Broken Spokes

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

MichaelO

Guru
I'm starting to lose the will to live with this... I bought a set of Fulcrum 5's earlier in the year, and put them on the bike at the beginning of March (I'd never suffered a broken spoke with the stock wheels that came with the bike - circa 4,000 miles).

After 800 miles on the new wheels, a spoke snapped (Friday 9th May) - took it to a shop near work, had it fixed & the wheel trued & cycled home. A different spoke then went the following Wednesday (14th) - this time I took it to my trusty LBS at the weekend. They took it & ordered in a new spoke and gave me a spare wheel while they had mine, so I could keep cycling. I put this down to either poor re-truing the first time, or something wrong with the wheel... I'm yet to get my wheel back - hopefully tomorrow.

Anyway, I've commuted every day this week, so covered about 180 miles on the borrowed wheel - and this morning I suffered another broken spoke (on the wheel given to me by the shop!!). What the heck am I doing wrong!?

We can all do with losing a few pounds, but I weight 13 1/2 stone, so nothing crazy. I commute into London, and while there are potholes about, I know where they all are and avoid them. What else could be causing me to suddenly break 3 spokes on 2 different wheel in a fortnight?!
 
D

Deleted member 35268

Guest
Are you running 23c tyres or 25c, 25c are better for the inevitable potholes in my opinion, so less chance of the wheel banging the ground repeatedly. I had a string of spoke issues on some Alexrims mainly because I removed the plastic spoke guard so that if the chain comes off it does not wedge in the spokes. So inevitably my chain did come off and chewed the spokes, one by one, over a period of time I replaced about 4 spokes. The wheels did about 5000 miles in the end and are now shot.

You don't know the history of the shops wheel, so I would rule that one out of the equation.

For your Fulcrums, is it the back wheel that keeps losing spokes?,
Has the chain ever jumped off the cassette and wedged into the spokes? Perhaps you have a spoke guard.
Where are the break points in the spokes? (Usually near the centre / hub I guess)

Bad luck. Perhaps search the forums for people with Fulcrum 5's
 
OP
OP
MichaelO

MichaelO

Guru
For your Fulcrums, is it the back wheel that keeps losing spokes?,
Has the chain ever jumped off the cassette and wedged into the spokes? Perhaps you have a spoke guard.
Where are the break points in the spokes? (Usually near the centre / hub I guess)
Yes, always the back wheel, and always near the hub. I don't have the plastic chain guard thing on, but equally, I've never had the chain drop off the largest cog.

I'm running 23mm tyres (always have) - might consider 25's when I come to replace them, if that might help. I have a few longer (100mile+) rides coming up over the next couple of months - really don't want to be suffering with this then!
 

TheJDog

dingo's kidneys
I've been riding Fulcrum 5s on my commuter for around 3 years, and have only in the past few weeks managed to get back down to under 14st (I was probably around 15 this time last year) and I've ridden over all sorts of potholes, kerbs, you name it, and never had a problem. So it's not your weight. I've been running 25c Schwalbes at around 100PSI (now gone to 28 on the back wheel at around 95).
 
OP
OP
MichaelO

MichaelO

Guru
I've been running 25c Schwalbes at around 100PSI (now gone to 28 on the back wheel at around 95).
Random thought has crossed my mind - does over-inflating tyres have an effect on spokes? I haven't increased the pressure I put into tyres, which has always been around 110-115PSI, but JDog's post made me wonder.
 

TheJDog

dingo's kidneys
Random thought has crossed my mind - does over-inflating tyres have an effect on spokes? I haven't increased the pressure I put into tyres, which has always been around 110-115PSI, but JDog's post made me wonder.

Higher pressures will definitely mean less suspension from the tyre (which I think is where you get most of the suspension - in a road bike), which will contribute to the liklihood of broken spokes - but you aren't overly heavy, and 110 isn't _that_ high for your weight. I was thinking maybe you were running too low a pressure and somehow bottoming out, but without flatting with a pinch puncture..
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
i'm around 17 tonne, use carbon rims, with 24 spookes, have my tyres at 100 psi and have never broken as spoke upto now

i also have zondas with the funny MG3 spoke pattern - not broken a single spoke on there either

so your problems is definately not down to your weight kind sir
 
Random thought has crossed my mind - does over-inflating tyres have an effect on spokes? I haven't increased the pressure I put into tyres, which has always been around 110-115PSI, but JDog's post made me wonder.
my fulcrum 7 cx's stated a recommended pressure of something daft like 138 psi if you read the literature that came with them... my tyres can't take that so I don't take them that high, but...
 

Flick of the Elbow

less than
Location
SW Edinburgh
Can't see how tyre pressure could have any effect on spoke breakage. If the rim hits a bump it will put a compression through the immediate spoke but its excessive tension that will cause a spoke to break.
 
Top Bottom