spokes breaking

[jeohearn]

My bike is a Magnum Cityscape Urban LX (from Costco I think) and the spokes on my rear wheel (front hub motor) keep breaking. I had been riding with SLAs but now have a lithium pack. I think the 7 months of riding with SLAs has damaged the wheel and the spokes keep breaking now -even with the lesser weight of the lithium.
This is my first ebike. Is this a normal problem when electrifying a regular bike?
I think I need to buy a new wheel. Are there any out there that are not breaking spokes? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Lock]

Hey Jeff... Ya don't say if the rider is heavy, but the lead pack itself shouldn't be any different than loading up the bike with panniers full of groceries??? Yes, the wheel with the hub motor could use heavier spokes `cause of the electric torque, but not the back, unpowered wheel. That's a little weird. Ya might have got a "Monday" bike or a "Friday" bike... a lemon wheel?

A good bike shop otta be able to relace the wheel with quality spokes. They might tell you too that the wheel was cheaply built or has some design flaw...
Good Luck
loCk

 

[amberwolf]

I'd say that with enough weight on the back, you could easily break spokes on a rear wheel especially if it doesnt' have a rear suspension, on bumpy roads or potholes/curbs. Happens to me all the time but I have a *really* heavy bike with DayGlo Avenger, and CrazyBike2 weighs as much as I do.

Most bikes are built with 15g spokes, and many cheap bikes may not even have a tight fit at the spoke flange, so they rattle around in there and flex as the wheel turns, especially with a load on it. Probably ought to have washers on them but I've never seen any cheap wheels bother with that. So then the elbow breaks and shears off at the flange, and...you know the rest.

You can usually get a wheel built with bigger spokes, but it depends on the holes in the flange and rim whether you can do that with the ones you have.

Also, another problem with cheap bikes is they may not have the spokes tensioned enough, so that while they are reasonably true, they arent' stiff enough, and there is a lot of flex with a load, and that eventually breaks them too.

Everything I have is cheap stuff, pretty much, so I kinda see a lot of it.

 

[dogman dan]

It's a common problem. My buddy witht the used bike shop has this humongous pile of front wheels because he always needs the rear ones to fix bikes and put em back on the road. Keeping even a cheap wheel tensioned right and trued is the key to longer life, as well as trying not to hit potholes too fast since the bike is motorized. Keep your eyes peeled for garage sales or even bikes in trashcans that have the same rear wheel you have.

 

[ktronik]

Re-lace with sliver DT spokes...trust me, I am a bike bastard...

 

[jateureka]

Most of the broken spokes I have seen were caused from lack of tension.

A spoke key is a cheap investment. If you don't have a spoke tension meter you can do the pluck method - pluck the spoke like you would a guitar string and you should hear a nice 'pling' rather than a 'plunk' if it is tensioned enough. If you are not confident then have the local bike shop true/tension the wheels for you.

I have used 14 gauge (2.0mm diameter) DT Swiss stainless steel spokes and single butted 14/13 gauge (2.0/2.3) Mac1 spokes and find them good quality.

 

[deardancer3]

My bike is a Magnum Cityscape Urban LX (from Costco I think) and the spokes on my rear wheel (front hub motor) keep breaking. I had been riding with SLAs but now have a lithium pack. I think the 7 months of riding with SLAs has damaged the wheel and the spokes keep breaking now -even with the lesser weight of the lithium.
This is my first ebike. Is this a normal problem when electrifying a regular bike?
I think I need to buy a new wheel. Are there any out there that are not breaking spokes? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Jeff

Googling-- it is a Magna Cityscape Urban LX bike. Key term is Magna, a dyna brand for cheap big box bikes that are asembled by idiots and wheels that are seldom tuned correctly.

buy a good wheel from a good shop, get a nice rear tire, monitor pressure, problem solved.

sorry. I feel your pain.

d