R
Robb Monn
Guest
So on Friday I went for a long ride with a large group of folks here in
Brooklyn. The pace was slow and the vibe was good. That is until I
heard a TWONK TWONK PING!
The broken spokes allowed my wheel to warp to the point that it jammed
in my frame. Down I went and I hit the ground pretty hard. After an
hour of work I managed to get my wheel to turn in the frame and I
limped 10 miles home.
When this happened I was going about 8 mph on a flat. No bumps or
trauma to the wheel for the whole ride up to that point -- which had
been about 15 miles.
I took the bike in to my LBS and asked (based on some googling and
reading online) for them to rebuild my rear wheel. It is a stock wheel
on a cheap bike and my feeling was that I'd like a hand-built,
hand-tensioned rear wheel. I also asked after thicker spokes since I'm
a big guy (235lbs and dropping.) I very regularly ride this bike quite
far from home and don't want a repeat. Also, the bike is relatively
new, bought in May and I've done about 175 miles a week on it since
then.
They *refused* to rebuild my wheel saying that it was unneeded. They
were snobby and rude about it, too. I finally relented and they are
replacing the spokes and trueing the wheel. Their final word: "If the
new spokes break too then we'll know we have a problem." I don't
*want* the new spokes to break. I rode 8000 miles on my last set of
wheels and never had a single spoke break.
So I have two questions:
1.) Any ideas on why my spokes broke? The LBS guy said that I had some
grit on my hub and that was the likely cause -- that the dirt and grit
had ground away at the spokes.
2.) Should I call them and insist on a rebuild or is it really not
needed? I'm planning on riding a century on this bike on September
12th and it would really make me mad if I had some spoke problems that
took me out.
Brooklyn. The pace was slow and the vibe was good. That is until I
heard a TWONK TWONK PING!
The broken spokes allowed my wheel to warp to the point that it jammed
in my frame. Down I went and I hit the ground pretty hard. After an
hour of work I managed to get my wheel to turn in the frame and I
limped 10 miles home.
When this happened I was going about 8 mph on a flat. No bumps or
trauma to the wheel for the whole ride up to that point -- which had
been about 15 miles.
I took the bike in to my LBS and asked (based on some googling and
reading online) for them to rebuild my rear wheel. It is a stock wheel
on a cheap bike and my feeling was that I'd like a hand-built,
hand-tensioned rear wheel. I also asked after thicker spokes since I'm
a big guy (235lbs and dropping.) I very regularly ride this bike quite
far from home and don't want a repeat. Also, the bike is relatively
new, bought in May and I've done about 175 miles a week on it since
then.
They *refused* to rebuild my wheel saying that it was unneeded. They
were snobby and rude about it, too. I finally relented and they are
replacing the spokes and trueing the wheel. Their final word: "If the
new spokes break too then we'll know we have a problem." I don't
*want* the new spokes to break. I rode 8000 miles on my last set of
wheels and never had a single spoke break.
So I have two questions:
1.) Any ideas on why my spokes broke? The LBS guy said that I had some
grit on my hub and that was the likely cause -- that the dirt and grit
had ground away at the spokes.
2.) Should I call them and insist on a rebuild or is it really not
needed? I'm planning on riding a century on this bike on September
12th and it would really make me mad if I had some spoke problems that
took me out.