So I have one of these: Specialized Vienna Globe 1. I bought it new back in May and have easily put over 1000 miles on it.
Back in September, I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. I had it repaired in a bike shop and got a full tune up. I broke another spoke on the same wheel in late October. After this one was replaced, I broke a spoke on the same wheel the next day! This time I asked to have the spoke fixed and each spoke’s tension checked.
Well, today about 36 miles into my typical 50 mile ride, I broke ANOTHER one on the rear wheel. While I am a big dude–6’3, 185 lbs–I’m not overweight, the bike has been properly fit for me by professionals, and I don’t carry anything on the back except for a small bag with a couple oranges in it. It’s a hybrid and I’m riding exclusively on paved roads. I like to go riding into fairly rural Texas, so there are potholes, which I am pretty good at avoiding. However, on my ride today, the spoke snapped when I ran over an acorn with my front wheel and leaned to the side.
The relatively frequent broke spokes is getting to be quite a pain. What exactly are my options? So far, all of my problems have been from a single wheel. Should I ask for the wheel to be rebuilt with new, stronger spokes? Should I get a second bike store to retension the spokes? Obviously I don’t want to buy a new wheel, but will if that is what it will take.
you said it’s the same wheel, is it the same spoke? If the wheel is out of true at one spot, it can overload a single spoke. Take it elsewhere and have the wheel properly trued.
I don’t believe it is the same spoke, but I don’t know for sure. I had the first one replaced at the bike shop I bought it from and the second two replaced by a local shop closer to my campus.
I see that that bike comes with a Specialized branded rear cassette hub. It just may be that you are overwhelming that hub (though at 185 you really shouldn’t be) and you will always have problems with it. If you replaced it with a wheel built around a Shimano Deore hub that was tensioned and trued by someone who knew what they were doing I bet breakage would not be a problem. This would be an upgrade based on the specs of the bike, But one worth doing. IMHO, of course.
I think that when you broke the first spoke, it may have overloaded the rest and one by one they are failing.
If it were me, I would either replace all the spokes, or get a new wheel.
I upgraded the wheels on my Cannondale, and I was amazed at how much better the bike rode.
YMMV
Is this a problem that could be solved by properly truing and tensioning the wheel or is it more of a deterministic thing? I’m fine with paying to upgrade the wheel or have it rebuilt with a new hub and spokes if I am destined to continue breaking the current spokes.
Do I need to request spokes made of a sturdier material or is their breakage largely a function of tension and the quality of the hub?
I had a similar issue with a Felt mountain bike. The guys at the bike shop rebuilt the well with better quality spokes free of charge and I had no further problems. It’s hard to know what the actual problem is but a rebuild might be the best way to stop further problems.
Has the wheel wheel ever been in a crash? A wheel can be damaged and out of true after a crash. Sometime the wheel can be re-trued, but it usually results in some very high stressed spokes, and these wheels will always have problems breaking spokes. If that is the case, rebuilding the wheel with a new rim and spokes are the fix. If you go that route, just use standard 14 gauge spokes.
Most independent bike shops will have a guy who is good at wheelbuilding - just take it in and they’ll sort it. It will just cost for new spokes and labour.
You could upgrade the hub / rim if you liked at the same time, depends on whether you want to spend money on it. You can certainly get wheels that will be much stronger, indeed the sky’s the limit, but the wheels you have already should easily be up to the riding you describe.
1000 miles isn’t much for a wheel, I’d put money on is being fairly cheap wheel. You’ll find you get a series of breakages, always on the sprocket side of the wheel - its the way that the dishing of the hub loads up the tension on one side more than the other.
If your spokes are even slightly loose, they will move and wear faster at the head end.It’s not likely to be the same spoke unless there is a specific defect in the hub.
The usual practice is to take the wheels back after 500 miles or so to have the spokes tightened up a little to take out the bedding in slack. Might be worth a rebuild, but you’ll need to compare it with the price of another - there might not be much in it.
I had a similar problem…but I’m 6’2" and 240…a bigger problem, so to speak. Plus some of my commute is on a canal tow-path…dirt. So I bump a bit more.
I was breaking spokes every week. I found that, although the wheel was balanced, not all of the spokes had high enough tension. The wheel remained true, but was flexing under the…um…load. The flexing was fatiguing the spokes and thet would fail shortly thereafter. I had the bike shop tighten all of the spokes (and true the wheel again). that has seemed to help…so far.
Good luck.
I had a similar problem the last few years and I solved it with a new wheel with more spokes. I think I went from 32 to 36 spokes with a thicker gauge and have put on a couple of thousand miles without incident.
This is the route I eventually went with. They seemed to think that the wheel was probably damaged by the pothole that broke the first spoke and that I’d continue having problems with it. They offered a fairly generous discount on a new wheel with double-walled rims instead of the single-wall on the first wheel. Hopefully the new one will be more sturdy!