Breaking Spokes

Punx0r said:
I've broken a couple of spokes in my Chinese-laced wheel. Both times from hitting a sharp bump at speed (last one was a 1.5£ step at 30mph). Broke at the nipple both times.

I've given up on the wheel. When it gets really bad I'll do what others have suggested and learn how to rebuild it properly with thinner, quality spokes. I imagine it will be a long and frustrating process but hopefully worthwhile.
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I found it quite soothing. Just get yourself comfortable with something to half watch or listen too. Numb your mind a little and give it a couple of hours. I was happy thinking how many of my forefathers probably did the exact same thing. It was very satisfying to be doing it again in my currant incarnation.


If you think you can stand there and do it in half hour, your going to feel uncomfortable and like your getting nowhere. Yes, I have seen the video of some sweat shop kid doing them in no time, but that is not the bad job and bad experience we want to emulate. It is a steady evenings work to build two wheels in front of the telly.


Edit: You could well be right AL. I think we need some better pics. I wrongly deleted the request before posting. A macro of the actual breaks might be interesting too.
 
When the breaks look like that in the middle... its a bad run of spokes. You see them come in batches, we sell a lot of cheap beach cruisers where I work, and somebody will bring in their newish wheel, and you can break the spokes with your fingers, which is scary. On a really bad one you can break it into inch long pieces like breaking spaghetti. Better quality spokes get drawn through a die to align the grain of the metal.. rebuilding it is a good way to get in touch with your setup. I had one that started breaking spokes so just did the pulling spokes with better ones as a cost saver,, came out with a nice directional look, but prob only good on a gear motor.
 
My first ebike an ezip from walmart had the same crappy spokes! Once I overvolted and put the huge ping battery on the back the spokes would fly out off of the rim! Scared the crap out of me so I had my friend lace me up a new wheel with high quality spokes and never had that problem since!











1
 
what about wood instead of spokes.

cut out a piece of wood maybe an inch or 2 thick to the diameter of the effective rim diameter.

drill a hole in the middle to the size of the hub.

cut the wooden circle in half and bolt it to the hub via screws in the spoke holes.

do the same to hold the rim on.


or even have a solid wheel made by a motorcycle shop.

would that work?
 
It could maybe... but the reality of getting wood that isnt going warp, the craftsmanship involved, the weight, winds shoving the solid disc around, termites...theres nothing wrong with spokes per se, just pay to get the good ones if you want it to last.
 
i never thought of those problems with wood i am just desperately frustrated that spokes keep breaking .
 
Voltron said:
I have a cast metal wheel motor on mine.. no spokes :D
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'metal' is a rather broad term, many can be cast. But they can all still fail what ever it is, just make sure you check it for defects routinely just like you should with spokes.
 
Wood spokes - 'been there done that with Model T car, no thanks!

There's so many variations from all of us collectively that what often appears to work and hold up for one user doesn't always translate to another user and their situation.

I do believe there's something to thinner spokes = improved tensioning properties. And reworking the hub flange so that the spoke shoulder fits better is probably another good improvement.

At my speed 20-30mph, weight 300lbs and relatively rough city terrain, 10k miles is about the service life limit for my 13/14ga butted SS in a good rim 9C motor wheel.

I'm a novice wheel builder so 'probably making plenty of mistakes but I do believe learning to true and eventually build your own wheels is a damn useful skill to perfect.

It's discouraging though - towards the end of 26" motor wheel life 'started carrying and using my "spare emergency spokes" more and more often. Was up to about 8-9 repairs before finally giving up, ordered more $40 spokes and rebuilt the wheel.

Tried alternating the in/out around the hub flange this go around. I'm sure that will make a big difference, LOL....

Planning on lacing a small Cute motor in a 700c wheel soon and will probably try 2 cross very thin double butted with washers, etc.
 
no not wood spokes.

wood disk like the end plates on wood wire spools you find on utility trucks
 
ejonesss said:
no not wood spokes.

wood disk like the end plates on wood wire spools you find on utility trucks
Click to expand...

That would ride horribly.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the modern spoked wheel for ebike use. It just has to be built properly.

If built properly, these annoying issues disappear. My first issue with ebikes was wheel quality. So I decided to learn it on my own. Now, that's the last thing I worry about. I don't even think of it. It's like buying a LBS bicycle that you just expect to work properly. Last time I touched a spoke wrench was during my last wheel build a few months ago.

Of the wheels that I have made myself, not a single broken or even loose spoke and no need to true any of them yet.
 
Oops! I just got a busted spoke today on my new yescom motor? Now where to buy the right sized spokes....and does anyone know what length they are in a 26" rim? :?:
 
26" rims are not all equal. You need to measure it.
 
wineboyrider said:
Oops! I just got a busted spoke today on my new yescom motor? Now where to buy the right sized spokes....and does anyone know what length they are in a 26" rim? :?:
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If it's the Champion rim, original spoke length is 158mm 12G. And they were about 2mm too short imo. I've got a bunch of them from when i replaced my rim with a wider one if you want a few. But you'd be better off just replacing all of them with better spokes. They're really not very good.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Steel-Heavy-Duty-12g-Spokes-Bicycle-Custom-Length-140mm-192mm-/221378310161
 
Don't go off a 'standard' length given by a supplier or other users- if the maker used a different rim for any reason (out of stock of the usual one, change of supplier, specification changed....) you could get the wrong size. Measure it.
Supplier is your choice. (I linked to the supplier I used earlier in this thread).
 
Punx0r said:
I guess it's hard to beat the spoked wheel for strength, compliance and low weight.
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This.

All the alternative wheel designs are worse. If bike makers could come up with something better they'd be charging and arm and leg for it and marketing the hell out of it. Periodically someone tries and fails.

Conventional wheels break spokes due to bad wheel build, wrong or defective spokes, or several tens of thousands of miles. A properly built wheel will last years with little attention and will collapse or break the rim before breaking spokes.
 
wesnewell wrote: If it's the Champion rim, original spoke length is 158mm 12G. And they were about 2mm too short imo.
Click to expand...
I measured mine at closer to 160 mm or 16 cm so I guess I'll order 160 as the inside of the rim hole seems to have plenty of room for flexing and stretching.
 
For those that don't know. Spoke length is measured from the inside of the elbow to the very end of the threads, most usually in millimeters. Spoke hole dia on these motors is 3.0mm. A 12G spoke is 2.6mm.
 
wesnewell said:
For those that don't know. Spoke length is measured from the inside of the elbow to the very end of the threads, most usually in millimeters. Spoke hole dia on these motors is 3.0mm. A 12G spoke is 2.6mm.
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I didn't know there was a specific tool to measure this but my local bike store measured my spokes as 189mm. For all you spoke experts, are 12g what I should be looking for? Something like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-S...ng_Parts_Accessories&var=&hash=item338b2cf011
 
Yeah, it's called a ruler. Preferably in mm, so you don't have to convert it. The size you want depends on the motor and rim you have. Most of the ebay kits use 12G I think. Measure one of your current spoke with calipers if you aren't sure. 189mm sounds too long unless you have a mini hub or 700C rim. For a standard size dd hub and 26" rim size should be between 155-165mm.
 
has anyone tried that ebay seller's spokes?

how is the quality ?
 
wesnewell said:
Yeah, it's called a ruler. Preferably in mm, so you don't have to convert it. The size you want depends on the motor and rim you have. Most of the ebay kits use 12G I think. Measure one of your current spoke with calipers if you aren't sure. 189mm sounds too long unless you have a mini hub or 700C rim. For a standard size dd hub and 26" rim size should be between 155-165mm.
Click to expand...

Haha, yes. But a "special" ruler that has a hole to hook the curved end of the spoke. I have calipers but they don't go that long. My rim is a 26" and the motor is a MAC 6T.

Ex2h1lq.jpg
 
I was talking about measuring the diameter to determine the spoke gauge. My special spoke ruler doesn't have a hole in it. It is just shaved off to the point where measurement starts. and there's a groove in the center of it to lay the spoke in. It's called a plastic ruler. You can buy them anywhere they sell school supplies for goodness sake. I guess if you're in special ed, it's a special ruler.
 
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