Broke a spoke today

[Crankarm]

Yep, broke a spoke. I thought my rear end felt a bit wobbly .

I was cleaning the rear wheel as 3 weeks worth of thick grime, brake block dust, mud, grit, crud and horse shoot gravy had accumulated on it making it look pretty disgusting and I happened to notice a spoke aimlessly floating out of place. Hmmmmm. It's on the non drive side broke at the hub flange. My wheels aren't crappy factory wheels either but crappy hand built wheels (not by me I hasten to add). I didn't have much confidence in the chap who did the original build anyway and then I had to take them back to him to be trued about 4 months later but this was about 3 years ago. The wheel hasn't felt that strong and had been out of true for some time. So now I think it is new wheel time ££££££££££. I never ever had a spoke fail or wheel out of true from any of my hand built wheels that I had built by Monty at Condor. It just shows there are really rather good wheel builders and then the not so good wheel builders. Monty has retired and London is too much hassle to go to so maybe I get a hand built wheel from SGS, Roberts cycles or Paul Hewitt. Any suggestions? It must be a 36h rim and silver with DB SS spokes. Strength over weight for me as I want bombproof strong wheels.

 

[fossyant]

DIY if feeling confident ! - If the rim and hub are in good condition, new spoke and fit it yourself, then re-true.

Or order new wheel (Hewitt's/Roberts) and then have a go at fixing the old wheel.

Glad I had ago at it last year. Built 4 wheels of my own now

 

[I like Skol]

I was cleaning the rear wheel as 3 weeks worth of thick grime, brake block dust, mud, grit, crud and horse s*** gravy had accumulated on it making it look pretty disgusting and I happened to notice a spoke aimlessly floating out of place.

Proof, if proof were needed, that you should never clean your bike!

Definitely try replacing the spoke first then wait and see if any more go. I had to replace a handfull of spokes in a rear wheel over the last winter and found it quick and easy to replace and retension the new spoke with very little attention needed to the rest of the wheel. Give this wheel a chance before condemning it to the skip, spokes are usually only about £1

 

[Andrew_P]

It was all that food...

 

[Moodyman]

Spa cycles build some seriously tough wheels for expedition tourers.

My choice would be a Deore LX/Tiagra (depending on the OLN) hub on a Sputnik 36 hole rim. I'd specifiy Sapim Strong spokes for total overbuild, though they do Sapim double butted too.

 

[Maz]

Do spokes come loose of their own accord over time?
Must admit I have never even checked my spokes for tightness. Maybe I should.

 

[ushills]

No, spokes should never come loose overtime. Nor should a wheel need re-truing if made correctly.

 

[Peowpeowpeowlasers]

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/23825/Hope_RSMono_Pro_3_Mavic_Open_Pro_Rear_Wheel

32 hole but that's what I recently bought. Hope products are unbeatable IMO. It has the added bonus of being audible from Saturn.

After being forced to bin a knackered XT hub on my MTB, I'll never buy a wheel from Shimano again.

 

[Maz]

No, spokes should never come loose overtime. Nor should a wheel need re-truing if made correctly.

Okay thanks.

 

[Matthew_T]

Something just on my mind: If a spoke goes whilst you are travelling and it makes you loose your balance and come off, is it covered by CTC personal accident?
I still have my factory front wheel on my bike (7 years old now!) and I have recently needed to buy a new rear wheel as the freewheel had worn down and I wasnt going to waste money on a new one so just got a cassette wheel.

But what is concerning me is that a few of my front spokes are starting to get rusty now (surface rust) even though I clean them regularly. So there is a real possibility that one of them could go. If just one spoke goes, is the wheel still okay to ride? Or does it weaken the structure so much that the wheel just fails?

 

[albion]

Loose spokes are by far the main cause of a break/buckle.

 

[fossyant]

Wheels generally are fine if a spoke goes. Low spoke count ones can go a fair bit out of true. All depends upon the quality of build. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Paul J]

I broke a spoke and bought some replacements from this company http://www.spokesave.co.uk on ebay as spokesave.