Back wheel to avoid broken spokes?

[Cambyses]

My commuter (currently Whyte Shoreditch) has a 32-spoke back wheel, I check tension weekly and get it trued properly at every service, but I still snap a spoke every few weeks. I've replaced the wheel and indeed (for other reasons!) the bike, but the same thing always starts up again after a few months.

So can anyone suggest an absolutely bombproof disc-brake-compatible 700C back wheel, suitable for carrying 90kg of me plus laptop, lunch, clothes and D-lock through 8 miles of South Manchester's most bone-shaking potholes? Or if I should get one built, what exactly should I specify? I'm not too fussed about weight or price, just so long as it stays in one piece!

 

[vickster]

Contact @Spoked Wheels of this parish, he can spec and build, very well he does it too (I have a pair of lovely wheels from him, my rear wheel is actually a 36h)
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/hand-built-wheels-update-£20-per-wheel-building-service-to-cc-members.133384/

Otherwise, you could have a chat with Spa cycles for example

 

[Tim Hall]

Something is wrong if you're busting a spoke every few weeks. I'd suggest a properly built wheel won't need spoke tension checking weekly nor truing every service. I'm 93kg at the minute, but that's got a holiday bonus of 2kg. My commuting load is a bar bag of clothes plus sandwiches. My wheels are fit and forget. 32h on my fixer, 36h on my geared bike. You say potholed roads. How many potholes do you bash through? Although I gave a suspicion bashing potholes will dent rims rather than bust spokes.

 

[Cambyses]

Something is wrong if you're busting a spoke every few weeks. I'd suggest a properly built wheel won't need spoke tension checking weekly nor truing every service. I'm 93kg at the minute, but that's got a holiday bonus of 2kg. My commuting load is a bar bag of clothes plus sandwiches. My wheels are fit and forget. 32h on my fixer, 36h on my geared bike. You say potholed roads. How many potholes do you bash through? Although I gave a suspicion bashing potholes will dent rims rather than bust spokes.

Thanks for the thoughts. I go through a lot of pot-holes as I'm mostly in the kind of traffic where evasive action is risky. I've never damaged a rim - in fact I haven't even had a puncture in two years (since fitting Marathon Pluses). The spokes seem to be the only thing that ever fails on this bike, which is part of the reason I'm so determined to get it sorted out! I don't think it can be a purely a bad wheel, as the same thing has happened with 4 wheels on 2 bikes now. I have a suspicion the disc brakes increase the wear on the spokes (by applying the braking force at the hub rather than the rim) but having got used to them I wouldn't be without them in traffic in wet weather. Other suggestions for things I could/should be doing differently are more than welcome! :-)

 

[mjr]

Sounds like it could be a dud wheel, or maybe spokes that aren't up to it. 36h are definitely still widespread and someone might build you 40h or more if you really want strength over weight. Fixed/hub-gear wheels are the strongest, then 8-speed IIRC then they get slightly weaker with more dishing to accommodate more speeds but it shouldn't be significant. Find a good wheelbuilder. Spa have a good reputation, or Practical Cycles are your side of the ridge.

 

[srw]

90kg

93kg

Lightweights.

As others have suggested, spokes shouldn't just break. The only bike I've ever had regular spoke breakages on was my first Brompton, and that was in the late 1990s before they'd worked out how best to build 16" wheels. On one of our tandems, our 15-year-old wheels bust a couple of spokes, which we took as a signal to buy new wheels. I'm no physicist, but I can't see how disc brakes would increase wear on spokes.

If I had to guess, it would be that checking tension weekly (which I'd guess involves a spoke key?) is actually making the wheel less robust. I might check wheel tension once a spoke has broken - but not beforehand. If well made, just leave them alone.

 

[Tim Hall]

Hmm. As @Yellow Saddle will explain, spoke failure is down to (or mostly down to) fatigue. Riding the bike causes each spoke to undergo load/unload cycle (see what I did there?) as the wheel revolves, ultimately leading to fatigue. Where on the spoke are they breaking? Are they plain gauge or double butted spokes? Plain gauge are the same diameter all the way down, while double butted, unlike a brontosaurus, are fat at one end, thinner in the middle and fat at the other end. This, counter intuitively, makes for a longer lasting spoke.

I'll have a think about your disc brake theory.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Plenty has been written about spokes breaking here. I suggest you search for:

"metal fatigue"
"Double butted"
"Stress cycles"
"potholes" in relation to broken spokes.
"Stress relieving"


Potholes have NOTHING to do with your broken spokes, the lack of stress relieving, everything.

 

[mjr]

Plenty has been written about spokes breaking here. I suggest you search for: […]
"Stress relieving"

Top result for that one is currently https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/stress-relief-in-the-workplace.212567/ which I doubt is helpful

 

[Cambyses]

Thanks for all the thoughts and helpful suggestions. I think I'll get somebody to build me a 36-spoke wheel with no expense spared on the best possible quality double-butted spokes! (Any recommendations for good wheel-builders in my neck of the woods (Greater Manchester, north-east Cheshire or High Peak) would be appreciated: I'll try one of the recommendations further afield if necessary I'd prefer to find somebody good nearby if possible....)

 

[vickster]

Maybe @Spoked Wheels can help as post #2

Not sure why you need a local wheelbuilder. Although I would assume Harry Hall cycles could build you a wheel?
https://harryhallcycles.co.uk/

 

[Drago]

You're a sylph like lightweight. There is no need whatsoever for anything remarkable in the wheel department for a wee slip of a boy like you (although there's nothing wrong with simply fancyng one.)

 

[Spoked Wheels]

My commuter (currently Whyte Shoreditch) has a 32-spoke back wheel, I check tension weekly and get it trued properly at every service, but I still snap a spoke every few weeks. I've replaced the wheel and indeed (for other reasons!) the bike, but the same thing always starts up again after a few months.

So can anyone suggest an absolutely bombproof disc-brake-compatible 700C back wheel, suitable for carrying 90kg of me plus laptop, lunch, clothes and D-lock through 8 miles of South Manchester's most bone-shaking potholes? Or if I should get one built, what exactly should I specify? I'm not too fussed about weight or price, just so long as it stays in one piece!

When you say you check the tension every week..... do you also tighten the spokes you find need some tension?

 

[rogerzilla]

36 spokes. If dished, DT Revolution on left side (they're better at maintaining tension when you hit a massive bump, but horrible to build with) and DT Competition on right side. Get it built by someone who really knows what they're doing. It will be tough as old boots and will last several rims.

 

[e-rider]

My commuter (currently Whyte Shoreditch) has a 32-spoke back wheel, I check tension weekly and get it trued properly at every service, but I still snap a spoke every few weeks. I've replaced the wheel and indeed (for other reasons!) the bike, but the same thing always starts up again after a few months.

So can anyone suggest an absolutely bombproof disc-brake-compatible 700C back wheel, suitable for carrying 90kg of me plus laptop, lunch, clothes and D-lock through 8 miles of South Manchester's most bone-shaking potholes? Or if I should get one built, what exactly should I specify? I'm not too fussed about weight or price, just so long as it stays in one piece!

cheap chinese made spokes ALWAYS snap sooner or later
get a decent wheel with DT Swiss DB spokes - if you really bash it or are really heavy it might go out of true from time to time, but the spokes wont snap!