Broken spokes

Oisin0

Hi all, I've been having problems with spokes breaking on back wheel of my touring bike, any suggestions???

serendip

Spokes shouldn't really break except under some extraordinary stress. Have you been fixing them yourself? Probably best to ask your local bike shop to check the wheel.

tomasrojo

When I had a bike with cheap wheels (screw-on freewheel) I used to get a lot of spokes broken. Now with a better bike, I never seem to get them.

Has your chain fallen into them ever, that is, has it come off the cassette and damaged the spokes?

Oisin0

serendip wrote: »

Spokes shouldn't really break except under some extraordinary stress. Have you been fixing them yourself? Probably best to ask your local bike shop to check the wheel.

I can't understand it, up until last year I had an old Peugeot racer for over 20 years, and never broke a spoke. Then this bike a Montana Tourer came along approx April or May 2010. It was fine until after Christmas, then problems began. I had 4 breakages, each time costing about €15 to fix not to mention down time. On one occasion the broken sport caused my back derailleur to get all twisted, this cost much more than €15, I can tell you. All the time the guy in the shop is telling me that its down to the way I'm cycling, I'm to rough with gears, I should choose gear before climbing a hill. This doesn't explain why I never got a broken spoke on my old Peugeot.
Last Saturday I cycled Ring of Kerry, and had 3 broken spokes. I'm really fed up. Should I get a new wheel? If so, which type???

Oisin0

tomasrojo wrote: »

When I had a bike with cheap wheels (screw-on freewheel) I used to get a lot of spokes broken. Now with a better bike, I never seem to get them.

Has your chain fallen into them ever, that is, has it come off the cassette and damaged the spokes?

I don't recall chain ever coming of cassette

Raam

What make and model is the wheel?

Schrodingercat

I had the same problem on my mountain bike. Fine for about a year and a half and then every time I went out I seemed to break a spoke.

I brought it into a shop (Fitz cycles in Stillorgan) and he put a spoke tensioner on it and said the spokes were too tight.

Ended up getting new wheels instead of fixing it but they offered to adjust all the spokes and said it would resolve the issue.

doozerie

There are quite a few reasons why spokes may repeatedly break, and the reasons can vary depending on where along the spokes the breaks occur. Some reasons that spring immediately to mind are: poor quality spokes, poor quality hub (I've had spokes repeatedly break on a hub where I reckoned the sharp edges on the poorly drilled spoke holes were the culprit), poor quality build (some/all of the spokes could be over-tensioned). It'd probably be very difficult to narrow down the real cause(s), unfortunately. I find it hard to imagine how your riding style could be the root cause of that many spokes breaking though - even a half-decent wheel should take a reasonable hammering without things breaking, and touring wheels should be made to withstand more hammering than some.

I'd start with looking at the spokes. For a touring wheel I'd expect them to be double-butted and if they are not then that may well be your problem - you can break double-butted spokes too but they are significantly stronger. If your hubs are a recognisable brand and a reasonable model within the range of that brand, then they should be okay - not guaranteed of course, just means they are less likely to be the culprit. If you have double-butted spokes and reasonable hubs then I'd suspect the quality of the wheel build and maintenance in which case having someone else work on the wheel might be all that's needed. If the spokes are single-butted, or not butted at all, and/or the hubs are non-branded then you may be better with a new wheel and a half-decent new wheel may even prove cheaper in the long run too.

Holyboy

Schrodingercat wrote: »

I had the same problem on my mountain bike. Fine for about a year and a half and then every time I went out I seemed to break a spoke.

I brought it into a shop (Fitz cycles in Stillorgan) and he put a spoke tensioner on it and said the spokes were too tight.

Ended up getting new wheels instead of fixing it but they offered to adjust all the spokes and said it would resolve the issue.

That is a load of BS spokes dont break from having high tension, in fact the more tension a spoke is under the stronger it will be, if the spokes were under too much tension then the rim would crack!

Oisin0

Raam wrote: »

What make and model is the wheel?

Hi there, the wheels are "VKT PROTOX" They came as standard on bike http://www.montanabike.com/english/road/toursport962m.html
If I need to change wheel what kind of reasonably priced one would you recommend

Raam

Fulcrum Racing 7, at 160 to 170 quid are pretty sturdy.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fulcrum-racing-7-clincher-wheelset/
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=40926
http://www.probikekit.com/eu/wheels/mid-profile-bicycle-wheels/fulcrum-racing-7-wheelset.html

Oisin0

Raam wrote: »

Fulcrum Racing 7, at 160 to 170 quid are pretty sturdy.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fulcrum-racing-7-clincher-wheelset/
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=40926
http://www.probikekit.com/eu/wheels/mid-profile-bicycle-wheels/fulcrum-racing-7-wheelset.html

Hi there,

thats great thanks.

Also, have you or anyone else heard of a make of wheel called Mavic, if so any comments??

Raam

Yes, Mavic are a good make too.

bikelover

mavics are great wheels, very hard to find better at the pruce they go for IMO.
Regards.