Damn...broken spokes....

[stuarttunstall]

Well all started out so well.... Out on the Scott Sub Cross 10 this morning, 3 miles from home, loud bang from my bike ,,, Only to find two spokes in the rear wheel have snapped.... Not even on a rough road... made hell of a noise..

Thought I could put them out the way and ride home but the wheel has a bad buckle now... not sure if that was caused by the spokes snapping or that cause the spokes to snap

Oh well.... trip to bike shop in a while

When I went out I was riding up a hill and heard a "crack" so stopped and all seemed OK... almost in the same place on the way back as I do part of the route twice, I had a real loud bang and then found the two spokes... the rim looks OK...

One of the spokes was almost perfect length still and would still push into the nipple... the other one was about an inch short so I suspect the first noise was the longer snapping but stayed in the nipple... When the other went and the wheel went out of true it may have pulled out...

Dropped it off as I was passing Evans and they are going to sort it on Wednesday, no problem as I will not be out again until next weekend.. £18.00 not bad plus a £1.00 for each spoke...

Why would they decide to snap on a 12 month old bike that's done 600 miles? I know the roads are not the best I use, country lanes with rough sections and badly filled potholes so a bit uneven in places, but I have done the same route for the last 12 months...

At one time I was about 15KG heaver than Scott recommended for the bike, now I am below the 120KG they stated.. ... Not bad in 12 months of diet, exercise and riding at weekends and lost 3 stone, but I would think I would have had issues when I was at my heaviest

Should I be paranoid now that more will break or am I worrying about nothing lol...I am a worrier lol... I use the same routes every weekend for the last 12 months and this is the first issue, never even had issues when I was at my biggest weight .. I was 3 stone heavier 12 months ago when I got the bike..

Stuart

 

[Donger]

After suffering several broken spokes in my first few years of cycling, I always get my LBS to fit "Alpine 3" triple-butted spokes to my rear wheels. My new bike didn't have them, so lasted about two months before the problem recurred. Got Alpine 3s fitted and no problems ever since. That's probably getting on for 20,000 miles without a break, while never weighing less than 20st. I recommend them to anyone near the heavier end of the spectrum for a bit of peace of mind.

 

[stuarttunstall]

Thanks for the advice, if I get issues again I may look at getting the spokes changed for something better than standard.. As I said I am now around the 18/19 stone mark and decreasing, and use the same rubbish roads each time for the last 12 months so if ether of those was the issue I would think I would have had more problems that after 12 months...

I suppose I could have just hit a bump "just right" today to cause it to snap a spoke on the way out but that spoke stayed inside the nipple and then the spoke 2 from it went due to the extra tension/load 10 miles later, that cause the one that was still in the nipple to pull out.. if that make sense lol

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

I am only 75kg and I have jad a couple of spokes snap on Fulctum and Vision wheels.

 

[stuarttunstall]

Are spokes breaking "just one of the joys of cycling"?

Although even with the roads I use and my original weight this is the first issue in 12 months, and hopefully the last lol so maybe I can put it down to a "one off" ... even so I always worry about stuff

 

[Smokin Joe]

Are spokes breaking "just one of the joys of cycling"?

If your wheels are built properly a broken spoke will be a very rare event.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

It seems to be a modern thing. I have been cycling for about 46 years and until the last few years never had a spoke break.
To be fair, I ride wheels with a low spoke count, but as I said, not until the last few years have I had any problems with the spokes breaking, or the wheels going out of true.
The Fulcrum quattro wheels are mass produced, but the Vision wheels were hand built at the factory.

 

[stuarttunstall]

When I purchased the bike and found out I was technically above the weight Scott said I spoke to Spa Cycles in Harrogate who said if anything the wheels would be a problem but said I should be OK... but if issues did start to happen he could build a set of custom wheels designed for the weight and more for around £195 a pair, which I thought was good..

If I do start to get issues (hopefully not, and it's a one off) I may go down that route..

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Are spokes breaking "just one of the joys of cycling"?

Not unless you overload a bike, or bash into kerbs and potholes, or insist on riding on silly weight-obsessive wheelsets with hardly any spokes built into them. I ride all sorts of old stuff, some with completely unknown histories of previous mistreatment or loadings, yet I've never broken a spoke that I can remember anyway. I weigh about 14 stone, and it appears that any 36 spoke wheel will take that load indefinitely without failure if ridden with some care.
Even at your current reduced weight, you are still dishing out a lot more punishment to your wheels compared to lighter riders. You also have to consider bike and cargo weight, not just body weight. A wheel manufacturer will stipulate a max load for the wheel - and that includes not only the rider but the rest of the bike plus any accessories bolted to it or stuff carried on it.
One of your spokes could have had a manufacturing defect in it, which caused it to fail after repeated heavy loadings. It's most likely IMHO, that the second spoke then failed as a result of the loadings within the wheel suddenly changing as a result of the first failure. I doubt very much you managed to simultaneously overload two sound spokes to the point of failure. Your weight probably found the weakness in one spoke, then after that went ping, the remaining ones were all forced to do more work and the second one went. The loss of tension caused by the wheel going badly out of true is probably what limited the failures to two.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

No, no and just no. Please do a search on here for metal fatigue.

 

[fossyant]

Machine built cheap wheels - spokes do go pop.

 

[rogerzilla]

Bromptons have a terrible reputation for breaking spokes despite being made from reasonably good components and (allegedly) hand built. Plus, the small wheels are inherently much stronger as the bracing angle is wide and the rim is very well supported, even with 28 spokes.

The reason people complain about removing the tyre more often to replace a spoke than to fix a puncture? They're just not very well built. I pulled mine apart and rebuilt them when the bike was new. Never touched them again in ten years.

The point is that a wheel can have everything going for it but it has to be screwed together by someone who has the skills and time to do it right.

 

[stuarttunstall]

Thank you for all the replies, I do appreciate them..

I should be collection the wheel tomorrow after work, and I have asked that they check all the spokes, hub and rims just to be safe...

It will be a worrying ride out on Saturday lol... I am paranoid lol

 

[stuarttunstall]

Well the wheel is back in the bike now scared stiff to go out on it Saturday just in case lol.... PANIC! ... They replace 3 spokes rather than just the two that broke as another broke as he tested the tension... better to be safe...

Only problem the spoke protector is loose now, but as it is raining I have not looked too hard how it fixes ... Any idea how these lock in place? looks odd as it is not centred on the wheel lol

Job for Friday when I clean and lube it up... Trying some "MucOff C3 Ceramic Dry Lube"

 

[Ajax Bay]

the spoke protector is loose now, but as it is raining I have not looked too hard how it fixes ... Any idea how these lock in place?

The 'd' disc normally has plastic lugs that clip/fix to (normally) 3 spokes.