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not resolvedI bought a Whyte Sussex RD7 bike back in May. A spoke snapped last month and the bike shop kindly fixed it free of charge. However another spoke snapped last night in the living room as I was about to fit new tyres.
I've owned many bikes over the years and I've had a spoke go on me, never mind 2.
Is there a quality issue, should I ask for a replacement wheel?
Entirely possible that the spokes were over tightened or of the wrong gauge to start with.... What wheel is it?
It's an Alexrim series wheel.
Just back from EBC, they're going to replace all the spokes under the warranty.
I might still email Whyte though. Doesn't seem right for a 6 month old bike.
I could be that the wheel was built incorrectly to start with. I run Alex Rims on my commuter and they're pretty bad for coming out of true. Snapped a few spokes recently but then probs after about a year rather than 6 months.
Look at your broken spokes and see which side they are on and which direction they are. I have Alexrim wheels on my cx bike. This has disc brakes and I have learned from trying wheel building, that spokes are laced to take most force from the cassette as you put pressure on to speed up/travel along. The opposing force is put on the wheel and spokes when you brake. This differs from a rim brake as the braking surface is on the rim, but with disc brakes the braking surface is attached to the hub so (in my thoery) acts in reverse to that of a tradional braked wheel. I throught of this after a number of spokes all on the disc side and all facing the same way, broke, over time.
In the long run I find it cheaper to buy spokes of the correct size and learn to fit them myself.
Black spokes? I've only ever broken black spokes.
But mainly I suspect over-tensioning. I was having no trouble at all until my bike was serviced, which included wheel truing and I suspect they trued the wheels by only tightening spokes (rather than half-tightening the spoke that needs to pull and a quarter relaxing the two opposing spokes on either side, which is what I would do). Soon after the service I've had a rear spoke and two fronts break.
Sounds familar! I have a Whyte Portobello (2013), I popped a rear spoke in the first month, then another three or four over the next six months. Eventually had EBC rebuild the wheel for me (they were very good, didn't quibble) and, touch wood, it's been fine since.
There are a few tails like this on the interweb, I suspect Whyte have, or had, a real QC issue with their wheels.
I had a Whyte Charing Cross. It popped it's first rear spoke after about 9 months, and then every one couple of months until about 2 years when I ditched it.
I also had one of the pannier lugs fall out of the frame after 24 months and 3 weeks (yep, 3 weeks out of warranty).
Other issue i had with this bike was I managed to snap the crankset after about a year, although this was a FSA Gossamer so not really a Whyte issue.
Not sure I would buy another one.
I had a similar problem with an EBC Continental. I gave up with the Rigida Nova wheels when the fourth spoke snapped.
I didn't think it was worth the hassle of bringing the wheel into Edinburgh to claim on the warranty after the third one broke.
I suppose if the problem is a general over-tensioning of the spokes then replacing the broken spoke means it's only a matter of time before another breaks. Without releasing the tension in all of the spokes and truing it from scratch, with lower tension all round, the new spoke will need to be tightened as much as the one it replaces and all the others are also waiting to ping.
I had the same with my Alex rim rear wheel on the Boardman Comp. kept popping spokes.
Ended up getting a replacement wheel from Halfords. XT hub,mavic rim and DT spokes. so fair play to Halfords on that.
Mavic rim and DT Swiss spokes is the magic combination. Not once have I snapped a spoke in such a wheel. You really have to abuse them to get them noticeably out of true, too.
I broke a spoke today I have had many many broken spokes, I had my revolution rear wheel rebuilt with strong spokes when bike was less than 6 months at Just repairs and went for 1000s miles and 10 months with no broke spoke. Earlier this year 4 spokes broke after many bumps so took it to Halfords and got 4 normal spokes I new they would not last but too impatient to book it in at LBS.
I am meant to be riding 120 miles this weekend to borders and back. It seems a waste of money getting one broke spoke fixed with a normal one. Also 2 weeks ago I took my bike to decathlon to get new chain and cogs turned out needed a crank too may have been could not just get cogs for that type and was advised that may need a new wheel soon as the freewheel is almost done. How bad an idea is riding with a broke spoke for a short tour? I could get the spoke fixed at Halfords or decathlon as don't need to book and can leave it there when at work but they don't carry the strong type that last, also if need a new wheel soon.
@Ed1 How many spokes in the wheel? If it's a 36 spoke wheel then each spoke carries less stress than if it has 32, 28 or fewer. Once one spoke goes then other spokes have to pick up the strain and the chance of them failing is higher.
I wouldn't expect to go 120 miles with a missing spoke without either wasting time truing the wheel or, worst case, having others break and end the ride. There's a safety angle there, too. However, I'm a heavier rider, you may not be, and your rims may be made of tough stuff!
Spoke replacement is usually quite cheap
When I got my Giant SCR2 back in 2008, it had Alexrim wheels. The rear wheel spokes started breaking within a week, and as soon as one was replaced another would go. As it was through Bike2Work, Halfords agreed to send the wheel back to their HQ for a rebuild. They then stopped responding to me after the 4-day turnaround went over a week, then over two weeks. It took the work Bike2Work coordinator to get them to respond, and only then did they grudgingly admit that they'd lost my wheel. It seems their ploy had been to ignore me in the hope that I'd forget that I was missing a wheel and stop bothering them.
In the meantime, I'd gone out and bought a new set of wheels so that I could ride my new bike. (Mavic Aksiums - which were awful, kept going out of true and they shop couldn't true them as the rims were cracked around each spoke-hole. They only noticed the cracks just after the warranty expired, despite repeated re-truing that failed to last. Result - money down the drain and a lasting aversion to Mavic products)
Halfords ended up getting the local shop to take the rear wheel off a random bike on the shop floor (different wheel brand, with the wrong cassette on the back) to fob me off.
I really don't think the cheap Alexrims wheels fitted to new bikes are fit for purpose. (I've had some cracking Shimano and Fulcrum Racing 7s since the Mavics, as well as a hand-build pair I made on the EBC wheelbuilding course).
Some good mechanics have come through Halfords, but on a corporate level I would never, ever let them touch a bike of mine.
@Ed1 that bike sounds tired. Time for a total rebuild maybe?
The alex rims on my mtb have been perfect still true and never serviced, the ones on my CDF are okay, been trued once or twice, and had some hard times both on and off road. The front hub on the other hand is shot.
Not got such a high view of Fulcrums myself. Some Racing 7s I had cracked at the spoke holes after about 4k miles and needed to be binned. Also on another bike Racing 5 discs snapped a bit at the hub after only 3k miles, and I'm currently waiting for Fulcrum to send out a replacement pair.
Aksiums have been solid for me, currently 4k trouble free miles.
Campagnolo Khamsin also really good with 6k miles on them, although the rear looks like it could do with trueing up.
None of them yet beat the stock Giant wheels that came on a bike which gave me 10k+ miles with minimal maintenance.
@galaxy On my second set of Racing 7s - first pair lasted about 3 years before the rim wear indicator started showing. They came off the bike as true as they went on, despite three commuting years of serious pounding under my weight on Edinburgh's roads. Current pair are around 2 years old and still true.
The Shimano R-whatevers I had were likewise excellent.
Maybe I was just unlucky with the Aksiums, but they still hold the record for the shortest-lasting, most expensive and worst-quality wheels I've ever owned.
I guess the real story is that there are dodgy batches of wheels from all manufacturers, and it's pot luck as to who ends up with them :-)
Oh well sounds like I should get spoke fixed will put it in to Halfords while at work, as not enough time to book in anywhere by Friday.
The big shops are good that open late and can things fixed quickly so have their role, but like when I had my crank changed a few weeks ago cost me £95 chain and front cogs and back cogs, in LBS would have cost may be the same but would have changed the cogs not the crank as they would stock cogs for sora crank. My old crank was better as had chain-ring bash protector so better for wearing trousers, also the gearing was better before now road gearing.
When I got my 4 new spokes and wheel tensioned at Halfords new would not last as well with regular spokes but needed bike that day.
My bike has 32 spokes even today with no load on it feels a bit different at low speed. I tend to think 32 spokes is too few for a touring bike, I went to buy a new wheel at decathlon at the end of last year but none that fitted (my bike has disc brakes). The front wheel never breaks.
Big fan of Fulcrum wheels myself, though beware, the bladed spokes on the higher end wheels seem to be hard to get hold of (or certainly EBC made a meal of it). Plus you have to expensively buy in packs of 5, for the rear wheel (3 drive side & 2 NDS, I believe). Which was extra annoying as it was probably overenthusiastic & somewhat unnecessary truing on EBC's part which caused it break in the first place IMO.
If anyone ever needs a bladed rear spoke for Fulcrums, give me a shout.
ed1,
Not sure where you work, but Cycle Republic on Morrison St is open to 8pm (retail-wise, anyway) and I suspect might be receptive to walk-in repairs. Still Halfords really, but...
Cycle-service has loaner bikes.
£25 for a spoke replacement at Halfords looking at web site, more than a LBS and Halfords spokes are weak and tiny. My wheel only cost £40 to have rebuilt with strong spokes. I wonder if decathlon offer a spoke replacement for less
What about the Corstorphine LBS? its not too much further.
Harts! thats it. http://www.harts-cyclery.co.uk/
For wheels (as a heavier rider) I cannot praise Hope Hoops Pro4 enough - and the rear one comes with the standard epic Hope buzzsaw freehub noise (handy for gently advising the world of your presence)
They knock Mavics out of the park by many country miles.
I see Halfords offer a bike care and maintenance plan for £25 a year pay this 25 and free labour, it appears I would pay £25 the cost of a spoke and then £1 for a spoke. As already had wheel rebuilt this year and broke my arm so did not cycle for 2 months then this may be good value as already spent around £150 on bike repairs this year on bike maintenance much of this labour.
Actually a bad idea even with care plan still charge the fixed labour charge which makes it rather pointless http://www.halfords.com/wcsstore/libraries/document/Bike_Care_Plans.pdf
They knock Mavics out of the park by many country miles.
To be fair they're also three times the price of the Mavics I use.
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