Apparently, I'm Tough on The Equipment...
As I was rolling the snow bike out of my cubicle, today, at quitting time, I heard an odd sound as I rolled around the corner. With a sneaking suspicion that I knew what was wrong, I looked at the rear wheel as I pushed the bike along the hallway.
Sure enough, the rim was tweaking over and hitting the brake pad. I stopped and looked more closely at the wheel. Sure enough; I had another broken spoke. It's the fourth broken spoke I've had on this bike; three on this wheel, one on the Rolf wheel with the non-studded tires.
I have no idea what the problem is. The spokes on the bike are 14 gauge, stainless steel spokes. That's pretty standard for mid-grade mountain bike wheels. The rims are fine, and the hubs are in good shape. The wheels (which were on the bike when I bought it) look to be in good shape, with no evidence of hard use/abuse. But, I'm losing spokes like a meth head loses teeth.
Luckily, the roads have pretty much cleared off with the warmer temps we had, today. So, I'll ride the yellow bike, tomorrow. Even if the roads were still icy, I think I'd just put the 700c studded tires on the yellow bike and ride it, any way, because I am tiring of replacing spokes. I might just build up another snow bike, and repurpose the DiamondBack.
x
posted by Jon @ 6:58 PM
4 Comments:
Jeez,
That's kind of weird... Is that particular rim prone to spoke breakage or something...? Where are they breaking?
Jon, be honest now... Are you Bunny hopping curbs again?
They are breaking at the hook, where they go through the rim flange. And, I have to cop to the fact thaqt I do hop the occasional curb.
But, I also hop those curbs on the yellow bike, with 700c flip-flop track wheels, and I have yet to break a spoke on it.
have you checked your spoke tension? I'd suspect low tension if they are breaking at the hub specifically.
Yes...yes I have.
Just to let the people who aren't aware know: I was a bike shop service manager for 8 years, so I know how to maintain wheels and bikes.
I build and repair a lot of wheels, and usually advise peoople with this very problem to replace all of the spokes at once and quict faffing about chasing the broken ones around the wheel.
Of course, mechanics' bikes are always in crappy condition, dentists have crooked teeth and the plumber's sink won't drain.
What can I say? I'm a lazy git when it comes to maintaining the commute bikes.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home