Originally Posted by
Andrew R Stewart
Like a rim that's no longer flat or round when there's no spoke tension prodding it to look true. Or maybe the Op is one of "those" riders who don't ride smoothly, weighs a lot and or causes their bike to receive more stress then typical.
Yet the way a bike is ridden and the surfaces it's on hasn't changed for decades. I take issue with this wishful hope. It only takes one slight hop, one thumb sized rock, one ripple (not even a pothole) of the roads surface when the rider's weight placement is not "correct" to cause the rim to become deformed. Many times we don't attribute a riding incident as the root of the problem.
Andy, I understand what you are saying and agree to a point. However, the wheels I reported above have been ridden in the Pittsburgh area on the finest roads PennDot has to offer. The roads I ride daily often look like mine fields and there is no avoiding the potholes and cracks. You ride over and through them or you don't ride. If a small rock or ripple could have damaged those rims they would have been toast after five miles.
My rims are all "semi-deep" (24 mm) so their rigidity and abuse tolerance are pretty good and they have proved very durable. Neither my bike nor I are very heavy which helps. Also, while i run 700-23 tires (larger ones won't clear my frames or forks), I do keep the tire pressure up and reinflate before every ride and that probably helps.
I still thing a broken spoke at 1200 miles indicates and underlying construction problem or a very hard hit that had to damage the rim.