Broken Spokes Almost Every Month?
 

It's getting frustrating how expensive bicycle maintenance is. I'm starting to wonder if pedaling isn't cheaper than driving to work if you already own a car.

Is it normal to get 1-2 broken spokes in your rear wheel almost every month? It costs like $15-$25 to get get 'em fixed at the bike shop and I don't think it's worth it anymore. Or if you need a wheel trued, that's another charge.

So what gives? This is on a 2011 Trek 7.2 FX. I only ride the thing like 20-30 miles a week if that, but almost every month or so, it's the same thing. A broken spoke (or several) in the rear wheel. Back to the bike shop and another $20+ dollars down the drain. Is this normal??? :twitchy: :eek: :bang:

No

it's normal on wheels that have gotten a lot of mileage. One breaks, then the others are weakened, so even if the broken one was repaired, the other spokes are still very likely to break.

Since that bike was relatively new, I would have to guess that the shop that built it up didn't bother to check the spoke tension of the wheel. Poor spoke tension leads to premature, failures like the ones you are getting.


If you break spokes more than twice, on the same wheel, then it's time for a new wheel or complete rebuild.

IMO, it's cheaper to just buy new wheels online and have them touched up by a GOOD wheel builder locally.

Before I broke my leg, I was riding about 20-30 miles a week. and I"m a BIG guy, 350+ pounds. I was riding either my Specialized Hardrock with stock wheels, my Redline hybrid with Alex 298 rims, or my 85 Schwinn Traveler with stock 36 spoke 27 1/4 inch wheels and never broke a spoke once.

The Trek should have good wheels. Are you doing anything like bunny hopping, jumping off curbs, etc? Seems like you are breaking an inordinate amount of spokes.

That bike is a 2011 model,
usually bikes have a one year warranty.

i think you are on the other end of the bell curve, from me, as far as wheel maintenance is concerned. i've had one spoke break in 32 years of bicycling as an adult and one wheel potato chip on me. and i taught myself to build wheels so not only does it not happen anymore, but if it ever does, it won't cost me a dime.

i'd suggest learning to build wheels. you'll most likely end up with better wheels at a lower overall cost.

edit: i should mention that i've been riding at 145-165lbs and run 28/28 on modestly deep v rims (kinlin xr-200?) and one bike has 36/36 on ancient araya one inch red labels rims. this includes thousands of touring miles, commuting miles and my daily 20-30 mile rides.

If the wheel was at all properly built you should NEVER break a modern spoke. Somrthing was seriously defective with that wheel right from the beginning.

I weigh about 230 pounds and do take an occasional rain gutter at small intersections which makes for a pretty hard bump (God I hate those things)...

http://houseinspectionhelp.com/9/rou...et-gutters.jpg

... but I almost never take regular curbs.

Might be worth it in the long run to have the wheels rebuilt. hand done,
brand name spokes ,
Perhaps double butted ones..
Butting spreads the spot stresses along the length,
rather than all working the ends.. by being thinner in the middle.
triple butt, is DT Alpine 13 on the hook, 15 in the center 14 on the threaded ends

Wheelsmith has a single Butt. 13 to 14mm ..
Gage numbers are thicker the lower the number.

On the heavy side.. may consider a 36 spoke rear at a minimum.

Two options:

1. Rebuild with new spokes, straight gauge 14 is fine, but double-butted 14/15/14 would be better.

- Make sure the wheel builder has a calibrated tensionmeter.
- Make sure the wheel builder DOES NOT use a "glue" to hide poor tensioning. Insist on high and relatively even tension.
- Make sure the wheel builder stress relieves (hard squeeze of opposing pairs of parallel spokes) after each tension cycle and as a final touch.

2. Buy new already built wheels...and pay an LBS to do the following:

- Give all opposing parallel spokes pairs a very hard squeeze.
- Lube the nipple seats.
- True, tension and dish the wheel up to high and relatively even tension with the aid of a tensionmeter.
- Stress relieve after each tension cycle and again as part of finishing the wheel.

For your typical high count spoked wheels, target tension for front will be 95-100 kgf and rear will be about 110 kgf on the drive side. Lower spoke count wheels will be slightly higher.

If the wheelbuilder or LBS tries to duck the use of a tensionmeter, a dishing tool, or appears to be too dependent on "nipple glue or preps", find another wheelbuilder or LBS.

=8-)

[QUOTE=JohnnyGalaga;14078863]It's getting frustrating how expensive bicycle maintenance is. I'm starting to wonder if pedaling isn't cheaper than driving to work if you already own a car.

Is it normal to get 1-2 broken spokes in your rear wheel almost every month? It costs like $15-$25 to get get 'em fixed at the bike shop and I don't think it's worth it anymore. Or if you need a wheel trued, that's another charge.

You bought cheap machine built wheels, neglected to stress relieve the spokes or bring them up to high uniform tension, and the ones in the failing group(s) (ex - rear drive side) have reached the end of their fatigue life.

You're probably a heavy guy which increases the magnitude of stress variation as tension drops 750 times a mile with each revolution which in turn decreases the number of cycles they survive.

They'll continue to break like popcorn kernels popping until you've replaced all of the spokes in the failing group, and if your bike mechanics aren't marginally competent wheel builders the new ones will break too.

Assuming you've had a few spoke failures and talked to your bike mechanics about the repeated failures they're not competent. Learning maintenance and wheel building would be the right thing to do, but if you lack the patience (it's easy enough school children can do it - that's how Jobst Brandt tested the instructions in _The Bicycle Wheel_) to do it yourself you need to find a reputable one-man operation (Peter White, Psimet, etc. Just getting a reputable shop isn't enough because you can get whatever bozo currently works there ruining your new wheels instead of the guys that earned the reputation).

I don't think anyone knows how long high-quality stainless steel spokes last when correctly built into a wheel. Jobst has 300,000 miles on a set of 15/16 gauge spokes without breakage and some of the bikeforums.net regulars have over 100,000 miles on theirs.

I never broke a spoke in a wheel I built (1500 - 4500 miles a year since building my favorite wheel set 14-15 years ago at weights up to 215 pounds + 15 pounds of luggage).

This is very interesting. I thought that once you buy a bike that's it, you're set to go. But I guess after buying a bike we're supposed to do all these mods?

See the thing is ...in a car-centric society like ours, there are automotive recalls, long warranties and understanding that that machine will be set up right from the shop (dealer) the right way, the first time.

No such thing exists among bikes. You can buy a great bike from a scammer and then have problems. There is nothing one can do about it, except not give that guy business again.

A well-built bike has little maintenance needs (well every new bike needs adjustments during break-in; just like a car) For example, my Fiancee rides a Chicago built 1974 Schwinn Supersport. She has put all of $300 into that bike in the 5 years she has had it and that included adjustments after a nasty spill. I have just upgraded from a 73 Schwinn Collegiate with _everything_ original, and in the 3 years I rode that I spent $20 on maintenance, until my rear wheel did just the same thing yours did - I replaced the wheel and have been riding worry free and problem free.

You are being clearly told that when you find yourself a good mechanic (of do work yourself) you will have a virtually maintenance-free machine. Bikes do not need much maintenance, but they do need very careful setup and tuneup. Invest the time needed to get that done. The bike will be great. However, if you are just justifying ditching the bike and going back to the car, well .. have at it.

You need a new wheel - or the current one rebuilt - the one you have will continue to fall apart in a chain reaction.

Talk to your biking buddies of the locals here to find a right mechanic.

It was supposed to be the shop's responsibility to touch up the wheels before it was sold. But then again, they are not obligated to do it.

The big bike companies make more money when they keep the wheel building machine production rate high with low tension, put as little hand labor into their wheels, and deal with a few resulting warranty returns from the statistical outliers that are larger and/or ride more.

If you're larger you can have parts turned into a bike in America including a hand-made set of wheels with DT Swiss spokes for about $3000, add a $500 hand-built wheel set to a stock bike, or take the time to tension and stress relieve your wheels before you ride it for the first time.

Otherwise warranty claims and paying for an out-of-warranty repair are likely.

All good advice BUT if a wheel is properly built, you won't experience a broken spoke. Wrong. A wheel has to match the rider's weight and the roads he rides. If a wheel has only 24 spokes and is a shallow rim, and the rider weighs over 200 lbs., he's going to break spokes. All bike manufacturers put the same wheel on the bike not knowing the weight of the rider who buys the bike. You can't expect a wheel that is designed for a 150 lb person to hold a 225 lb person. If you want to reduce your spoke breakage, get a double wall, deep dish wheel that has internal bracing with 32 or 36 spokes.

+1 You just don't see spoke failure on a modern bike even the cheapest ones unless the wheel was badly undertrued and lose or something else is causing the spoke failures such as a RD or other part hitting the spokes. If it less than 2 years old you should consider taking it back to the people that sold you the bike and ask them to fix it for free.

At 230 you need 36 double butted spokes. Best option. http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=2469
Cheaper. http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1678

I had the same experience, but with an old bike. Rear spokes started breaking, which had hardly ever happened before in 30 years of riding old bikes and doing my own very amateurish wheel truing. In this new series of breaks I had the spokes replaced and the wheel trued each time at a good bike shop. Finally I bought a new wheel from them, but the breaking continued at the same rate.

I developed a theory that it was a change in my riding habits that had brought about the sudden rash of broken spokes. Everyone on this forum and at the bike shop said that can't be it, but I've been careful since then (last September) not to overstress the wheel by going over bumps while leaning on a curve, and I haven't broken any more spokes, so I'm inclined to think that was it.

Hmmmm....really? Over 230# NEEDS 36-spoke?

I'm sitting here thinking, and I've realized that I haven't broken a spoke since 2006. Split a rim (rear), a Mavic 819 that was about 4-5 years old at the time, 2 years under me. THAT wheelset was 24-spoke -- and I'm fairly tough on bikes and parts. (I also split a Sun DS-2 a couple years before that, after 2 years on IT....)

32 spokes will serve, a decent set will last quite a while. I'm presently 14 months into my Sun Equalizers, and I've only taken the spoke wrench to them once, no issues since. For less than $200, I'm not going to sweat it. I'll get my money's worth.

OP, work your LBS for a deal on an upgrade, Mavic or Sun/Ringle'. They should set you up with a decent wheelset with a discount.

You're a tad on the heavy side, but you're only just an outlier if at all. The fact is, your bike shop is just sh*t.

Selling a bike to a big guy should involve bringing at least the rear wheel up to tension, unless of course the intention is to keep shafting you for $20 a month.

IMO almost any cheap 32 spoke wheel should survive under you, as long as it has enough tension. Spokes break because they get slack under load, the most important component of any wheel is the build, and inexpensive (not ultra-cheap) gear is often perfectly durable when given a chance.

If you can find a co-op nearby I recommend using it to escape the cycle of dependance those bike shop turkeys have you on.

I have a Trek 7300 with 32 spoke wheels and a 4.5 Madone with 24 spoke wheels. Also 230 lbs. In 5000 miles I've broken 1 spoke on the 32 spoke rear wheel and that was because I didn't know what I was doing. At our weight you have two practical alternatives. 1.) buy a overbuilt wheel from someone like Peter White. 2.) learn to maintain more common wheels. I went with #2. I'd suggest buying "the bicycle wheel" by Jobst Brandt. Read part one (about 75 pages with lots of pictures) a few times. You'll then know which way to go.