Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

User avatar
marty_one
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:11 am

Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby marty_one » Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:42 am

My bike came with Shimano R500 wheels when I bought it a couple of years back. Over the last 6 months I have had two spokes break and in talking with some of the guys at the LBS near where I work they told me that the first generation of the R500 series had an issue with the spokes where they would keep breaking at the j-bend.

The shop quoted me about $100 for a respoke, but after looking online I found that I could buy an R501 (the updated model without the spoke problem I think) for about the same price. The question I keep asking myself is do I get it respoked or just buy the replacement rear wheel only (so far this is the only wheel that has been breaking spokes) considering its about the same price. The only issue for me is if I buy the replacement wheel I will have a spare wheel floating around probably for years if I ever needed to raid it for parts.
Avantia Giro 3.0 2012
Just Riding - Used to be called "My Journey to Triathlon"

User avatar
jules21
Posts: 10555
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:14 pm
Location: deep in the pain cave

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby jules21 » Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:12 pm

i have R500s that came on 2008 Apollo Peleton. i now use that bike for training, but the wheels have been bulletproof. i have broken one spoke - not bad for what must be 10-15k of riding - and bought replacement spokes from Moruyia (?) Cycles online (they are in Sydney, but you don't need to be). i would just lace it up myself (which i did) - if it's just one spoke it's easy to get it straight-ish. that's not the right thing to do by the text book but for bottom-range wheels it will do.

User avatar
Ross
Posts: 5742
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby Ross » Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:55 pm

jules21 wrote:and bought replacement spokes from Moruyia (?) Cycles online (they are in Sydney, but you don't need to be). i would just lace it up myself (which i did)
Umm...Moruya Cycles are in Moruya which is nowhere near Sydney, it's over 300km away on the NSW South Coast! They are a good source for spokes though. http://www.moruyabicycles.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Might be worth checking the tension on the other spokes if you haven't already done so.

User avatar
jules21
Posts: 10555
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:14 pm
Location: deep in the pain cave

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby jules21 » Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:10 pm

Ross wrote:Umm...Moruya Cycles are in Moruya which is nowhere near Sydney, it's over 300km away on the NSW South Coast! They are a good source for spokes though. http://www.moruyabicycles.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
those NSW places all look the same to me :D

User avatar
simonn
Posts: 3763
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:46 am
Location: Sydney

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby simonn » Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:11 pm

$100 is way to much. Unless you are going to replace yourself - not too hard, then I 'd get some a/new wheel/s e.g. http://www.pro-liteoz.com/store/product ... elset.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - if you want to go cheap.

You can only raid the wheel for parts if you get the same wheel. The R500s I had were pretty average. OTOH, where are you? I still have an old R500 rear kicking around from years ago, which I think has one broken spoke. If you want to come to Freshwater when I am around you are welcome to take it to raid it for parts. I was just going to freecycle or council cleanup it anyway.

macca33
Posts: 1545
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:05 pm
Location: West Gippy

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby macca33 » Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:08 pm

Diminishing returns to be rebuilding those wheels after that much use, for the quoted price, when you can get bombproof brand new wheels for not a whole lot more - Pro-Lite Como, or Garda - both under $200.

cheers
CAAD10 Berzerker & Focus Mares & Ridley Noah SL

User avatar
jacks1071
Posts: 3068
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:47 pm
Location: Mackay, QLD
Contact:

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby jacks1071 » Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:40 pm

My work here is done, thank-you.

Image
Our Website is: http://www.kotavelo.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Find us on Facebook by searching for "Kotavelo"

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9858
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby Duck! » Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:32 pm

simonn wrote:$100 is way to much.
No, it's actually a pretty good price for a full build assuming parts + labour in that figure. However in relation to the value of a new wheel of the same model it's very close in price.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

User avatar
ldrcycles
Posts: 9594
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:19 pm
Location: Kin Kin, Queensland

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby ldrcycles » Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:17 pm

Given you can get new wheels for not much more, that's the option i'd go with. I've had several sets of R500s that have done god knows how many thousand kilometres (some even on gravel roads) and i've never had to do a thing with them.
"I must be rather keen on cycling"- Sir Hubert Opperman.

Road Record Association of Australia

User avatar
marty_one
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:11 am

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby marty_one » Fri Jun 13, 2014 8:51 am

Thanks for all the replies guys, I have decided that I will just buy a box of dt swiss spokes (average price is around $25-$30 mark, excluding postage) and just replace them as needed. A lot cheaper in the long run. Besides after last nights effort of replacing the busted spoke, about 20 minutes (if that!). It seems that is best option. Trying to do everything on a very tight budget.
Avantia Giro 3.0 2012
Just Riding - Used to be called "My Journey to Triathlon"

User avatar
rustguard
Posts: 1415
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:31 am
Location: Perth, WA
Contact:

Re: Shimano R500 Wheels (respoke or replace?)

Postby rustguard » Sun May 10, 2015 6:06 pm

marty_one wrote:some of the guys at the LBS near where I work they told me that the first generation of the R500 series had an issue with the spokes where they would keep breaking at the j-bend.
It wasnt just shimano R500, Bontrager, Alex rims and others suffered the same fate. It was reportedly due to a bad batch of spokes out of china. once they start they will not stop until you have replaced enough to take the load of them. I have literally heard them snap mid air whilst hanging on a bike rack.
did you fix them yourself?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users