Have you ever broken a front spoke?
01-14-22, 11:59 AM
#51
working on my sandal tan
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CID
Posts: 22,647
Bikes: 1991 Bianchi Eros, 1964 Armstrong, 1988 Diamondback Ascent, 1988 Bianchi Premio, 1987 Bianchi Sport SX, 1980s Raleigh mixte (hers), All-City Space Horse (hers)
Mentioned: 98 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3874 Post(s)
Liked 2,577 Times
in
1,584 Posts
Perhaps we should all be stress-relieving our wheels more often, if we're unsure about them. That raises the tension on individual spokes far more than riding does.
01-14-22, 12:03 PM
#52
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Bastrop Texas
Posts: 4,605
Bikes: Univega, Peu P6, Peu PR-10, Ted Williams, Peu UO-8, Peu UO-18 Mixte, Peu Dolomites
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1012 Post(s)
Liked 1,713 Times
in
1,100 Posts
No...
Rats... Did I just put on the MoJo? Look Out Front Wheel...
Rats... Did I just put on the MoJo? Look Out Front Wheel...
__________________
No matter where you're at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2)
No matter where you're at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2)
01-14-22, 12:06 PM
#53
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 6,150
Bikes: Colnago, Van Dessel, Factor, Cervelo, Ritchey
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4077 Post(s)
Liked 7,666 Times
in
3,077 Posts
Likes For tomato coupe:
01-14-22, 12:41 PM
#54
Junior Member
On my road bike, I've only had one spoke break last year - front wheel just after turning a corner from a stop sign - Neuvation rim. Not a lot of force either as I was barely moving. Had about 2K miles on that rim - but got it used (looked like new).
01-14-22, 12:52 PM
#55
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,495
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6295 Post(s)
Liked 4,331 Times
in
2,427 Posts
You are missing the point. People seem to think that spokes can break due to an impact as the only cause. A new wheel with new spokes can endure an impact of any kind without breaking the spokes. No impact is high enough to break the spoke if the spoke isn’t already fatigued. You could destroy the rim, cause the rim to collapse, and bend the spokes but they would not break. They would bend and be destroyed but they would not break at the elbow or shaft or threads.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
01-14-22, 12:57 PM
#56
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 6,150
Bikes: Colnago, Van Dessel, Factor, Cervelo, Ritchey
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4077 Post(s)
Liked 7,666 Times
in
3,077 Posts
01-14-22, 04:19 PM
#57
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,495
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6295 Post(s)
Liked 4,331 Times
in
2,427 Posts
It’s right there in the very first question.
And this guy provided no provisos that wheel age nor spoke condition.
Nor did this guy.
Nor did this guy.
Even with well used wheels, breaking a front spoke (or a rear one for that matter) due to an impact isn’t the result of the impact itself. Again, mountain bike wheels see far more abuse than rolling over railroad tracks and front spoke breakage is very rare. Some people will tell you that spokes should never break and any breakage is due to poor wheel building. I don’t subscribe to that theory, however.
Impacts certainly can break spokes. I've got several friends and some railroad tracks that will attest to that.
An impact creates an upward force on the wheel, which increases the tension in the upper spokes.
Even with well used wheels, breaking a front spoke (or a rear one for that matter) due to an impact isn’t the result of the impact itself. Again, mountain bike wheels see far more abuse than rolling over railroad tracks and front spoke breakage is very rare. Some people will tell you that spokes should never break and any breakage is due to poor wheel building. I don’t subscribe to that theory, however.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
01-14-22, 05:43 PM
#58
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 6,150
Bikes: Colnago, Van Dessel, Factor, Cervelo, Ritchey
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4077 Post(s)
Liked 7,666 Times
in
3,077 Posts
Poor grade on reading comprehension. The first question simply asked if anyone had broken a front spoke. There's no mention of impacts, or whether impacts can be solely responsible for spoke breakage. The rest of your comments are similarly off track.
Assuming your regular riding is on paved surfaces, not bombing down mountain trails, jumping off elevated surfaces onto pavement below or other bike-abusive situations.
Have you ever had a front spoke break just riding along? I've had a number of rear spokes break which is why I just went to a 36-spoke wheel with triple-butted spokes, but so far have never had a front spoke break.
Have you ever had a front spoke break just riding along? I've had a number of rear spokes break which is why I just went to a 36-spoke wheel with triple-butted spokes, but so far have never had a front spoke break.
01-15-22, 10:05 AM
#59
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,495
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6295 Post(s)
Liked 4,331 Times
in
2,427 Posts
That covers people thinking that impacts break spokes. As I pointed out previously, mountain biking involves far larger impacts than railroad tracks and the wheels endure impacts far more often but broken spokes aren’t more common in mountain biking than in road riding.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
01-15-22, 12:04 PM
#60
Full Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 244
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 206 Post(s)
Liked 39 Times
in
28 Posts
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek View Post
Assuming your regular riding is on paved surfaces, not bombing down mountain trails, jumping off elevated surfaces onto pavement below or other bike-abusive situations…
Assuming your regular riding is on paved surfaces, not bombing down mountain trails, jumping off elevated surfaces onto pavement below or other bike-abusive situations…
My seat of the pants assumption that motivated my comment above is that energy transferred to the rim is going to get absorbed by the spokes - at least some of the spokes at any given time are going to be in a position where there's stress pulling on them and causing flexion - and that regular harder impacts are going to put more stress on the spokes than rolling down the road. You're saying higher levels of repeated stress doesn't lead to more failures of spokes?
