Rear wheel spoke actually pulled thru hub
 

So last Saturday I was on a 60 mile ride coming back in the dark. About 5 miles from home at about 10 pm I gave a push on my pedal to cross a road and all of sudden I heard POP and my bike slowed. I could not understand what happened till I unclipped and got out of the saddle. I got my light out and noticed my rear wheel wedged towards the side of the frame and the tire rubbed hard. I did not see the spoke until I inspected every spoke and then finally saw it wedged in with the other spoke . The crazy part about it is it actually pulled off the hub ! Never seen that ever !!!!! So its a longer story Im sick of , lol , but any one thoughts on why that would happen .
Thanks.

what kind of hub, what kind of spoke, how old?

Did the spoke or the hub break?
Both happen, but spoke is more common.

If it broke near the head of the spoke, that's pretty common. If the hub flange broke, that sucks but does happen, particularly with poorly manufactured hubs, in which case the wheel will need to be rebuilt with a new hub (and probably new spokes).

+1 @Bill Kapaun's comment. If the spoke broke, that's fairly easy to fix by removing the broken spoke, installing a new one of the same length, and truing the wheel. Spokes breaking at the head are often a result of riding with inadequate spoke tension, so be sure to check the tension on the other spokes when truing the wheel. Unfortunately, if one spoke broke because of inadequate tension, chances are others have been fatigued as well and may also eventually break. Be prepared to rebuild or replace the wheel if this starts happening.

If, on the other hand, the hub flange itself failed, that means the hub most be replaced. Often the most cost-effective solution is to replace the whole wheel. Tire, tube, and cassette/freewheel can be transferred to the new wheel, if they're in reasonable condition.

Reynolds wheel/hub , stainless steel spokes and nipples. Excellent shape bike kept indoors in bedroom . Hub and wheel is older but looks brand new.

The spoke pulled thru the hub ! Meaning somehow the mushroom part that keeps the spoke in place on hub pulled thru it. Never had that happen in 50 years.

"particularly with poorly manufactured hubs" or Campagnolo NR track rear hubs used as all weather road hubs. I know, I've broken two. (Many years ago. First hub I bought new and broke in maybe 5 years. Campy sent me a replacement, It broke a few years later. Campy came through again but I switched to Miches,

I've broke a few others but those have all been due to uneven spoke tensions or low quality and lots of miles. To this day I do not know why those NR track hubs disliked a light, not strong rider using them on the road.

Ben

So, the hole in the HUB is now larger?

Agreed that the description is lacking of detail but with no photos to see we have to rely on the OP's words.

So either the spoke's head has broken off enough to slip out of the hub flange's hole or the flange hole has opened up enough to allow the spoke's head to get pulled through. The VASTLY more common reason a spoke is no longer attached to the rim is that the elbow/head has broken off the spoke. As in the #1 way spoke break. Usually there's a stub of the elbow left, but no flange/rivet like flairing about it's diameter.

But all this talk about elbows and such is assuming the spokes are the common J bend type. Again we have so little data.

Can the OP better describe the wheel? Spoke count? Rim shape? There's real reasons why many wheel builders run their wheels with far more conservative designs. So too with touring riders who are in remote areas with no support near by. With 32 or 36 spokes the rim will usually suffer less deformation when a spoke breaks. And any roadside repair is also generally easier to do with more spokes.

Some of us who have been the business for a long time have seen what just 20ish years ago were event grade components (wheels in this thread) that now are used daily by people who because they spent serious money assume the component will last longer. Andy

I tried to send a photo but site is not allowing me .

A better written description should be adequate. From the above comments you should be able to determine what additional information we need.

This is a spoke that pulled through the hub.
Nothing wrong with the hub.
It's a shame you are too lazy to look.
Ignore list.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1bb9bf4721.jpg

Lol, thats funny. Today I became unlazy. I did pull my bike outside , removed the wheel and did the inspection. And what I found I don't like . I have been asked to post photos and I really wanted to because I have a question about how I may or may not repair this. On further inspection it appears it is happening to other holes as well , wow , thats really blowing me away. Its weird the forum says I cant post a photo. I am new here.

There's a few reasons why spoke holes fail. Age. Uneven spoke tensions. Over tight spokes. Cheap non forged hub. Wheel rebuilt with the spokes in a different orientation to the original leading to stress risers, especially in old hubs. This can be seen where the old orientation has worn a groove in the hub.
To the OP, just go post on some other threads, once you hit 10 posts you can post pics.

My spokes did not fail , you aren't paying attention. Yes it sure looks like its the hub problem. I've had these hubs for years never ever this, it looks like some kind of acid weakened the metal ,idk. Rebuilt the wheels at least 4 times. The only thing that was new recently is I decided to use 25mm tires instead of the 23 Ive used for the last 12 years . I really don't want to post garbage posts .

Posting pictures for Ilovemyride.



https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...61095e3d54.jpg


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...45bcdac709.jpg

Spoke problem...
That being said you can clearly see where the spokes have been laced in a different layup, but I can't see a cracked hub or an overly enlarged spoke hole, it still has a visible chamfer.
OP, reckon you need new spokes. Maybe try some DT Alpine II with 2.3mm ends. Hub is a little average anyway, might be time for a new one...

I agree with Trevtassie. The hub is well worn but the spoke holes still look not opened up enough to fit an undamaged spoke head through them.

Do I count about 20 spokes for this wheel correctly? Andy

Idk whats going on here second picture isn't showing. Uhmmm, I believe its the hub not the spoke ( can you see where the metal appears to be eaten away on the hub next to where spoke would seat), nothing has been re-laced differently ,anyway moving on to a question . Are there spokes to be purchased with larger heads so they wont pull thru , or is this hub damaged past fixing ? Whhhhhy :cry: I loved these wheels. I do have a set of beautiful racing full carbon HED 3C Trispoke carbon tubulars sitting in the closet.

Sorry I would take a picture of the whole wheel if could post it easily . But it is 24 spokes.
Yea the hubs aren't anything super special , just they have been very very good to me for so many years on my bike.

The hub flange erosion about the hole is not atypical of a well used hub. Not the best sign for long term reliability. But, again, there's no indication of the hole being expanded enough to allow a undamaged spoke to slide through. But all this is very easy to find out. Test fit a spoke and see what happens. Do you still have the spoke that "pulled through?

The reason why you can't post photos here yet is that this forum has a 10 posts "provisional" period before members can post links and photos directly. It's in the rules that are available for all to read. This policy is to discourage spammers and such. I think it does a good job at that goal. One can post a link to a third party photo sharing site with a written out link using "dot" and "at".

I do admit that you seem to not be very open to some things like our forum's policies and our help... Andy

I will try a spoke tomorrow and see how it sits but as I noticed earlier ( unless I'm just not seeing the true nature of the issue ) it appears other holes are being elongated . As like the metal has softened all of a sudden. And as I commented earlier, though Idk why , maybe these 25mm tires put some kind of new "pressure" on the wheel ?

Yes I might still have the broken one, good idea if I do to inspect it.

Nah, deffo the spoke. The head of the spoke sits in that chamfer around the hole. In order for the head of a good spoke to pull though the chamfer would need to be gone, which it isn't. In terms of spokes I'd still say use the Alpine III as it has a larger head while still being only 1.8mm at it's thinnest. The Sapim strong also has a big head, but aren't very stretchy, I'd only use them on a touring or ebike wheel with eyeleted strong rims

Another vote for spoke issue. Although, ideally you'd want to look at the spoke hole from the outside after removing the cassette.