Peter Cole said:Breaking spokes is pretty much a symptom of a wheel that wasn't built
right. The maximum load on a spoke is when the bike is empty. Your
weight only makes less tension on the spoke as it passes the
ground.
.... and an insignificant but non-zero increase in tension in the other
spokes.
Furthermore, according to "The Bicycle Wheel", under hard braking tension
in the rear half of the wheel increases by about 5%, and a similar increase
in tension can occur during acceleration.
This is just nit-pickery that doesn't affect your main point, of course;
this 5% increase in tension is not what breaks spokes, I just enjoy
quibbling.
--
Benjamin Lewis
Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of
Congress. But I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain