28
votes
Accepted
Loose spokes after only a few rides
Unfortunately, most bikes are only rated to 300lbs or less. However, if this is a new bike, you should take it back to the shop and get them to fix it. They can't claim they didn't know you were a ...
- 16.8k
28
votes
Accepted
I have a 2nd broken spoke after 300km on a new bike, is it the wheel or me?
Not enough points to comment, so here is an answer instead, based mostly on my own experience.
I've been using a bike as my main, if not sole, mean of transportation for the last 20 years or so. ...
- 396
27
votes
Accepted
Can I ride on 15 spokes instead of 16?
You shouldn't ride on a wheel with broken spokes more than necessary, especially if its a low spoke count wheel (like a 16 spoke wheel). The load gets unbalanced with respect to the other spokes.
...
- 45.8k
27
votes
Accepted
Purpose of 'bore' on spoke nipples - why are spoke nipples not threaded through their entire length?
Adding threads to any sort of bolt under tension doesn't actually make it much stronger, beyond the first ≈5 threads. Adding more basically just adds dead mass; either way the whole thing will ...
- 2,811
25
votes
Accepted
Bent spoke design wheels — feasible?
Spokes bent like that can't take any load (tension), so it would not work. However, bending multiple spokes around each other can produce a feasible wheel with non-straight spokes, like the last photo ...
- 510
19
votes
I have a 2nd broken spoke after 300km on a new bike, is it the wheel or me?
I suggest you get the wheel rebuilt properly, once and for all (probably by a different bike shop).
A well-built wheel should be able to handle even riding off kerbs or small unavoidable potholes ...
- 52.6k
19
votes
Accepted
Spokes damaged by chain – should they be replaced?
It is likely damaged spokes will fail prematurely due to fatigue at the stress points caused by the damage. When that happens is anyone's guess, and the wheel may fail for other reasons beforehand.
It ...
- 46k
17
votes
Accepted
How to adapt a spoke salvaged from a 26" wheel to a 24" one?
Answer: Buy new spokes.
A spoke is threaded not with a die, but with rollers. The difference is that a die cuts away metal leaving a thread with an OD no-larger than the original. A roller will cold-...
- 114k
16
votes
Accepted
What kind of wheels use spoke washers/nipple washers?
Spoke washers are used at the hub end, between the flared out cap and the hub itself. The intention is to take up extra length between the bend and the end, to help prevent the spoke from breaking. ...
- 114k
15
votes
Accepted
Rim cracks on spoke adjustment holes, how much should I panic?
To me, it looks like whoever (or whatever, as it was likely machine built) used the wrong size tooling to hold and screw the spoke nipples as the wheel was built. Not a rim manufacturing defect but a ...
- 28.8k
13
votes
Purpose of 'bore' on spoke nipples - why are spoke nipples not threaded through their entire length?
The bore guides the thread of the spoke to the threading of the nipple allowing easier spoking with less risk of cross-threading.
The bore also allows the spoke to be threaded deeper w/o adding more ...
- 241
13
votes
Accepted
Spokes bow out from the hub flange
Bowing as the outer spokes exit the flange is normal. The angle when the spoke is made is set arbitrarily, and it's the job of the wheelbuilder to cold set it best as possible to match what the ...
- 76.9k
12
votes
Spokes damaged by chain – should they be replaced?
Yes. Replace them. I had similar damage, perhaps slightly deeper, when some debris got caught in my rear derailleur and broke it. After 150km one spoke broke, followed by another two before I got home....
- 52.6k
11
votes
Accepted
How much is too much - spokes protruding into the rim
That is poorly built and unacceptable (in my book) as a paid for product. If all of the spokes are protruding some, and several more than others, it means that the wrong length spokes were used.
...
- 9,908
11
votes
Accepted
Why do spokes loosen?
I have to say I think this is a myth, for a properly built wheel.
Spokes have threaded ends which the nipples screw onto. Like almost all screw threads, they are self-locking. Since the spokes of a ...
- 17.1k
11
votes
How precise do spoke sizes need to be?
This topic is really poorly understood. Anyone who ever who tells you it's fine to just round up or round off when choosing spoke lengths hasn't been through the disaster scenarios that can be caused ...
- 76.9k
11
votes
Back wheel spokes keep breaking
Usually spokes don’t break because they are too weak but because they have too low or uneven tension.
Even tension will distribute the load among several spokes. High enough tension will make sure ...
- 25k
11
votes
Loose spokes after only a few rides
I completely agree with the accepted answer of @David Richerby from personal experience.
As a heavier rider (~22 stone) for many years, I also found with a couple of different bicycles that the rear ...
- 211
11
votes
Accepted
Is there a benefit of lacing trailer wheel spokes radially instead of crossed?
Crossed spoke lacing is primarily necessary to transmit torque from the hub to the rim, rather than for increased strength, although I suspect hub flanges have more strength when loaded by a crossed ...
- 75.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Pinging sound on new radial front wheel
I think you have found the answer to your question, about the cause and meaning of the pinging.
I would suggest however that to assert the wheel invariable needs re-truing (at that answer does) is ...
- 4,617
11
votes
Why did my bicycle have a spoke shatter and a tube rupture?
Guessing: you had one spoke break at the J bend and the rivet end was lost. The remaining part of spoke popped the tube from below, perhaps it was a little sharp? And the tyre on the outside was ...
- 114k
10
votes
Accepted
Cause of broken spokes (pictures included)
The grooves/enlargement shown at the hub are all normal.
The path to a wheel that doesn't break spokes is use premium quality spokes (DT, Sapim, and Wheelsmith are the usual poster children), set ...
- 76.9k
10
votes
Problems with spoke threads, and stressing the wheel
There is one major cause of this problem and it is putting a 1.8mm aka 15ga spoke in a 2.0mm/14ga nipple.
This mismatch will screw together and hold under some tension, but then slip.
It is easy to ...
- 76.9k
10
votes
What can cause wheel spokes to snap in the middle?
I've dealt with a number of wheels where there were inexplicable failures at the mid-span of the spokes (far away from the elbow or threads). I haven't heard of instances of this where the failure ...
- 76.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Deriving formula for spoke lengths
Okay, I decided that uploading the document as a series of images would be better than having to individually copy all the diagrams and render the equations separately (Bicycles StackExchange does not ...
- 14.1k
10
votes
Breaking spokes - why?
Most spoke breakages are failures from fatigue that occur due to small (microscopic) areas in the spoke operating beyond their fatigue limit as a result of residual stress areas in the spoke. These ...
- 76.9k
9
votes
How precise do spoke sizes need to be?
A typical spoke has around 8-10 mm of threading on it, and you don't necessarily have to engage all of it with the nipple. So it's not super sensitive to small variations in length.
For most folks, ...
- 12k
9
votes
Spoke max tension
There is no hard-and-fast rule for max spoke tension. (Other than "Dang, there's a crack in the rim at this spoke hole." That means you added too much tension...)
In my limited wheelbuilding ...
- 9,566
9
votes
I have a 2nd broken spoke after 300km on a new bike, is it the wheel or me?
First congratulations and encouragement for getting out there on the bike. Don't get discouraged, the problem is fixable.
I totally agree with other answers saying get the wheel rebuilt with new ...
- 75.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible