broken spokes
 

Why do they keep breaking? I got home from work and three were broken from the hub but the wheel was still true. I've got 27'' on my 80s cannondale should I keep having it fixed or should I upgrade to some nice 700c wheels what is a good option?

There is the answer, from the 80s.... You have two options. 1. to have each wheel re-spoked, or second to get new rims. I would recommend some 700s =D Of you can afford it do it =D

Do you think it would be worth it to get a newer but low end bike or keep this and just put money into it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mburges...in/photostream

this is it

If you plan on going 700c make sure your brakes will reach the rim. You might need brakes with a longer reach.

theyll work I put my fixie front wheel on

I used to have problems with rear wheel spokes breaking. I'm a little heavy, I use a trunk bag on a rack and I ride LA streets. Original wheel was Alex rim, factory spokes, Nexus internal gear 8 speed hub. I replaced spokes several times, had the wheel completely re-spoked one time.... then I noticed the damage to the rim's spoke holes... besides that, the Nexus hub was having issues. Too much down time on my commuter, so I bit the bullet and ordered a new wheel, with a quality Sun rim, Alfine IG8 hub (higher grade hub) with DT stainless spokes. Expensive, yes. But it has been worth it in the long run with improved shifting, rolling and reliability. Just a suggestion from a guy rolling past 8,000 miles on the commuter OD. Best of luck to you. - 3bikes

Sounds like a good time to learn how to build a wheel. Buy a cheap trueing stand, read up on wheel building and have at it.

I got charged 45 for respoking, so it wasnt that bad

Sounds like material fatigue to me. The spokes as well as the rims. Would recommend getting a set of Sun CR-18 rims as they come in 36h as well as 32h, which is pretty much standard these days. They're inexpensive and solid rims for any kind of loaded cycling. Also, DT Alpine 3 triple butted spokes for the rear at least as that's where 80-90% of spoke breakage comes from. You may want to go to a larger size tire as it appears from the pic you're running 23mms. 28mm would give more cushion w/o too much sacrifice in rolling resistance. If your frameset has the clearance.

What'll happen over time, as the wheel hits things and goes out of true, is that the spokes are required to take unequal tension to maintain the rim in true. And that ain't good. You may or may not need to re-spoke; you probably are due for a detension/retension. Should be about half the cost of re-spoking.

Definitely keep what you have. For the cost of even a low-end new road bike you could put a lot of work into that, and it looks like a pretty nice bike.

+1 very nice bike.

The breakage is either material fatigue (if the bike has MANY miles) or a poorly built wheel (uneven tensioning, etc).
If the braking surface of the rim is in good shape and it is still pretty straight after taking the wheel apart, it should be salvageable - just get new spokes and nipples. Otherwise, rebuild with a new rim, spokes and nipples (I recommend using spoke washers if the hub flange holes allow any play).

Being an '80's C'dale you can't just throw any hub in that frame. It's most likely 126mm spaced and possibly 128 if it's late 80's and it's not recommended to respace Aluminum frames.