shriekingmonkey

So I'm riding the bike trying to lose weight, but my current weight seems to be a problem (even though it's gradually reducing). I know people a lot heavier than me ride even road bikes with the super skinny tires. I'm about 275 now, but I just keep breaking spokes on the back wheel. It's a Raleigh hybrid bike with 700C wheels. It's great when its not broken. I'm strictly using it for commuting, and riding on a paved greenway path, so it's not like it's getting abused hopping curbs and going off-road.

The stock rims had 36 spoke wheels already, which in my research seems to be what people say heavier folks need. Well, I had it in the shop several times for broken spokes. So, I talked to the shop owner and he offered to build me a custom rear wheel, DT Swiss rim (I think) and some kind of fancy-schmancy spokes (Sateen? something like that I think [edit: googling, I think it's Sapim maybe]). I decided to go for it, thinking it would be bulletproof, right? Well, I put some number of miles on the new wheel, not sure exactly how many (probably somewhere between 50-100), and it needed trued up. No broken spokes though. I was encouraged. Put another 125 mi on and on the way home today, I noticed the wheel didn't feel right, and sure enough ANOTHER FRIGGIN BROKEN SPOKE . Always breaks at the same spot, the inside of the wheel on the left side. So, I had to drop it off at the shop and the master wheel builder is supposed to call me tomorrow.

*sigh* The shop has been really nice, but I'm getting tired of seeing them. So I'm thinking about getting another bike. Maybe I should save the hybrid for when I've lost another 50 lbs or so? If nothing else, have a spare for when the other's in the shop! I'm wondering if I should get a mountain bike maybe. I really don't want front shocks, and seems most mountain bikes have them these days, but I learned today that some mountain bikes with shocks have a remote lockout so you can basically enable/disable the shock, which I didn't even know was a thing. And I like the idea of disc brakes.

Wondering if I should look at something with 26" wheels, or 29" wheels which would be closer to what I have (I think) except on a mountain bike, hopefully a lot stronger. I'm guessing the 26" wheels would probably be stronger, but the 29" wheels would probably be better for the kind of longer road rides I like to do (about 32 miles at the longest now, but I'm gradually building on to it). But would the 29" wheels be strong enough if they are mountain-bike type wheels with enough spokes?

Ahhhh my head is swimming with all the possibilities. Input from anyone who's been down this road is appreciated ...

GeoBigJon

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I have yet to brake any spokes, I am 300lbs too. My bike has 700x32cc on a 32 spoke wheel, 14g stainless steel. I hear of a lot of folks on here braking spokes and I wonder what size spokes they have, if there is anything other than 14g. I hope some folks that have had an issue has found a solution that can help you and educate the rest of us new folks.

magohn

Can you replace the wheel(s) in a cost effective manner? I have a Roubaix with stock Aksium wheels that have a few thousand miles on them without an incident. My spokes are "flat" and seem super strong...I was 316lbs when I started and down to 288lbs right now so the Aksium sure handles weight

shriekingmonkey

@magohn, yeah, I guess my rant was kinda long, but I did mention that they actually built me a brand new custom rear wheel and that's the one that had the broken spoke today. I spent something like $250-$300 for that, can't remember exactly (got some other stuff at the same time). And it's only the rear wheel that has given me problems - no trouble with the front wheel. Of course the rear wheel gets the brunt of my weight, plus the rack with my commuting stuff (just a change of clothes and an ipad)

sstorkel

Sounds like you need to find a shop that knows how to build wheels. There's no reason you should be breaking Sapim spokes on a 36-spoke wheel after only a couple of hundred miles...

brawlo

I'd be questioning the wheel building skills too.

I've been riding and racing a 12yr old alu road bike for 2 years now with 28 spoke Ultegra hubs laced to Mavic CXP30 rims. From what I read on this forum from time to time, I should have beeen getting scraped up off the pavement long ago. Never had to true the rims or had any broken spokes. When I bought the bike I was a hefty 310+lbs and am now a strong 265lbs. Never missed a beat and I have had heart in throat moments when hitting some sizeable potholes, but they're still going strong.

Seve

x 2

It could be a spot of bad luck, but, yes, something in the wheel build, spoke tensioning etc. is not right.

zjrog

Its been years ago, but when I was breaking spokes, I switched to old school high flange hubs, and straight 15G spokes in a 4 cross pattern, 36 spoke. Built them myself, but had them professionally trued and tensioned. Both MTB and road wheels. I still have the MTB wheel even though I destroyed the bearing surfaces. But never broke a spoke again on either wheel.

Mr. Beanz

Exactly, find another shop that knows what the heck they are doing. No way should 36 break under you.

As I've mentioned before, to many bike shops true the wheel (straighten it) but don't pay attention to the spoke tension. After 200-300 miles, the wheel will end up damaged if the tension is not adjusted. AND TOO MANY READERS DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS ISSUE EITHER!

Yes, they argue that they applied spoke prep, loctite blah blah blah but it does not hold. It needs to be re-tensioned after 200-300 miles. If it broke before 300, the wheel builder is totally incompetent.

I started building my own wheels for this reason, hundreds of dollars spent on expensive shops that don't know squat. I am now using a wheel with 28 spokes and have over 8000 miles on it, and I am using narrow tires (700 X 25) at 120 psi. I have been about 255 lbs in recent months.

If it were me, I'd demand that he rebuild the wheel using new spokes. That is a fine set up, no reason you should have that problem, it's the builder.

davidad

36 spokes should hold up under your weight if the wheel is built up properly.
You should have at least 110 to 120 kg of tension on the drive side spokes. The builder should have used double butted spokes for a stronger more reliable wheel.

Sayre Kulp 

100% agree. The LBS near me screwed this kind of thing up before. Do you know who got it right? The minimum wage earning bike guy at Dick's sporting goods. I couldn't believe it. Run around after run around with LBS and the big box store is the place with the guy who knows what he's doing. Ever since, I take my bikes to him.

Mr. Beanz

I have actually followed one guy around since finding out he does the best job IMO. He left the cycling industry for a couple years, then returned. When he was gone, I couldn't find a decent mechanic. He was the first guy to suggest Deep V's and first guy to build a wheel that lasted under me when I was 220 lbs. I be the Dick's guy gets into a shop someday. If he goes, follow him! I've had the same dude since 1998. He changed shops a couple of times, when he did, I went searching ha ha!

2 wheeler

Agree.

I've built a few sets of wheels. One is a set on a mountain bike that has 32 1.8/1.6 spokes (lightest available 20+ years ago) and I've still got those wheels. I rode them off road a lot. Never broke a spoke and they have needed only a spoke or two adjustment over the years. I weighed 200 when I built them and up to 230 at my heaviest. I put a small dent in the back rim from bashing a rock, but never a spoke problem.

sstorkel

The fact that the spokes are consistently breaking on the left/non-drive side is also pretty suspicious in my mind. The right/drive-side spokes are usually the ones that seem to fail... assuming the wheel is built properly to begin with.

shriekingmonkey

Thanks for your input everyone. I guess I'm coming to the conclusion that much as I like the guys personally at my current LBS, maybe I should find another one. The guy who's been building my wheels is the owner and is supposedly a guru at building wheels so I've just been kind of assuming I'm the problem. But, I've started wondering ... so it's nice to get some confirmation that I really should not be having so many problems. Thanks!

Seattle Forrest

No. It's not the size of the wheel, it's the quality. You can get a good wheel ( or set ) for 700c and not worry about it again for several years.

Also, try to ride "light in the saddle" by shifting your weight around when you go over bumps.

Pinyon

If they do everything else right, don't drop the old bike shop. Just find a wheel specialist. There are a couple of places around here that specialize in wheel building. One is an old and established bike shop that sponsors local race teams, and the other is a "hipster" shop that specializes in vintage road bikes, touring bikes, and snazzy single-speed conversions of old road bikes.

mikehattan

Sorry to hear about your problems. Just curious, what was the event that caused the spoke to break? What size tire was on the bike? What was the inflation pressure? Was it damaged?

I'm 265lb (and have been as heavy as 285) and have never broke a spoke. Just trying to understand since I have just begun wheelbuilding.

CliftonGK1

Same break every time at the 'inside of the wheel, left side'.

If I'm interpreting that correctly, we're looking at a consistent non-drive side break at the spoke head (by the hub, not by the rim) on the trailing (heads out) spokes.
That means that your spokes (especially non drive side) are seriously undertensioned, and since there have been multiple breaks and replacements, the entire wheel is likely true, but not evenly tensioned any more. If you have multiple broken spokes then the tension on the wheel gets more and more out of balance with each spoke replacement as the wheel is trued back up. Eventually, the tension is far enough out of balance that the only solution when replacing another spoke is to loosen everything up and start from scratch with tensioning.

As for fancy-schmancy wheels and spokes, they're nice to look at and in certain regards they're going to be better than some lower priced equipment, but it's not necessary. I've ridden all sorts of 32h wheels at weights up to 265 pounds. Anything from Alex DA16 rims on Deore hubs (stock Cross Check wheels) to replacing the rims on those with DT Swiss RR1.1 (now the RR465), a pair of 1991 Wolber T410 Alpine rims on IRO high flange track hubs with 14g DT spokes, and recently I've been using $15.00 IRO house brand rims on their $20 house brand hubs laced with 14g DT spokes. I don't run into any issues with spoke breakage, even on my CX bike that I take out and beat up on local MTB trails and jump my full weight onto the saddle after run-ups.

HazeT

QFT. I was 300lbs when i started ridding my bike on Mavic's CXP22 and 700x25 tires. I've never had any broken spokes. If you are going to buy wheelset I've heard very good things about Velocity Deep V's going with 32 spokes in the front and 36 in the back. Pay a competent wheel builder to do it for you.
But again, your problem is more likely a labor problem then your weight or wheels itself

shriekingmonkey

So I picked up my bike today with freshly repaired back wheel. The owner wasn't very encouraging. "Well, I replaced the spoke. I don't know what else to do. I wouldn't change any of the components. Just ride it and let's see what happens." Well, as I mentioned I've been thinking about another bike, and I talked to the wheel expert at a 2nd bike shop where I'd been looking at bikes, and he agreed I shouldn't be having these problems, especially after getting the new custom wheel built. So, when I picked up the bike, without even riding it, I took it directly to the other shop to get their opinion. They said the components used were great, but the wheel build itself, not so much. I hadn't even ridden it yet, and they showed me how the spoke tension was uneven and the wheel was already out of true. Not so bad that I would have noticed it myself, but enough that it's probably gonna break again pretty soon as-is. So, I'm pretty sure now I ain't the problem!

So I'm paying the guy at the 2nd shop $35 to fix the wheel (basically, he's going to do exactly what CliftonGK1 mentioned above, loosen everything up and start from scratch with tensioning). Meanwhile, I've decided I'm still going to get another bike, and the Raleigh is going to be my backup. I'm going to get a Kona Dew Deluxe, which is also a hybrid but has better components. Hopefully the stock wheel will hold up for me, but if not, I have a little more faith (hopefully not misplaced) in these guys at the other shop that they can properly build a wheel. I really like the guys at the first shop, but I feel like I've been really patient with them, have spent a lot of money with them, and while I believe they have sincerely been making an effort, they just can't deliver. I guess all their other customers must be skinny enough that they don't have a problem. The guys at the 2nd shop allegedly have at least a couple of customers that they've built wheels for that are 400+ pounds so hopefully they have more experience with Clydesdales.

Sayre Kulp 

Yeah - that's what I thought. Seriously - I'm 6'2" and around 270 pounds. I'm riding 700c skinny wheels and I have no problems. I have been riding since I was over 400 pounds and have never broken a spoke. I've never had custom wheels built. Even the low-end stock wheels on my Trek 7200 have never given me trouble and I've taken them on MTB trails! I suspect it's because they are kept tensioned properly and the tires themselves are kept inflated properly.

nixternal

Down to about 250 now, give or take a pound. At 265 I started riding on a Bontrager Race X Lite Aero that was a couple of years old. 16 spoke, all flat. You know, the type of wheel people tell you to not ride at this size. Hasn't been trued yet and only broke a drive side spoke in a crash. Oh yeah, 5,000 miles probably, and not a single crack in the rim either. So I don't care what people tell you about wheels and being big, take most of it with a grain of salt. Oh yeah, and I have been riding on some Bontrager carbon wheels to, not a single problem.

Now with that said, I ride the hell out of wheels. Mavic, Easton, stock cheap wheels, custom built, 32 and 36 spoke, I tore the hell out of them. Everyone was called "bomb proof" only to fail miserably in less than a 1,000 miles. My experience, so once again, only take that with a grain of salt.

jethro56 

CliftonGK1 and Beanz: How did you learn to build and maintain wheels? The only LBS I've been in that appears to be somewhat professional is an Hour's drive away and it's 5 mechanics are booked a week in advance.

sstorkel

I read Sheldon Brown's tutorial and watched a bunch of videos on YouTube. I particularly liked the ones by 'expertvillage' that feature Pancho Herrera. I also watched the videos by 'thebiketube'. I think they're a little more straightforward, if not as well shot.