replace spokes when?

a light person on a good bike had a spoke break on the rear wheel this weekend. bike had normal service and wear and tear.

another rider thought that it was just worn out due to the number of mile the bike had travelled. i've seen complete replacement of spokes, but it was always for some other reason than just miles logged.

that makes me wonder, with normal riding, how far can we expect normal spokes to take us?

likewise, how many seasons do you expect from your spokes?

cu,
larryb

 

I wish I knew, I'm a heavy rider, and I broke a spoke this morning.. and I'm asking the same question.

sean

 

How long is a rope?? Have ridden wheels till they were wore out trash and never broke a spoke. Broke 2 on a realtibely new set of oem chours/open pros because they were either defective no name crap or the wheel was poorly built to beging with. $80 for a wheel rebuild. No need for a complete replacement unless you think you have a chronic problem that only a rebuild will cure.

 

Twice the distance from the centre.

 

Sometimes you just get crappy wheel builds, in which case you just have to have the wheel rebuilt. I kept breaking spokes on my training bike, so I just had a new wheel built for the back and that fixed the problem. Heavier riders are more prone to spoke breakage due to the increased static/dynamic loads, and the increased torque transmitted to the rear hub while pedaling.
I have 1000 miles on my AC350s, and I haven't had any problems, whereas my CXP21s broke 3 spokes in 1500 miles, it usually just comes down to the wheel build.

 

if you are continually breaking spokes then IMO that is when you should look at having a good wheel builder replace all your spokes. If you're cashed up, you might as well investigate better rims/hubs, depending on what you already have and what the bike is used for. If, on the other it's only very occasional or a one-off, just get the spoke replaced and have them check the tension all round the wheel.

 

if you have a wheel with aluminium spokes then spoke life may be an issue - I saw an article that advised people with mavic kysrium wheels that once you start breaking spokes then fatigue may be an issue and it´s easier to replace them all once you have problems reoccuring .

normal spokes ? many people try to run too few and too light and that´s never going to be good - but much depends on how well the wheel was built in the first place and how it´s been maintained , or not , since .
bet the break was the drive side though .