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 ...
- 46.1k
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
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....
- 53k
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
11
votes
Accepted
How to fix this loose spoke (and why/how is it broken)?
You don't need to take the tyre off to adjust spokes. A spoke key picks up on the square pay off the nipple. In the unlikely Event that it's come right off the spoke, you should still be able to re-...
- 53k
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 ...
- 77k
9
votes
Spokes damaged by chain – should they be replaced?
If I'd seen that soon after the chain drop, I'd say replace as many of the most-damaged spokes you can as soon as practical.
However it has lasted for many thousands of kilometres so the damage may be ...
- 114k
8
votes
How to adapt a spoke salvaged from a 26" wheel to a 24" one?
Buy a new one, they cost cents, so the only issue is does it take longer to drive to a bike shop than rehash an old spoke. Used spokes are prone to failure, anyway, heating the spoke enough to create ...
- 46.1k
8
votes
Accepted
What spoke brand is this?
They're e*thirteen. I don't know whether it's just a replacement/stock spoke on an e*thirteen/Hive wheel or if they were selling general purpose spoke packs for a while.
- 77k
8
votes
Why did my bicycle have a spoke shatter and a tube rupture?
From your mention of a squeaking sound some time before this all happened, I guess that your wheel has been out-of-true for quite some time. So much so that the tire was rubbing against some other ...
8
votes
How can I make road-side tension adjustments to bladed spokes?
I've built wheels with bladed spokes, and never had to use any tool to prevent spoke windup like that.
Simply turn the nipple past the point where the tension would be correct, then turn it back to ...
- 9,794
7
votes
Accepted
Is a spoke tensiometer useful for determining that a wheel is on its way to becoming out-of-true?
There are several diagnostic uses I use a tensiometer for fairly regularly:
One is to get a sense of how good the tension balance and tension level on a wheel is as a way of evaluating if it needs ...
- 77k
7
votes
Breaking spokes - why?
I have a Trek from the same "range" (not a Verve though), with similar wheels. My impression was that Trek cheaped out on the wheels. I also had more broken spokes (3 - rear drive side, ...
- 13.6k
7
votes
3 Broken Spokes
Spokes break because of uneven tensioning, when you break one spoke, if the retensioning is not done properly, it only exacerbates the problem for the remaining spokes, and you may have more broken ...
- 13.6k
6
votes
New wheels: WTB KOM Tough with 32 spokes sufficient?
I’ve done bicycle travel on a 28 spoke rear wheel with one of the lightest 622mm aluminium rims you can buy (DT Swiss RR411) and bladed straight-pull spokes (DT Swiss AERO COMP I think). The only ...
- 25.2k
6
votes
Spokes damaged by chain – should they be replaced?
Really depends on how deep and sharp the scratches are.
Spokes have the highest stress at the J bend and at the nipple. So a straight spoke (same diameter everywhere) actually has unnecessary material ...
- 25.2k
6
votes
3 Broken Spokes
Spokes also break because of poor quality metal. I have had a wheel that was constantly breaking spokes, but at the bend instead of the thread. It was repaired several times during the warranty period ...
- 21.2k
6
votes
Should I service / replace / do nothing to my spokes which have done about 21000km before the next longer trip?
In my experience breaking spokes is not correlated with number of kilometres ridden, it has more to do with keeping the wheel in good repair (not warped, even tension on the spokes) and avoiding ...
- 4,677
5
votes
Accepted
Is a Spoke "collar" (i.e., spoke well) in deep section wheel replaceable?
I’m kind of guessing that the “collar” doesn’t serve a structural function and is instead just a fancy washer which makes wheel building easier because the nipple can’t drop into the inside of the rim....
- 25.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Strange noises when using brakes
A supposition: that may only be applicable for Mavic wheels with 'QRM SL' bearings. The bearings preload for these wheels is done when tightening the wheel, with the QR lever or thru-axle. If the ...
- 13.6k
4
votes
Is a Spoke "collar" (i.e., spoke well) in deep section wheel replaceable?
I would have to lean toward "toast" here.
At 20 years old, you are looking at some deterioration due to some corrosion and/or stress cycles that have done in the spoke well insert. Also, at ...
- 5,475
4
votes
How to adapt a spoke salvaged from a 26" wheel to a 24" one?
The head of a spoke is carefully made with a specific shape. Your homebrew version might not sit correctly in the hub's spoke holes (making the tensioning process more "interesting"), and ...
- 14.2k
4
votes
Is a spoke tensiometer useful for determining that a wheel is on its way to becoming out-of-true?
Not really. I imagine a high-end wheelbuilder has a blue wall of expensive park tools because that's what's expected by the high value customer.
If a wheel might be suspect, my quick test is to spin ...
- 114k
4
votes
How to adapt a spoke salvaged from a 26" wheel to a 24" one?
There's no way you'd form a spoke head with hand tools. You couldn't grip it tight enough in a vice.
I can't see me ever being in this position - my bikes generally have enough spokes that I'd rather ...
- 53k
4
votes
New wheels: WTB KOM Tough with 32 spokes sufficient?
My opinion, as a huge fan of 36-spoke wheels (the only case I accept 32 spokes is a 559mm fatbike rim and in this case the spoke density, spokes per inch of rim, is the same as for 36-spoke 622mm rims)...
- 16k
4
votes
Spoke washers needed for Sapim Strong spokes?
Hard to say.
The spokes in the images are not tensioned very much because I see a pronounced curve in both. The spoke J bend has not been seated by spoke tension, nor has it been tapped with a hammer....
- 114k
4
votes
How can I make road-side tension adjustments to bladed spokes?
On longer trips I carry this IceToolz Bladed Spoke holder with me (along with a spoke wrench and spare spokes and nipples):
It has two gaps of different width. I only need the narrower one for my ...
- 25.2k
4
votes
Should I service / replace / do nothing to my spokes which have done about 21000km before the next longer trip?
If your wheel has a history of breaking spokes (many of them, just one doesn't count, especially if it was due to external damage), then you should replace every single one of the spokes and rebuild ...
- 16k
3
votes
Breaking spokes - why?
I've seen absurdly poorly assembled bikes from even the top companies (a Specialized that falls apart during city cycling...). I would recommend the following preventative measures(in decreasing order ...
- 13.5k
3
votes
Breaking spokes - why?
It would be interesting to know which spokes he is breaking. Drive-side rear spokes are more highly tensioned and (I think) more susceptible to breakage. In my experience, once one breaks, its ...
- 27.4k
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