Broken Spoke. Am I fat or do spokes age??

[miro13car]

Except wheel build if it comes to breakage quality of rim and spokes is themmost important
I logged very close to 24,000km on Tidal Force /very heavy motor/
and never had any loose spoke let alone breakage
Crap breaks because it is made from crap metal in crappy shop
Three my bikes use Alex rims and all of them DT Swiss spoke

 

[Hillhater]

In addition to the higher impact loads on spokes from the weight of hub motors, you should also consider the added loads ..and reversed stresses imparted by the use of disc brakes which transfer all the braking force through the spokes , rather than the rim brakes which isolate that load from the spokes and transfer forces direct to the frame.

 

[liveforphysics]

In addition to the higher impact loads on spokes from the weight of hub motors, you should also consider the added loads ..and reversed stresses imparted by the use of disc brakes which transfer all the braking force through the spokes , rather than the rim brakes which isolate that load from the spokes and transfer forces direct to the frame.

Yep. I'm running disk front on my tiny thin tired 700c roadbike with 17awg spokes stretched to the verge of snapping, hubmotor, no suspension, and I intentionally aim for and hit the things most of you fear impacting as my favorite part of my riding experience.

Deathbike held 650ft-lbs of rear-wheel torque (enough to violently capapult a >200lbs person) on 14awg spokes for over 4 tract races and countless street races/rides worth of abuse before finally having all spokes rip out of the rim simultaneously. Only a single spoke actually broke.

When I had big spokes, they never stayed tight, they never shared load well, and a wheel never lasted more than 1 event before it was wobbly shit or folded over.

Premium tiny thin spokes all set to extreme tension = wheel that distributes stress well over a wide area and as a result handles abuse radically better in my experience.

 

[ejonesss]

ok so it looks like the spokes used by the $40 and $80 wheels made by specialized use shoddy materials?

how about mavic with their thicker spokes is that any better?

my local bike shop save me all the junk they would throw out and i recycle the metals and i came across a mavic rear wheel 26 inch that uses spokes that must be 10 or 8 gage but there are only 20 instead of the 36.

would the mavic wheel work?

 

[MadRhino]

...i came across a mavic rear wheel 26 inch that uses spokes that must be 10 or 8 gage but there are only 20 instead of the 36.

would the mavic wheel work?

That would be a light weight wheel built with aerospokes. Not good for an Ebike if you ask me.
A mavic DH racing wheel is very good, but expansive. The Deemax is a very popular DH racing wheel, and is laced with 32 X 14ga stainless steel spokes. You can custom build your own wheel that will be cheaper and even better than a Deemax. I like the Chris King hub, DT swiss 14ga stainless spokes, and Mavic 729 rim for a tough front wheel. For the rear using a hub motor, you need 36 spokes and a wider rim. Trial and DH rims 36mm to 40mm wide are best, and if you will be using 12ga spokes it is mandatory to use rim washers to be able to build tight enough.

 

[ejonesss]

i am using mid drive system cyclone http://www.cyclone-usa.com 48 volt system

has anyone tried wheels laced by holmes hobbies http://holmeshobbies.com/home.php?cat=31 ?

 

[MadRhino]

A custom wheel hand built by a renown wheelbuilder is always better than a brand wheel, providing it is built using equal components. John is building wheels for many ES members and you can trust him.

If you are using a mid drive, you could buy a used pro DH wheel set on Pinkbike and do very long with it riding on the streets. If you are riding off road and your bike is above 70 Lbs, you'd be better having a custom wheel set built especially for you with the best components.

 

[liveforphysics]

how about mavic with their thicker spokes is that any better?

my local bike shop save me all the junk they would throw out and i recycle the metals and i came across a mavic rear wheel 26 inch that uses spokes that must be 10 or 8 gage but there are only 20 instead of the 36.

The path towards making a spoked wheel weaker is to use fewer spokes of a heavier gauge. It would be stepping in the opposite direction of your goals to make a reliable wheel.

 

[cal3thousand]

I've only had spokes break on one wheel ever. And it was a poorly laced, thick and long spoked wheel.

After replacing the spokes and the retruing the wheel, I've been free of breaks. Just one area of weakness/imbalance will be enough to cause some breakage due to the stresses being exacerbated in e-bike duty.

 

[ejonesss]

i have heard that there is an art to lacing a wheel.

can a rear wheel be laced with a 0 dish?

if so then can tightening the spokes be as simple as just turning each spoke nipple equal number of times and using all the same length spokes?

 

[Solcar]

how about mavic with their thicker spokes is that any better?

my local bike shop save me all the junk they would throw out and i recycle the metals and i came across a mavic rear wheel 26 inch that uses spokes that must be 10 or 8 gage but there are only 20 instead of the 36.

The path towards making a spoked wheel weaker is to use fewer spokes of a heavier gauge. It would be stepping in the opposite direction of your goals to make a reliable wheel.

Thinner spokes can take flexing better, all other things being equal. It's not unlike how fiberglass works. Even though glass is normally very brittle, getting the diameter that small gives it flexibility.

 

[ejonesss]

when building a wheel can i get away with 0 dish?

without the dish all 36 spokes can take even force and be less chance of breaking.

 

[d8veh]

when building a wheel can i get away with 0 dish?

without the dish all 36 spokes can take even force and be less chance of breaking.

All the rear wheels with geared hub-motors that I built required dishing. I use at least 7-speed free-wheels or cassettes. single, 3 or 5-speed might not need it.

 

[alsmith]

I've had 4 of the stainless spokes on my fwd Crystalyte 5300 break at the bend this year- none in the previous 4 or 5 years so I'm sure there's an age thing at play. I've got brass washers to add (first ones I got were too small) following the recommendations I've seen, maybe they'll help but I think the main reasons for failure has to be poor or no spoke adjustment, and poor quality spokes in some cases.