alo

Some of us are heavy, and sometimes ride on rough trails. Sometimes spokes break in the back wheel.

Most of my bikes are bikes I have rescued from the trash, and there are spare wheels available on other bikes also rescued from the trash. So it is easy to swap a wheel. However, some bikes have wheels which are less common, and can't normally be found in the trash.

If I broke spokes in those less commonly available wheels, one idea I have thought of, is replacing the spokes with thicker spokes. You would need to drill larger holes in the hub and rim. But you would probably finish up with a wheel which will not break. Has anyone done this?

It may also be a good time to buy an electric conversion kit, with a motor in the rear wheel. I believe, these have thicker spokes. Some bikes are more ideal for electric conversion than others.

I know some people buy expensive bikes or wheels. I like to think of inexpensive ways to do things.

Cyclist0108

Double-butted spokes will help more than plain-gauge spokes of the same thickness as the wider part of the double-butted spokes, due to their flex properties.

cyccommute 

I build all my wheels with 2.3/1.8/2.0mm DT Swiss Alpine III. I’ve used them for the last 20 to 25 years with very good results. Hubs are drilled to 2.5mm so that the threads on a 2.0mm spoke can pass through the hub. I’ve only every had trouble with getting the Alpine III spokes through one hub and I’ve built dozens and dozens of wheels with them. The Alpine III are more expensive then double butted but, in my experience, they are worth the extra money.

This article details the benefits of the triple butted spoke nicely.

Archwhorides 

I concur about the worth of the Alpine III. I’m packing 265 lbs and hand rebuilt a rear wheel that dropped OEM spokes regularly with rough commutes. No problems for two years and 10k miles since.

Russ Roth

On the more affordable side and but slightly heavier then the DT is wheelsmith HD, which is a 2.3/2.0 single butt which I like because I'm too cheap to use the DT.

pdlamb

Well, stretch more than flex, but DB spokes have done fine for me from over 300 pounds down. Build is more important that spoke size, IME; properly tensioned and stress-relieved wheels last for a long time.

SethAZ 

And enough spokes... Any superclyde riding around on a 24/28h wheelset or the like will eventually find themselves with broken spokes. When I built my AeroClyde wheelset I used 36h both fore and aft just because I felt that the need for uncompromising durability was greater than the need for the slight reduction in weight and even slighter improvement in aerodynamics from 4 or 8 fewer spokes.

I'd go with the Alpine III that Cyccommute recommended before I'd ever use a non-butted spoke of whatever thickness.

As for the OP's actual question, he seems to be asking not about a new build, but about replacing individual spokes on trash-found wheels with thicker spokes, so that the wheels would have a mix of the original spokes with a few individual thicker spokes. I'm no expert on anything, much less this, but I can't imagine that's a very good idea. Even and consistent tensioning and whatnot in spokes is important in a wheel. I'm not sure what having a thicker spoke surrounded on either side by thinner spokes would mean as far as tensioning and how the rim would behave as the spokes are loaded and unloaded with each revolution. I doubt it could be good.

tallbikeman

Alo I do not have experience with Alpine III spokes but do have experience with drilling out hubs and rims and putting in bigger spokes. My experience has been that you do solve spoke breakage issues this way. However bigger spokes weigh more and the rim has to be able to take higher loads. If your wheels are free then who cares put them in and run them. Maybe everything holds or not, time will tell. Another option that works very well is putting in 13/14 gauge spokes on the rear wheel. This size will fit without modification and they are tough as nails. I find that the spokes on the cassette side of the rear wheel tend to break their heads off. The 13/14 gauge spokes have their thickest part at the head. For a 36 spoke wheel you would need only buy 18 of these spokes for the cassette side. I've been running a 36 spoke 700c rear wheel with Velocity Chukkar rim and the 13/14 gauge spokes for several years now. No breakage whatsoever. This wheel would break a straight gauge 2mm spoke yearly on the cassette side before going to the 13/14's. I found 13/14 gauge spokes for $1.15 per spoke at info@ebikes.ca. Just search for ebikes.ca to go to their website. There is also a good bike shop in San Francisco that I have bought bigger diameter spokes from, can't remember their name. On the other side of the coin I recently built my first drop bar bike in 30+ years and am using 16 spoke front and 20 spoke rear aero wheels. I weigh 235lbs and the steel bike weighs another 30lbs and I am not breaking any of those spokes. The spokes are bigger diameter, possibly 13 straight gauge and they go to deep V aluminum rims. The engineering is great on this wheel set and they are by far my fastest wheel set. I have drilled several hubs and rims in my time and have never had one fail due to the bigger holes. Be sure to deburr the holes when you are done.

alo

I have rescued a lot of bikes from the trash. I have also bought a few new bikes.

Most bikes in the trash have wheels which can easily be swapped with wheels from other bikes in the trash. I don't replace spokes in them. I replace wheels.

I am thinking about bikes where, replacing a wheel might be expensive, and may not be any stronger than the original.

I have not replaced spokes with thicker spokes yet. It is just an idea I am thinking of.

Albino Wino

I came in the thread to post this^

I built the rear of my cargo bike with 36 alpine 3s. At 250 lbs I regularly put a 25lb dog and 50 lbs of groceries on the bike. I also pull a heavy trailer sometimes. This is also my winter bike, so a lot of grinding over bumpy ice and ruts, and I ride some singletrack with it. Years of this with rim brakes and haven’t even had to adjust the true.

great, super-burly spokes. Worth every penny.