bampilot06

New to cycling, and after breaking two spokes back to back I have gotten really paranoid about bumps on the road. Along my normal route I cross bumps at a couple of intersections. The are for helping with run off and are about an 1.5 inches high, and it goes across the whole span of the street. Should I change my route to avoid it, or am I being extreme?
Thanks

shelbyfv

A bump like you describe should cause no problem but you can lift your butt off the saddle to un-weight the rear wheel. If you are breaking spokes there is an issue other than those bumps. Do you weigh too much for your bike?

mcours2006

Could always slow down or stop and walk over it. Or learn to bunny noon at speed.

noodle soup

+1

Is this wheel evenly tensioned, or has it been trued a few times by a LBS hack mechanic?

bampilot06

I am not to sure if I am too heavy. I am 511 185 pounds and it’s a 56 cm cannondale caad 4. It had the original mavic wheels that were put on it in 2001 and I have no way of knowing how many miles were on the wheels. I just replaced the rear wheel, I just don’t want start breaking spokes again.

noodle soup

It was an old wheel, with a questionable history. Replacing it will fix the problem, but in the future make sure the wheel is checked periodically for proper/even tension.

It's not a bad idea to have the wheel checked by a skilled wheelbuilder, even for a new wheel.

Carbonfiberboy 

Your wheels have not been maintained and probably weren't built properly in the first pace. I've never broken a spoke in my life, and I've been riding for ~65 years. Any decent bike shop should be able to re-tension your wheels. You should be able to hit bumps hard enough to flat your tires and dent your rims without breaking a spoke. That said, it's possible that all your spokes have now been fatigued so badly that they are all getting ready to break. I'd just buy new wheels.

No, you are not too heavy. Our tandem weighs over 350 lbs. with us up in touring trim. We don't break spokes even on cobblestones.

bampilot06

Cool, I ordered through my lbs and they checked it out before I took it home. I appreciate the help.

shelbyfv

Nope, not too heavy. Your new wheel should resolve it.

Bah Humbug

I've been called paranoid, but if I broke a spoke I'd get the wheel rebuilt with all-new spokes by a well-regarded builder. The impact that broke one spoke stressed the others, and those took further stress from the wheel being out of true. And if the wheel was built improperly and that contributed, the other spokes were already at risk as well. Fix (or replace) the whole thing. As you did.

bampilot06

I was really bummed about having to replace the wheel. If you have ever seen the cannondale caad 4 r 1000 with the fire paint scheme, the rims and hubs are this golden orange color. It was pretty sweet. When the first spoke snapped it immediately bent the rim, so I took it to my lbs and he put a new spoke, and the checked the tension and tru’d the wheel. I think I only rode about 60 miles when the second one snapped. It was the next spoke inline on the drive train side. When I went to my LBS again, I wanted them to replace all the spokes with a stronger gauge, but he said that because of the nature of the snapped spoke, he thought the hub was comprised, so I replaced the wheel.
I’m extremely interested In learning how to work on all aspects of my bike. I fly airplanes for a living and with airplane ownership the insurance cost and mx cost, are usually what keep people away from owning one. In my short time in this sport I can see how the mx cost could easily become a scaled down version compared to airplane ownership.
I plan on buying a truing stand, and replacing the spokes on my old wheel myself. Not necessarily to use the wheel again, but it would like to know how to build a wheel, and tru one as well. I like my LBS, however I don’t want to have to go there every time I have a small issue.

noimagination

It sounds like you did the right thing. IME, you break one spoke, you replace it and ride the wheel. You break another in short order, you either (a) accept that you'll be periodically breaking spokes; (b) re-build the wheel or (c) get a new wheel. If the LBS is trustworthy, then I would take their advice, as you did.

I have an inexpensive truing stand, but I use it to make small changes to my wheels, I don't use it to build wheels. A front wheel would probably not be a big deal, but with modern wheels the large amount of dish necessary to accommodate the larger gear clusters, and the resulting large difference in tension between the drive side and non-drive side spokes makes me leery of trying to build one. Plus, I wouldn't be building enough wheels to gain (and maintain) the experience necessary to build good wheels. I'm pretty sure I'd break more spokes on a wheel I'd built myself than I would on a factory manufactured wheel. But that is me, I'm OK with basic maintenance, but I'm not interested enough to learn everything and I take some work to the LBS.

If you're interested in building wheels, see if your LBS would be willing to show you. Some LBSs are happy to help do-it-yourselfers, others not so much. Maybe you could get practice by building and re-building the same wheel a few times? Also, I would think a tensionometer might be a good purchase. Some people can use the pluck and listen method to gauge tension, but personally I'm not that good at distinguishing pitch.

bampilot06

That’s a good idea, I’ll talk to them and see what they say. Thanks for the advice.

Carbonfiberboy 

I've been building my own wheels for years. IMO a Park TM-1 tensiometer is a necessity for the beginning builder. Experienced folks who build a lot of wheels using the same spokes can do it by ear, but even they won't be as accurate as an amateur with a TM-1. However you don't need a truing stand or a dishing tool. Your bike works fine as a truing stand. After all, if you have to do touch-ups before or during a ride, you won't be pulling the wheel and putting it on your stand - you'll do it right on the bike. To get dish correct, simply flip the wheel in the frame. Wheel building is relatively easy, just time consuming until you get good at it. Figure 2-3 hours for your first wheel. There are online spoke calculators to get the spoke length right. My practice is to put a little anti-seize on the spoke threads.

I've been using these instructions: https://www.bikewebsite.com/build.htm
and some of these tools: https://www.bikehubstore.com/category-s/570.htm
I use the Mulfinger tool, Unior wrench, and Sapim PolyAx brass nipples.

It's fun, and you can build your perfect custom wheels from parts you choose, which don't have to be expensive.

rumrunn6

would love a pic, a guy at work wants to make some for our property

Amt0571

I never brake nor stop when there are bumps (unless it's unsafe to do so). If the bumps are small, I just unload the saddle and the bars until I have passed over them. If it's a big bump I bunnyhop over it. The worst bunnyhop landing will be better than a speed bump at high speed.

big john

I used to be 220# and now I'm around 200 and I have broken so much stuff I can't even remember it all. Lots of spokes and rims. Every rear wheel I use will fail eventually. The best wheels I have used are built by hand by pro wheel builders. Once spokes start breaking it's time to rebuild the wheel if it isn't cracked.
Full disclosure, I break other stuff, too. 4 frames, broke shoes, had pedals snap off 3 times, saddles, seatposts, stems, motorcycle suspension parts, etc.

Cyclist753

You're just going to have to learn to 'post up' over the rough stuff! Build some 36 spoke wheels... they are tough! I've only broken one spoke in over 35 years of riding. The only reason I remember that is because the spoke jabbed my calf muscle! I had a seat break once and some derailleur cables broke but that's about it.

Carbonfiberboy 

I've built all my own wheels for about the past 20 years. I'm not a pro by any means. I'm really slow, but I'm accurate and I know how to choose rims and spokes and pair them to the application. Our tandem has ordinary road wheels, just built and tensioned properly. When we camp-tour on it, we have two rear panniers, no front. The tandem does have the advantage of a rear 145mm O.L.D. so the drive side spokes aren't as highly stressed as on a 130mm road wheel. Still. BTW I now run the same CX-Ray spokes and rims on the tandem and my single, just more spokes on the tandem..

Build your own wheels using the TM-1. Cheaper and better. Use deep section rims, at least 26mm, 32 spokes, 14-15 DB.

popeye

Correct answer.

big john

I have built wheels before, 36 hole Mavic MA2. Still broke a spoke while touring @Around 260# all up. I'm no good at wheel building, find it tedious.

There is more to breaking wheels than weight. Lennard Zinn had an article about guys who break a lot of stuff. The theory was that some guys have a spike or surge in their power output which flexes and fatigues things. Another thing is riding style. From years of off-road motorcycling I tend to lift the front wheel and let the rear slam into bumps with my heels dug in. We have some terrible roads here.

I've used multiple wheel builders, some are waayy better than others, many different rim/hub/spoke combinations, and tried wheel sets like Ksyriums. On my 3rd set of wheels on my current road bike with 6 failures on the previous 2 sets and I just replaced the rear rim on my mtb due to multiple cracks.

bampilot06

I used to ride bmx back in high school, and when I first started cycling I did notice I had a tendency to lift the front wheel over the bump, causing the rear wheel to take the most of it. I don’t do that anymore, I try to take the weight off the rear wheel.

How did you like the krysiums? That was one of the wheels I was looking at. I ended up with a factory made machine wheel for now, my LBS provided it, and it was all I could afford at the moment.

big john

I liked the way they ride and they looked good on my bike but the spokes kept pulling through the rim. They're threaded into the rim and I just kept ripping them out. The first 2 times Mavic warranteed it for me but the 3rd time I had to pay for a new rim. That's when I stopped using them, they're sitting in my garage. I've been using 32 hole Open Pro rims on Record hubs with double-butted DT spokes for a couple years. No problem yet except truing. My weight is down to 200 and my mileage has been down, too.

bampilot06

I was at 230 when I started back in May, now I’m down to 185 trying to get to 175. I’m debating with myself if I want to keep upgrading this bike or get a new one. It’s old, but I do like how it rides, but it’s also a touch small for me. Hasn’t caused me any trouble yet as far as back pain but my rides so far have been under two hours.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, it's tedious. Makes my back hurt.

I used MA2 rims also back in the dawn of time. Flimsy rims with decent brake tracks. Ksyriums are another wheel with a flimsy rim. You don't want that. Light rims were all the rage years ago. Look at Kinlin XC-279 or XR-300 rims for examples. If you don't want to build, have your shop build 32H wheels with a rim of similar depth. Wide helps, too. I think, 14-15 spokes, and 120 DS kgf, 100 on the front. Any decent sealed hub will work IME. Prowheelbuilder has quite a selection of rims and drillings.