Breaking spokes - AGAIN!!!

[OldBull]

Hi all.

 

A while ago I broke spokes at about 1 every 7 rides. After about 14 was replaced I went to a new LBS and it stopped for about 4 months.

 

This weekend I broke the second one this month. Why does this keep on hapoening?

 

Any advice will be valued.

 

Mtb, gravel roas only and I weigh arou d 110kg

[Patchelicious]

There could be a ton of reasons, being heavy is a big factor.

 

Mayby ping hubber, Dave Marshall a message, he is a wizard when it comes to wheel builds.

[fanievb]

incorrectly tensioned spokes.

take the wheel to someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[Mr lee]

Hi all.

 

A while ago I broke spokes at about 1 every 7 rides. After about 14 was replaced I went to a new LBS and it stopped for about 4 months.

 

This weekend I broke the second one this month. Why does this keep on hapoening?

 

Any advice will be valued.

 

Mtb, gravel roas only and I weigh arou d 110kg

 

All of the above plus what wheels do you have?

[FirstV8]

I am finding the same with my back wheel . I clean my bike every Sunday and always find one or two spokes lose . I tighten them immediately and also make sure that i dont over tighten so as to cause a wobble . I have put it down to my weight 114kg or should i look at other factors . 

[Eldron]

Over 100kg falls into the "heavy duty" category class in my opinion - most bike tech comes from Europe where riders are much smaller (sure that is a pretty large generalisation).

 

I reckon 36 spokes is the right number for larger riders.

 

Most <32 spoke wheels come with 85-100kg weight limits.

 

I reckon a nice 36 spoke built wheelset (done by a proper wheel builder) will sort you out. Once multiple spokes start breaking it's time for a rebuild cos you have a number of spokes in varying stages of fatigue so the tension is spread over spokes of varying strength - it's going to keep causing grief. Maybe a rebuilt on your current wheels with new spokes and existing hub/rim will help...

 

Edit: "Riding" the bike also helps - a trend I've seen is that riders who roll/unweight the bike (road or mtb) over bumps etc tend to break less spokes. Riders that sit dead on the saddle and let the bike soak up the hard work break more spokes. Try being light on the bike.

[scotty]

What rim/hub combo do you have. 

[Eddy Gordo]

If you snap one or a few spokes and just replace those spokes, chances are very high that it will happen again. Best is to have the entire wheel rebuilt. A 32 would work, but a 36 spoke should be ideal.

[Tristand]

The rim could be buckled.

Have a chat with Dave like Patchelicious suggests.

[Weimaraner1]

I agree with everything said so far and the fact that you should speak to someone like Dave Marshall.

 

My 2 cents - if spokes continuously break (and you are sure that the wheels match your weight) then get the wheel rebuilt with new spokes and new nipples and at the same time check if the rim is still good. If the rim is bad replace it. A good wheel builder will tension the wheel properly and make sure that spokes will not loosen. The spokes, nipples and rim needs to be examined  - the spokes could have stress cracks meaning that every time you replace spokes the next weakest spoke will break.

[Tatt]

All of the above. 

 

I'd check if your hoops are round or oval. Besides spokes breaking,  I also had couple of spokes loosening every ride.

 

I know all of this as I've just managed to mess my Stans up and they were rated for my over 100kg weight. 

 

Tom

[droo]

Not to labour a point, but take it to Dave.

[Mr lee]

I broke one spoke after the other on my original Merida wheel set and after replacing them they seemed to last a good few months....was probably 120-124Kg's at the time...now 117.

 

I recently had my wheels rebuilt using the Rapide 25mm ID rims and they are much stronger now. Tires do not roll off the rim at low pressures and I can corner harder which is always a plus.

As the spoke failures seemed a distant issue I decided that I would upgrade the rims (apart from the performance gains) for piece of mind as the wider rim will always be stronger than a narrower one....well in most cases anyway .

[Robbie Stewart]

I broke one spoke after the other on my original Merida wheel set and after replacing them they seemed to last a good few months....was probably 120-124Kg's at the time...now 117.

 

I recently had my wheels rebuilt using the Rapide 25mm ID rims and they are much stronger now. Tires do not roll off the rim at low pressures and I can corner harder which is always a plus.

As the spoke failures seemed a distant issue I decided that I would upgrade the rims (apart from the performance gains) for piece of mind as the wider rim will always be stronger than a narrower one....well in most cases anyway .

 

I too am clocking between 117 and 116 kilograms at present, down from 124. I have managed to pop quite a few spokes on my previous hardtail on Alexrims. In May I bought the Camber Comp with it's wider Roval's at 29mm inner rim width, and these wheels are much more resilient. I took them through some gnarly sections at Jonkershoek on Saturday, and they still roll true and straight. For us bigger okes, a good SOLID wheelset is much more beneficial than trying to sooth our consciences with "lighter" equipment. Lighter is pricier, and costlier. Trying to save grams on a wheelset at my weight is just not worth the money. I would do better to lose an extra couple kilo's. Power to weight will then also improve.

[droo]

Spoke breakage has nothing to do with rim choice, it's metal fatigue. Spokes stretch with every revolution of the wheel, and if the wrong spokes are used, the wheel hasn't been stress relieved or the spoke tension is uneven the material will eventually reach its fatigue limit and break.

 

On those 3 points:

 

Use double butted spokes. The thinner section in the middle allows the spoke to stretch in the middle rather than at the ends, away from the high stress areas at the threads and the j-bend.

 

After building, the wheel needs to be stress relieved. This involves stretching the spoke to its elastic limit to relieve any residual stress from manufacture, which will be at the j-bend and the first thread. Most spokes will break at this point.

 

Spokes need to be tensioned evenly and to the right tension, for which you'll need a tension meter. Too tight and you'll risk collapsing the rim, too loose and the nipples will unthread, and if the tension's uneven the tight spokes will either snap or pull through the rim and the loose ones will come undone. If you can play a tune on your wheel it won't last.

 

A few other things - alu nipples are the work of Satan. Brass only. 32 spokes minimum for a MTB. If you're a heavy rider, consider going with 4x lacing - more crosses = more resilience.

 

That's about all I can think of now, Sheldon Brown's site has a more comprehensive explanation than I can give but I've pretty much covered the basics.

[WrightJnr]

What droo said.

 

I'm on the heavy side too and the "std" rims supplied with my various bikes have never ever lasted.

 

Always rebuild by someone who understands I'm heavy so better laced, double butted spokes and although always used brass nipples my latest wheels were build with some Voodoo Trickery Aluminum Nipples that so far (3000km) have been perfect.

 

 

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