thehammerdog

Old spokes have life span? I have a sweet white industry front wheel hub built on old mavic rims..light but
Built in 90's....

PhilFo 

As long as it were properly tensioned and the hub wasn't jangly loose, I'd trust most any wheel with metal spokes going all the way back to the debut of the safety bicycle. In a nutshell, your 30 year old wheel will be fine as long as the hub is solid as well as the rim. Millions of people are riding on wheels far older than yours. I have a couple sets in my basement from the 1950s and I wouldn't hesitate to ride them at all, save for the fact that they are built with chrome rims, so they don't stop when they're wet.

Moe Zhoost

Some of my bikes have wheels built up 40+ years ago. I have absolute confidence in their integrity.

easyupbug 

I agree with PhilFo, most folks spot hub problems and spoke fatigue failures are obvious but if you have a lot of miles on those alloy Mavic rims check them for brake track wear.

HillRider

The spokes will tell you when it's time to replace them by breaking. Until then they will be fine. Fatigue from repetitive stress (aka riding) combined with build and spoke quality determine when spokes break, not age.

Iride01 

Whether new or old wheel you need to check your wheel regularly. And that might be often for a new wheel and then go to every once in a while as the wheel gets older. Spokes shouldn't be loose or too tight. So when you clean your bike or whenever it occurs to you, just grab the spokes and see if they feel loose or are about as tight as the other spokes.

If you have too many loos spokes on the same side, the wheel might bend like a taco when you are going fast down a twisty trail. My son's front wheel did that with a fairly new bike that only had about 300 to 600 miles on it. I felt bad about it because a few days before I meant to tell him he should check the spokes. Thankfully he just had the wind knock out of him.

As long as the spokes, rim and hub are in good condition a old or new wheel won't just explode. It'll let you know when it's time for you not to ride it if you look and listen to what it tells you.

beng1

I have been riding this Marin since 1997 with these wheels, in a NORBA race, road races, TTs, in the woods and all over thousands of miles. I remember one spoke broke about a dozen years ago and I replaced it and that was the end of it. I don't remember ever truing or tensioning the spokes over the years. I tried a different set of wheels on the bike for a year or so about 20 years ago but switched back to these which came with the bike. I never heard of anyone going through wheels unless they hit really harsh obstacles or crash the bike hard, so you will be fine.

Jeff Neese

Assuming they're steel spokes, they do not have a lifespan and they have infinite stress cycles. In more technical terms, steel does not have a fatigue limit. They don't "wear out". Spokes break if they exceed their tensile strength, and that usually happens if the wheel is not properly tensioned.

If you have an old wheel, it's a good idea to have it trued and tensioned. Obviously replace anything that's bent or corroded (including the nipples), but certainly you don't have to worry about age as a factor.

EDIT and CORRECTION: I meant to say steel DOES have a fatigue limit, below which they do not develop fatigue stress. That's what I get for being in a hurry. Hopefully everyone understood what I meant.

By contrast, aluminum (like rims) don't have a fatigue limit, so every time they flex even a little, they are weakened and eventually fail. That's why you see well-used rims with stress cracks around the spoke holes but the spokes are just fine.

Dave Mayer

I have many many wheelsets older than 30 years, and have no concerns riding them. They were expertly constructed of good materials and have been proven to be reliable over hundreds of rides. They will far outlast me.

Of course, you occasionally check for cracks in the hub flanges, a quick hand check of spoke tension, and a check for stress cracks emanating from the spoke holes in the rims. This occurs during the yearly hub overhauls.

I actually have less concerns about riding vintage high-spoke-count wheels, than the newer low-spoke count wheels. I know, the newer wheels should be constructed of higher quality components, and exposed to fewer stress cycles.

But if you break a spoke on a 36 spoke front wheel you probably won't notice it except for some jangly sounds from the front of the bike, and pulsations while braking. Break a spoke on a low-profile 16 spoke front wheel.. You may just wake up in hospital.

tcs

In 1984 I was driving down the street in San Fransisco when I spotted a group of folks assembling on a parking lot with high wheelers/penny farthings. They were about to embark on a transam, recreating Thomas Steven's ride of 100 years before.

One of the cats was riding an original bike with its original spokes.

HillRider

Steel does indeed have an "infinite fatigue life" if, and it's a big if, it is kept below it's fatigue limit stress which is typically about half of it's tensile strength. Above that it will indeed fatigue crack and break after sufficient stress cycles.

Jeff Neese

Anything that could cause stress cracks in steel spokes is going to cause the aluminum rim to fail way before that happens. Under normal use on a bicycle, the spokes have an infinite number of loading cycles. Naturally getting in an accident, or any kind of corrosion, changes things.

drlogik 

I have a Pinarello Montello full Campy with Campy rims and it was built in the mid-1980's. I had it out for a spin today. Agree with previous posts, as long as the wheels are tensioned properly and the rims and spoke nipples are in good shape then they should be fine.

You might want to "scissor" each pair of spokes where they cross to see if any have fused together first though. If you find some that are, carefully inspect the spokes where they cross. If you're nervous, understandable, go for short easy rides at first to test them out.

KerryIrons

Were they stored in a closet or ridden hundreds of thousands of miles? Unless there is visible corrosion there will be zero issues beyond normal failures you can get with any wheel. As another poster noted, the rims are probably more of a concern so look for brake track wear or cracks at the nipples.

FBinNY 

The problem with front wheels isn't that they fall apart, but that they don't.

I don't know any high mileage rider that hasn't accumulated front wheels "too good to throw out".

Rear wheels have shorter life expectancies, either because of road hazards, or simple wear and tear. So, they get replaced, and because stuff is always changing, we end up also buying or building a new front wheels to match for cosmetic, or sometines technical reasons.

Hondo6

The late Jobst Brandt - who knew a thing or two about bicycle wheels - would add one caveat here. See his linked Internet newsgroup comment for details.

https://yarchive.net/bike/spoke_reuse.html

If the wheels have a fair amount of mileage without any broken spokes to date, IMO it's likely they were properly stress-relieved early on and are still perfectly safe to ride - provided the rim is still in good shape.

CliffordK

If one breaks a spoke, it isn't a major safety issue. But, rather annoying. In some cases one can change spokes in the field, or one can true a wheel enough, short one spoke to get oneself home or to a shop.

It may depend a bit on one's riding. Heading off on a world tour? Racing? Commuting with critical timing? Lots of group rides, etc? What is your actual tolerance for failure?

However, I agree with others. If the spokes are in good shape (haven't eaten too many chains and aren't rusty), and you aren't breaking spokes, then go ahead and keep using them. If you don't have faith in the spokes, then replace.
I'm not sure I trust my wheel building from 40 years ago.

Life is a learning experience!!!

Sometime in the mid 90's I built a couple of wheels using a mix of used spokes. I got different spoke gauges and butting mixed up. What an absolute MESS!!!!

I also picked up some used rims. At least one had extreme brake track wear which I hadn't realized. And, I was commuting over a steep hill at the time. That rim blew out the brake track...

Then, with a different wheel, due to an unseen road crack, at one point I ended up with the wobbling Wolber that I trued the best I could, but could never quite get it straight.

Jeff Neese

It sounds like you may be talking about tires. I don't know that there's a big difference between front and rear wheels, with regard to wear. Generally if one rim is starting to show stress cracks around the spoke holes or have a lot of brake wear, they're both pretty well shot and should both be replaced at the same time. Pretty much the same with hubs. Usually when one needs replacement, they both do.

FBinNY 

I thought I was pretty clear that I was talking about wheels, at least by implication.

While I've personally broken only one spoke (200k+ miles lifetime) and never worn out a rim, or had one show stress cracks, I've lost many to potholes.

But, I suspect that higher rear wheel deaths vs.front is fairly universal.

Front wheels aren't loaded as much, and are easier to steer around potholes. Also, it's rare to hear about front wheel spoke breakage. Likewise, stress cracking is less likely because spoke tension is typically lower.

But, just out of curiosity, I wonder if any road rider EVER had a front wheel failure, nor counting crash damage.

jasoninohio

Slight tangent but if we're speaking cumulatively one could also consider riding styles; I picked up a Centurion with the typical late-80's Shimano hubs/Araya single-wall anodized rims, the anodizing on the rear brake track is thoroughly worn through and the front is practically new in comparison; I mentioned that I found it somewhat odd to the seller, and they replied that using primarily the rear brake was normal to avoid going over the bars, which is not my thinking at all but hey whatever

Another was a Schwinn Letour with an aftermarket fork and front wheel but taco'd rear, so it had been crashed more than once probably and a front wheel was defintely killed, but I do now have the spare newer front wheel sitting here, and that bike has the afformentioned 30+ year old Shimano/Araya wheels with uneven brake-wear and they are going perfectly fine as far as I can tell

79pmooney

Comments on front vs rear. Rear wheels are dished, for the most part. That is a very different scenario. Right rear spoke tensions are reguolarly much higher and left rear much lower than front. (Yes, I know some tighten their fronts to right rear levels. I sure don't. If I ever break a front spoke.(maybe from a stick or debris), I want the rim to run through the brake and fork! My health just might be on the line.

Back in the old days, before any of us were conceived, it was common practice in England to lace front wheels with 32 spokes and rears with 40. The only reason that changed was to simplify bikes to make everything cheaper. Few hubs and rims to stock. More uniform spoke lengths. Etc. Not because it made for better bicycles. So we all ride around with heavier, stronger, stiffer front wheels than we need to drop a few pennies into stockholder's pockets. And, get front wheels that last forever. (Go to any coop and check out their racks of front wheels. May be broken up so you may have to look for the box of hubs but it's there.)

Saudadeii

As long as you take care of them (clean, true, tension) I see no problem.

My 1984 Univega GT (bought new in '85) still has the original front wheel. I lost the back wheel due to a pothole (poorly executed bunny hop) and replaced it with complete wheel (still have the original). I can only guess but the front must have somewhere around 40-50K miles on it. The replacement back wheel has around 10K.

79pmooney

Fixed it for you. Now whether that execution was proper? Well, I'm neither judge nor jury and haven't see the evidence.

Moe Zhoost

I recall that Thomas Stevens had a number of broken spokes because of his bike being mishandled when he was detained in Afghanistan (I think that's where it was). Local blacksmiths were able to forge replacement spokes that allowed him to continue his trip without further wheel issues.

Schweinhund

That's not exactly correct. Steel work hardens. It can only get so hard before it gets brittle. That's why one spoke will randomly break. it was a little looser/tighter than the others and worked itself to death.