I’m quite the hefty guy, and I own a decent hybrid that I use for fair-weather commuting. I’ve started losing spokes in the back wheel, which I attribute both to road aging and my size.
A friend of mine who is more into cycling than I am suggested that when I have the wheel relaced, I specify the shop use spokes aimed for tandems because they’re beefier. Is there a more technical and savvy name for these than, “spokes for people with big asses”? I don’t want to sound like an idiot, and I want them to know what I talking about right from the start.
Heavier gauge spokes would be the appropriate phrase, I would think. Just explain that you’re breaking spokes with alarming frequency and want a sturdier wheel. Tandems and touring bikes both use heavier spokes because of the higher loads they’re subjected to. They also generally have more spokes, 40 or even 48 instead of 36 (common) or 32 or even fewer on road racers. If you’re getting a whole new wheel instead of having the old one relaced, you might want to look at something like that.
If you’re losing spokes, you’re more likely to have an out of true (that’s tech talk for bent) wheel or you’ve managed to do something nasty to your rear end. It takes some serious weight to actually break a spoke. Unless you’re 300 lbs+, a regulsr wheel should work fine. Instaed of spending money on a fancy new hand made wheel , spend the $ on getting the back end of the bike checked out.
Have the spokes that are breaking on the left side of the wheel? If so keep reading.
How good are your existing hubs and rims? If they are high quality you might want to look into having the rear wheel relaced in a half radial spoke pattern. What happens is the amount of dish in a standard laced (cross 3 or cross 4) wheel can place undue amounts of stress on the left side of the wheel under hard pedaling. With half radius lacing the inside is laced radially which reduces the amount of dish and by extension the amount of stress on the wheel.
As a clydesdale myself I can assure you most of my riding falls under that category I had a set of Chris Kings with Mavic rims made up a few years back and they are great, not only are they the best and lightest hubs they are also the strongest. I’ve noticed no deflection whatsoever from them aside from the Al rear triangle of my bike.
Me: Well beyond 300, but less than 350; working on a smaller me.
Bike: Rigid frame, w/ only shock absorbing seat post. About 700 miles on it; 500 last summer. I’m breaking 5-6 rear spokes for every 1 up front.
Commuting route is bumpy for 1.5 of 4 miles one way.
IMAO, beefier spokes is best bet, because I’m looking into bariatric surgery to lessen load overall.
The wheel is somewhat out of round, because I’ve changed out as I could without benefit of a truing jig.
Huge assed, erstwhile cyclist checking in. Tandem bicycles often use 48 spoke wheels but AFAIK you won’t find spokes any stronger than 14ga stainless which are pretty typical. I don’t that alone will solve the problem. In my exprience the quality of wheelbuilding and your riding technique will have most impact on wheel life, no pun intended. You should do fine with a tightly laced wheel made with quality rims and spokes, something not always found on consumer bikes. You might have a new wheel built using your hub if it’s servicable with high quality rims and spokes but I doubt if you’ll need to get more than the standard 36 spokes. If you’re breaking spokes I’d suspect the wheel wasn’t laced with enough tension so the load isn’t distributed as well as it should be.
Riding technique is the biggie. Do you ride with your weight all on your ass or do you distribute it more evenly over ass, pedals and handlebars so you can more easily float over bumps? Most hybrids I’ve seen place you too upright to do this well as the handlebars are high and too close to the seat. You probably don’t want to lower them for a racer’s crouch but maybe get a longer stem so your torso streches out a bit more over the bike. You may find your feet burn when you ride with more weight on them so get some proper bike shoes with harder if not completely rigid soles.
When you ride over bumps lift your butt off the seat and you’ll be suprised how much less impact you have at the wheels. Back when I still rode skinny tire bikes I was still a good 50lbs heavier than my riding buddies but never damaged my wheels even though they got rim dents on a regular basis.
VunderBob, I saw your reply. I’m bigger than you but I’ll admit I’m not cycling much these days. I think your problem is compounded by repairing a wheel that is already damaged. Once you dent a rim you can’t get it true and have all the spokes in equal tension. I think you’d be wise to get a whole new rear wheel or have yours rebuilt with new rim and spokes.
There’s your problem. An out of true wheel puts excessive stress on a few spokes, so it’s not surprising that you keep breaking more. Most likely, all you need to do is take the wheel to a bike shop to get it trued. (Though you could ask them if they think it needs to be replaced.)
I’m not convinced here. I ride recumbent bikes so I can’t take any weight off my ass. Granted, I’m not a heavy rider, but some of my bikes have lightweight 20- and 24-spoke wheels and I’ve never broken a spoke. (Except for the time I mis-adjusted my derailleur and it smashed into the wheel - now that was ugly.)
VunderBob, check out Sheldon Brown’s website for info on how to true your wheels
You can get a bike fork from the garbage pile at the bike shop or thrift store and use that as a makeshift truing stand but in reality I’d go pay to have the wheels trued, it’s a tricky business and I would bet money you have put some funky stresses on that wheel without realizing it and thats whats causing the spokes to pop.
I’m comparatively small-assed, ~160 lb - 5’ 11", but I was breaking about 1 spoke a week when I first got my bike. The repair guy at the shop where I bought it finally called the manufacturer, who told him to respoke both wheels at their expense. Haven’t broken another spoke since.
scr4, I didn’t say it was the only factor but one the rider has a lot of direct control over. I’ve never ridden a recumbent but I think it’s safe to say the dynamics of your body weight when it hits a bump are very different than for an upright, diamond frame bike. I’m betting you also have quality wheels that were professionally made instead of the mass produced ones that come on most hybrids. My experience is anecdotal but I stand by what I said. When you put a 235# ass (Oh, to be that skinny :rolleyes: again) on 28mm tires you have to ride with a little finess.
My plan all along is to take the wheel in to the shop and have all spokes replaced and the thing professionally trued. Beefiest possible spokes all around when they do the job. Spokes have a servicable life due to metal fatigue that is related directly to how many accumulated miles and the load they’re subjected to. I figure at my present size, a wheel would last about 600 miles before I start seeing significant end of lifetime breakage again (compared to road hazard damage).
I sit mostly upright because that’s how my bike has me sit, plus I’m too big to lean forward any significant amount.
When I see a jolt coming, I try to take it standing, with my knees bent. Don’t always see them, however.
Tandem spokes are thicker, but then, generic “OEM-grade” spokes are a lot weaker than even the lowest-grade name-brand aftermarket spokes you can get at a shop, even for some fairly-mid-grade bikes. I had a MTB that I began breaking spokes on one side of the rear on, and the bike shop suggested rebuilding the same hub and wheel with some name-brand spokes. None of the new spokes ever broke.
~
The bike is a factory built Raleigh C30; I have no clue regarding thegrade of the spokes used by the factory. Probably lower grade, because this is a no frills pickup truck of a bike, and not one of their sports cars.
A little more info to answer some other (unanswered) questons: probably 2/3s of the spokes are on the freewheel side. I always figured that was Murphey’s Law in action… Break the ones he can’t fix without specialized tooling.
My riding style tends more toward mashing than spinning, too, but I’m working on that.
So, at 125kg (275 pounds), I am being given a racing bicycle. I can’t currently afford anything else (I used to have an MTB). I don’t really want a racing machine as it will be my daily commuter, but it’s either that bike or no bike. I’m just worried I’m going to trash the thing as soon as I get on it. I’m not going to be pushing the limits with it as far as riding style goes. I’ll be cautious with raised kerbs etc, but will I simply be too heavy? Am I going to kill myself? I haven’t ridden a racing bike since I was twelve (I didn’t have a beer belly then!).
TheLoadedDog, it may depend on what you mean by “racing bike.” Not all bikes with dropped handlebars fit that mold. You’ll probably want to get the widest tires that will fit on the rims and make sure to inflate them enough because rim pinch flats are a hazard for us big guys. Check the tires it has to see if they are 700c or 27" which look nearly identical in diameter but are not interchangable.
I’d suggest getting flat handlebars but that means buying new brake levers and maybe shifters. I’d resist the urge to get raised handlebars that sweep back but you may need to get a stem that is raised a bit more. Our big bellies don’t fold over well but by the same token sitting bolt upright has some pretty severe drawbacks.
It’s not Murphy’s Law, actually. The spokes on the freewheel side are under greater stress because of the way the wheel is dished to keep the tire centred in the frame, but still leave room for the freewheel.
I had a set of Chris Kings with Mavic rims made up a few years back and they are great, not only are they the best and lightest hubs they are also the strongest. I’ve noticed no deflection whatsoever from them aside from the Al rear triangle of my bike.