes....so I tore down several wheels and very carefully found the best spokes and nips and built a wheel with a hub I don't mind trashing in the salt....very carefully....to just sort of start from scratch with something and see how it goes. It's been taking a real beating riding lumpy snow and rutted ice and my brakes are adjusted really tight to immediately know if it's losing true and so far so good. True, tension even, no signs of fatigue or failure. Interestingly, going through these other wheels and spokes, all these drive side spokes were very damaged from chain suck...all of which would have happened before I had the parts because my stuff is adjusted (and I friction shift, and I just don't remember ever overshifting into the spokes, let alone overshifting and mashing and tearing my spokes up...I don't know how people do that)....so maybe that's more the issue with spoke breakage than anything else; I can say that's where they're breaking.
I ride various tire pressures, I'm at about 50psi on some knobby tires for winter, summer 1.5s are at 100ish, 2.0s at 80ish.