Spokes keep breaking

[Sky]

I keep breaking spokes on my back wheel. I don't know how to change them so I have to take the wheel in to the bike shop. Why does this keep happening? Am I too heavy for the bike? Hitting too many bumps? It's a hybrid bike. What should I do? Should I have all the spokes replaced? Do I need a new wheel? Or do I just keep replacing spokes? Is that normal?

[sarahlou]

How old are the wheels?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Have you dropped your chain recently? I broke a rear spoke recently and when i had it replaced- they pointed out to me that 4 OTHER spokes were slightly bent and gouged as well- right near the hub. Apparently when I dropped my chain once going up a hill and shifting badly, the chain dropped down between spokes and gears and damaged several spokes at once before I was able to stop and put the chain back. At the time I didn't realize I had damaged any spokes, but one broke a week later and that's when they pointed out the other gouged ones. The gouges were not that obvious unless you looked for them, but the spokes would likely have broken one at a time if we had not gone ahead and replaced all 5. Checks for bent or nicked spokes near the hub, especially if you have dropped your chain at some point.

[lauraelmore1033]

I had a problem breaking spokes on my hybrid which was mostly about weight, but I've been told that any WELL MADE wheel should support me just fine. After I broke a third spoke, I had a new back wheel put on. It was a hand built mountain bike racing wheel. It was a little on the expensive side (about 80 bucks) but getting spokes repaired at 20 bucks a pop was also getting expensive. I've put 1200 miles on the new wheel with no problems at all.

[DebW]

I keep breaking spokes on my back wheel. I don't know how to change them so I have to take the wheel in to the bike shop. Why does this keep happening? Am I too heavy for the bike? Hitting too many bumps? It's a hybrid bike. What should I do? Should I have all the spokes replaced? Do I need a new wheel? Or do I just keep replacing spokes? Is that normal?

Sky, can you tell us about your wheel? 700c or smaller? Number of spokes? Number of crosses in the spoke pattern? How much do you weigh (hope you don't mind me asking that)? How old is the wheel? Is it straight and true or have lots of wobbles and flat spots in it? Have you ever dropped your chain between the cassette and spokes? How many spokes have you replaced so far?

First of all, you should have wheels build to suit your weight and riding style. However, for most women, it is very unlikely that your wheels are underbuilt. It is quite possible that a 250 lb guy who mashes gears could break spokes if he's riding a low-spoke-count, lightweight wheel, or even a "normal" wheel sometimes. If you're riding a hybrid, the wheels are probably beefy enough for you, so we'll discount that possibility for now and assume that you breaking spokes is something that shouldn't be happening.

There are two other possible reasons for breaking spokes, and they both involve wheel damage, either to the rim or to the spokes (hub damage is also possible but less likely). Lisa discussed spoke damage already, so I won't discuss that further. Rims sometimes get so well-used, beaten up, bashed on potholes, etc. that they are actually bent somewhat out of a single plane or out-of-round. In this case, you may take your wheel to be trued, and it may come back looking pretty good and riding well, but the only way to make a rim like that close-to-true is to have very uneven spoke tension. Uneven spoke tension is a bad thing and can lead to broken spokes. When I worked in a shop and accepted a potentially-bent wheel for truing, I'd state up front: "This wheel may be bent. I won't know until I try to true it. If it's bent, I can true it as best I can for you, but then you may start breaking spokes." If I started truing and found the rim bent, I'd call the customer and offer them the option of a new rim or a "good as possible" truing job in which they knew up front that broken spokes may result (sometimes the only option was a new rim). Whether the wheel was usable or was going to break spokes constantly is often only determined by riding it awhile.

What I'd suggest you do is inspect your spokes for damage like Lisa mentioned. You may have to remove the cassette to inspect the right side spokes carefully. If you find damaged spokes, replace them before they break. You should also inspect your wheel for uneven spoke tension. Grap pairs of spokes and squeeze them together. If you find some much tighter than other or some much looser than others, you may have a bent rim. If you find some very tight right side spokes at a place where the rim bends left, or some very loose left side spokes where the rim bends left (or similarly for left bends) then the rim is probably bent. If that is the case, you need to have the rim replaced by a competent wheelbuilder, or to buy a new wheel if that is cheaper/more convenient.

[Sky]

Lots of good info! Thanks! Well, my back wheel is at the shop right now. He thought my spokes were getting fatigued and its the old spokes breaking one by one so we are going to try putting on a set of heavier, thicker spokes and see if I still get broken spokes. If I do, then I will replace the wheel.

The bike/wheel is about 4 years old and riden about 4000 or less miles. I've never dropped the chain. I ride on dirt, gravel, and paved roads. I try not to hit bumps hard or anything like that. Although in the past I have gone down some washboard hills where it was tough to find a smooth spot. I weigh about 180.

I counted the spokes on my front wheel (since the back one is at the shop) and there are 36 spokes. Each spoke goes over one and under another - so a two cross pattern I guess. It's going to cost about $35 to get all new spokes. I don't know if that's a good price or not, but its worth it not to have to keep going back if it does correct the problem. They've been great about replacing spokes for me though. They only charge like $5. Are spokes hard to change yourself? I worry about one breaking too far from home.

I guess I'll just have to see if this fixes the problem or if the rim is damaged. Once I broke two spokes and the wheel got all crooked so would that have done permanent damage? I'm trying to remember if anyone hit this bike with the car, but I'm thinking that was my old bike. As kids, we were really tough on bikes and I never broke a spoke. I never even heard of such a thing happening. But, now I'm probably riding way more miles so that must wear things out. Its Schwinn bike. Do they not have very good wheels?

Thanks everybody for all your help!

[DebW]

First of all, $35 for 36 spokes is a reasonable price. I assume you'll be paying labor charges beyond that? If not, you've got a super sweet LBS.

Wearing out spokes in 4 years is suspicious to me. That really shouldn't happen with a well-build wheel made of quality parts. Perhaps the original spokes were just poor quality, or they don't fit he hub flange properly. Do they break right at the head, where they seat in the hub? If your LBS is replacing them with heavier gage spokes, maybe the wheel was built with 15g straight spokes and the hub flange is built for 14g spokes, resulting in loose spoke heads. Or maybe the hub flange is too narrow resulting in excess bend at the spoke elbow (that can be corrected with a tiny washer on each spoke head).

Your wheel is probably a 3-cross, as that's the way most 36-spoke wheels are laced. The first crossing happens almost within the hub flange, so you may not see it. If it's really 2-cross, then your spokes are at a high angle to the hub when they should be almost tangent, and that would stress them excessively.

"Once I broke two spokes and the wheel got all crooked so would that have done permanent damage?" No, that shouldn't cause permanent damage. A wheel should be all out of wack with a broken spoke or two. If it is really out of wack with all spokes in place, then the rim is probably bent. If it's close to straight with a missing spoke, the rim is probably bent.

If you want to be able to replace spokes on the rear wheel yourself, ask your LBS to show you how to remove the cassette. Then buy a cassette lockring tool, a chain whip, and a spoke wrench. With the cassette off, it's not hard to replace a spoke and re-tension it. Takes some practice to true up the wheel nicely, but it's not hard.

[Sky]

Ah! You're right! They do cross three times. I didn't see that and I thought I was being so good to see the second one even.

My newly re-spoked wheel looks awesome. And yes, my LBS is the best! That's what it cost me and that was basically for the labor I guess. Sometimes I think they don't charge me enough. I bought some new tires too. They put the back one on and I'll do the front. I hope it doesn't look goofy with different spokes on the front than the back, but I've never broke any on that wheel. I've got to go put it together and see how it rides. My guy at the bike shop said it should fix me up and I won't be coming back in for spokes for long while. I hope he's right. He's done the same for other riders like me.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Before, they tried tightening the spokes a little. Still had broken ones. Then they tried loosening them just a little. Still broke a spoke, but it seems to be the original spokes that are not holding up.

I don't know if I could ever learn to do that - to take off the cassette and all that. I don't know what scares me about it... I seem to be the maintenance department here at home alright.

Thanks!

[DebW]

I recently paid $72 for 72 spokes, so your LBS charged you for the spokes and no labor. They could have easily charged you $30-50 in labor since replacing all spokes is equivalent to building a new wheel. You've got a great LBS. Hope the new wheel/spokes works well for you.