Originally Posted by
rovis
I wanted to update this thread, for others to consider in similar cases.
Unfortunately my first attempt to fix the wheel failed!
I was following
Russ Roth approach which made practical sense to me.
First I've equalized the DS tension to 22/85.8Kgf and that went fine. When trying to bring the NDS side to 15/45Kgf, one spoke broke! It came out of the axle hook and now it appears that only some spot welding or something else would keep it in place. I've managed to put it back in place by lowering the tension on that spoke, but once I tried to tension it even a little, came out again.
In hindsight, I'm thinking that maybe I should've lowered the tension more on the DS side before increasing the tension on the NDS!? The initial difference between the two sides was pretty significant, especially with 2-3 very soft spokes on NDS. The breakage happened after I managed to bring the NDS spokes to same tension (or at least that what I was seeing going spoke to spoke). On the second round of measuring, I've noticed some spokes which were already tightened to 15/45Kgf. were now showing 'off' by minus 3-5 points on the scale (10-20Kgf aprox).
Now i'll probably buy a set of new wheels. Any recommendations? I have some ideas, but don't want to spend more than $400. The current wheels are Fulcrum Racing Sport, circa 2014. Entry level wheels, but for my needs, were fine.
Based on your numbers and the picture you posted, that hub was just waiting to fail. Proper tension of a wheel is often in the area of 120kgf, my last wheel build was 125kgf drive side and 85kgf on the non-drive, symmetrical front wheels or rears built with off-center rims will build out with 110-125kgf on both sides. If the hub failed at 45kgf, it was a potential accident.
Originally Posted by
rovis
Thanks for all your replies and advise!
I'm pretty much set at this point to get new wheels. The only question would be what brand to go with?
I've seen positive reviews on Quality Wheels, H Plus Son and Velocity. Basically a Shimano 105 (or equivalent) hub and good spokes/nipples would fit the bill.
Do these ready made wheels need additional work besides attaching the rear cassette?
Usually a decent one won't need any extra work with some caveats. I often find shimano hubs aren't adjusted optimally, though they're not alone in this and some hub adjustment might be needed. Sometimes the postal service isn't the most careful and in that case atouch up might be needed, something drastic is often a send back due to shipping damage or shipper pays for a truing.
Quality makes all levers of wheels, if you get one with a 105 hub or better it will be a decent wheel. I've dealt with 100s of their wheels over the years as basic repair replacements and never had an issue with any of them. Velocity makes some nice rims, hubs are fine and probably about a tiagra/105 level. Only heard good things about H Son, never dealt with them. Wheelmaster is another replacement brand, if you get a nicer wheel it always showed up fine.