ThaStig Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 My buddy dropped off his rims off his wife's Avalanche stratus. Man..almost all the spokes were broken. It started with him breaking two while taking it for a ride and when he checked them out the rest were all soft and crumbling. You just have to apply pressure with your fingers and they snap. Whatsup with that?
javadude Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 They not stainless spokes. Exactly the same thing happened with my wife's Fuji. The spokes broke while the bike was hanging from the roof. I could also break the rest with my fingers, they were so brittle.
Hairy Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 The problem comes from the spokes being stainless steel and the nipples aluminium, when these are in contact with each other they corrode. If the wheelset has seen a fair bit of water or sea air the process will accelerate. So when you then tighten the nipples they will "explode". Good Wheel builders apply a lube of sorts when building to prevent this and a good maintenance plan would be to drop some thin lube onto the top of the nipple every other wash. The ultimate solution is to use brass or stainless steel nipples from the outset. Weighs more, but last longer. H
Hairy Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 The problem comes from the spokes being stainless steel and the nipples aluminium, when these are in contact with each other they corrode. If the wheelset has seen a fair bit of water or sea air the process will accelerate. So when you then tighten the nipples they will "explode". Good Wheel builders apply a lube of sorts when building to prevent this and a good maintenance plan would be to drop some thin lube onto the top of the nipple every other wash. The ultimate solution is to use brass or stainless steel nipples from the outset. Weighs more, but last longer. H Sorry ... miss read the post .. I see the spokes are breaking and not the nipples. My apologies.
gummibear Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 The problem comes from the spokes being stainless steel and the nipples aluminium, when these are in contact with each other they corrode. If the wheelset has seen a fair bit of water or sea air the process will accelerate. So when you then tighten the nipples they will "explode". How long does it take for that to happen?
Johan Bornman Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 My buddy dropped off his rims off his wife's Avalanche stratus. Man..almost all the spokes were broken. It started with him breaking two while taking it for a ride and when he checked them out the rest were all soft and crumbling. You just have to apply pressure with your fingers and they snap. Whatsup with that? Soft and crumbling you say? Soft like putty and crumbling like biscuits? Leaving crumbs all over the floor. Fingerprint indents in the actual spokes?
Big H* Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 The problem comes from the spokes being stainless steel and the nipples aluminium, when these are in contact with each other they corrode. If the wheelset has seen a fair bit of water or sea air the process will accelerate. So when you then tighten the nipples they will "explode". Good Wheel builders apply a lube of sorts when building to prevent this and a good maintenance plan would be to drop some thin lube onto the top of the nipple every other wash. The ultimate solution is to use brass or stainless steel nipples from the outset. Weighs more, but last longer. H Is it not dangerous when these nipples explode? Is there shrapnel flying around?
ThaStig Posted July 31, 2011 Author Posted July 31, 2011 Soft and crumbling you say? Soft like putty and crumbling like biscuits? Leaving crumbs all over the floor. Fingerprint indents in the actual spokes?...soft as in not hard like they are supposed to be....and yes crumbling like uncooked spaghetti when you apply pressure...didn't check for crumbs
Nameless1 Posted August 10, 2011 Posted August 10, 2011 I had that problem on a wheel with Alex Rims that came with my Raleigh. The shop switched wheels/groupset and sold it cheaper. Bought it in December, used it most weekends, cycling to Fish Hoek or Simonstown, hung it up for the winter, when I took it off, half the front wheel spokes were snapped.The rear looked OK, but when putting pressure on, they also snapped, almost half of them, some I could snap in more that one place, without hardly a bend. The guy at LBS told me the spokes are not meant for our weather ???
SwissVan Posted August 11, 2011 Posted August 11, 2011 The spokes might be cheap stainless (is there such a thing as a cheap non stainless spoke) or heaven forbid aluminum and suffering the effects of sea air = Corrosion of the exfoliation kind. Normaly looks like a flower or cabbage opening up not an explosion.... This happens from inside the spoke material (intergranular) and can look more or less normal until a load is applied and then it (the spoke) fails.
MTBer wannabee Posted August 11, 2011 Posted August 11, 2011 I must admit, i have seen scarier things befor
Just Keep Pedaling Posted August 11, 2011 Posted August 11, 2011 "I must admit, i have seen scarier things before" Agreed. Like that chicken in a can TNT1 posted a few months back...
SwissVan Posted August 11, 2011 Posted August 11, 2011 [INSERT IMAGE OF TNT FRANTICALY SEARCHING THU HIS RECYCLE BIN]
Hairy Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 Is it not dangerous when these nipples explode? Is there shrapnel flying around? yes I would say that it is .. a fragment hit me hard just below the eye ... a little higher and it could have caused damage.
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