Is it 'cos I's too fat? (mavic open pro's issue)

fat bloke

Having some trouble trouble with a powertap wheel built into a mavic open pro rim. It's starting to pop spokes all the time. Just got it fixed there in Marrey's Balinrobe and they think the rim and spokes are unsuited to the heavy powertap hub (assuring me my fat a$$ was not neccessarily the problem).

So, any recommendations for an alternative build? I was under the (mistaken) impression that wheels didn't get much stronger than a 32 spoke open pro, but obviously not. I've dura ace CL's that I've ridden constantly for about 5 years and they've never been serviced at all and are as true and smooth as the day they were bought.

So what's the strongest, best, lightest, finest and cheapest wheel I could alternatively build my powertap into?

doozerie

I can't see how the rim itself could be the problem, particularly an OpenPro which is conventional and relatively shallow so I'm not sure how it would introduce any odd factors into the mix to overly stress the spokes. I would wonder about the quality of your spokes though, and perhaps even the build quality. Do you know what spokes it was built with and do you have faith in the skill of the person who built it?

As an example of what should be a reliable Powertap build, Wiggle sell a complete Powertap 32h wheel which uses DT Swiss Competition spokes. They don't mention what the rim is, but I have a vague memory of reading before that the Powertap rim is simply a well known rim re-badged - I can't swear to that though and I don't recall what rim it was suggested to be either.

Should you opt for a re-build and need to choose rim and spokes, the UK Wheelsmith site offers Powertap builds with a variety of spokes and rims, and I'd assume those are considered reliable combinations. Similarly a US wheelbuilder site lists spoke and rim options to choose from too so again any of those might be considered reasonably safe bets too.

dquirke1

Not a lot of help I know,
But when I was getting a powertap built up, a lot of bike shops wouldn't even consider building it, saying they caused a lot of trouble with breaking spokes and going out of true.
Something about the torque being transmitted to the 'wrong' side of the hub???

Would have thought a 32spoke build would be no problem though, mine are 20spoke and I'm 85kg :eek:

doozerie

Another factor to take into account is spoke pattern - are your existing wheels built with a 3-cross pattern on the drive side or something else? Do all of the breaks occur on the same side? And do they all occur at the same area of each spoke?

fat bloke

They're just "normal" looking black spokes... sorry I can't be any more scientific than that . Now I did have a regular 32 spoke open pro wheelset before a few years ago and they also weren't the paragon of truth and stability that I had expected, needing regular truing, but nothing like this one I have now. I have the wheel with me on holidays for two weeks and I've had it to three different shops in that time and had four new spokes on it :rolleyes:. The last guys in Ballinrobe said the setup is too weak for the hub. He said the spokes are tightened to the last, and they're pinging like a harp. He said try not to ride out of the saddle any more and get it re-built. - Which I will do once I get home. There's definitely a weakness in it somewhere, I've never had problems with any other type of wheel I've had.

That or liposuction I suppose. (cheaper than most powertap wheelsets )

doozerie

Sounds to me like a poor quality build, and possibly poor quality spokes too. I'd expect the rim to be okay but if you are getting it rebuilt anyway then the wheel builder should be able to advise whether there is an issue with the rim instead, or as well.

Just to add some bias, I've grown to dislike OpenPro rims in recent years. I'm building up a 32h Powertap at the moment with an Ambrosio Excellight SSC rim and ACI spokes. It's not built yet so I can't comment on how it works as a combination but the Excellight rim seems at first sight to be good quality and online anecdotes suggest that it is on a par, or above, the OpenPro. I got a few of the Excellight rims from Bike24 for 50euro each, a good price should you decide to go that route.

lennymc

your just putting out too much power!

im running a mavic open pro 28h with powertap and dt swiss competition spokes. I broke 2 spokes over about 10k kms. Rim has gone out of true a few times. Ive used it for racing, commuting, training, on the turbo, all weathers etc, so its been well used. It will need to be changed soon enough, so Im looking at a deeper section rim this time to see if that helps with the truing. I should really start investigating different rims cos ill need it done sooner rather than later. Wheel was built by my usual guy, and I have no issues with the quality of the wheel build. He will be rebuilding the wheel when I do eventually figure out which rim i want.

Lumen

I've used Open Pro rims built on a front dynohub (>600g) and a rear 11sp Alfine (1.5kg?) with no problems at all.

That supports my feeling that the "heavy hub" theory is total horse****e.

You do need a really good wheelbuilder though, not just some bloke that some fella in the club said was decent. I had huge problems with Open Pros until I started using Holyboy.

uphillonly

Bee Cycles built my Powertap on Open Pro 28 with DT Swiss Revolution spokes. It has stayed true for the past year with plenty of riding on rough roads in Wicklow through the winter and high speed pot-hole encounters.

He's a highly recommended wheelbuilder on boards. When building it he talked about something different he had to do wheelbuilding with the Powertap hub. Can't remember what it was now though, sorry.

Vino Veritas

The real question is, What is an A4 rider doing with a powertap ....
As the powertap is already heavier than standard hub, stick with 32 spoke, and if you are breaking spokes, get a complete rebuild.

colm_gti

Vino Veritas wrote: »

The real question is, What is an A4 rider doing with a powertap ....

What's that supposed to mean?

Lumen

colm_gti wrote: »

What's that supposed to mean?

It means that Vino Veritas is a retrogrouch snob.

doozerie

Vino Veritas wrote:

The real question is, What is an A4 rider doing with a powertap ....

The real question is, Can a statement without a question mark at the end really be deemed a question?

Here is a very real question though: Can a random person on the Internet possibly justify trying to hold someone else to account for how they spend their own money?

dedocdude

ah lads, not even off the first page before the discussion descends into farce -

O.P. - take @doozerie's advice (about the wheel) - get a re-build - rim will be fine, get decent spokes DT's, Alpina's something like that- and send them off to an experienced wheelbuilder - someone mentioned wheelsmith up in Scotland, I would 2nd that.

Best of luck!

fat bloke

Who said I was an A4?

Maybe I'm an A5 rider.

All's I wants to do is fix my wheel and get back riding my bmx