Frequent spoke failures on Gusto road bike

[SloAdventures]

Hi everyone,
I’m having an issue with my Gusto COBRA EVO DB ELITE ULTRA road bike. The spokes on the wheels keep breaking quite often, which feels unusually frequent given that the bike is only a year old and well maintained.

In the photo you can see one of the spokes that snapped mid-ride. The following week it happened again, and the week after that three spokes broke at once, which caused the bike to crash. Honestly, I’m getting really tired of this.


Has anyone else experienced something similar with this model or these wheels?
Any advice or thoughts on what could be causing it (spoke tension, material, possible batch issue…) would be really helpful.

Thanks a lot!

 

[fossyant]

It can happen with badly built factory wheels. I'd take them into a bike shop and get them to re-lace and rebuild the wheel with new spokes. Could be poor quality spokes. If the bike has a warranty, try that, but it needs a rebuild.

Despite it being a 'carbon' wheel doesn't guarantee it's well built. I've had cheap wheels snap spokes. Not snapped any spokes on decent 'factory' wheels, and ones either I've built myself, or bought hand built in the past.

 

[cyberknight]

I concur with fossy , badly built wheels can cause issues .One wheel of mine kept snapping spokes so i loosened the lot and let the lbs retrue and it was ok after that .

 

[Sharky]

Did the spoke actually break? From the photo, it looks like the nipple has failed and come away from the rim?

 

[oldandslow]

Yes, that looks odd. The most common failure cause is the spokes being too loose. They flex and get fatigue failures. But not convinced that's what has happened here. A picture of the rim and any remaining nipple where the spoke was fitted might help.

 

[Big John]

Is it always the front wheel where the spokes break? Are the faults always at the spoke nipple? Are the spoke nipples alloy as opposed to brass?

 

[figbat]

Another question: how do you compare to the maximum specified weight for the bicycle? And what terrain were you riding?

 

[ktmbiker58]

The wheels do look very lightweight in terms of duty - 20 spoke front, 24 rear with very lightweight looking spokes - which is kind of what you expect for a racing bike but not really ideal for what passes as roads in the UK, unless you are racing of course! If you are happy to carry slightly more weight a rebuild with thicker gauge spokes would probably be the best solution.

 

[cyberknight]

Did the spoke actually break? From the photo, it looks like the nipple has failed and come away from the rim?

good spot , i didnt see that but i think your right about the nipple as it looks like it has come out of the rim , in which case is the rim farked ?

 

[Sharky]

good spot , i didnt see that but i think your right about the nipple as it looks like it has come out of the rim , in which case is the rim farked ?

I suspect that it is an aluminium nipple and the nipple's shoulder has sheared off.

Brass nipples might be more suitable.

 

[cyberknight]

I suspect that it is an aluminium nipple and the nipple's shoulder has sheared off.

Brass nipples might be more suitable.

ooh matron !

 

[SloAdventures]

Did the spoke actually break? From the photo, it looks like the nipple has failed and come away from the rim?

I was riding my bike when I heard a sudden bang... I noticed the cap on the spoke had been destroyed. The cap that hold the spikes in place are probably very fragile or poor quality.

 

[SloAdventures]

Is it always the front wheel where the spokes break? Are the faults always at the spoke nipple? Are the spoke nipples alloy as opposed to brass?

On both wheels and usually only the spoke nipple.

 

[SloAdventures]

Another question: how do you compare to the maximum specified weight for the bicycle? And what terrain were you rid

Most likely the weight isn't the problem as I have checked that already. I always ride on road... but the road conditions in my country are almost always pretty bad or old.

 

[SloAdventures]

The wheels do look very lightweight in terms of duty - 20 spoke front, 24 rear with very lightweight looking spokes - which is kind of what you expect for a racing bike but not really ideal for what passes as roads in the UK, unless you are racing of course! If you are happy to carry slightly more weight a rebuild with thicker gauge spokes would probably be the best solution.

Yep... I race pretty often but the road conditions in my country are often really bad. Anyways I'll probobly change all the spoke nipples soo the problem won't happen again or any time soon I hope.