Clydesdale on 20 Spoke rims

[geoffs]

Well - I'm getting between 900km and 1200km before spokes start to pop on a 36 spoke wheel. But I'm another 14kg's on top of where daniel.s is.

My personal feeling is that he's going to end up owning two wheels so he can swap to the 'spare' while the 'non-spare' gets rebuilt.

And are the wheels breaking spokes after you ride off a cliff?? If not, you need to find another wheel builder if this is what's happening. There is no way a properly built wheel will be breaking spokes with so few kms. Our tandem has a lot more weight than you would have and our front 700c wheel that was built by Steve Hog has yet to break a spoke after 15,000kms and the rear which I built myself broke a spoke after only 10,000 due to the faulty batch of DT spokes that I used.

I am having no problems with the 32h wheels that I have built up using Velocity Aerohead rims and Dura-ace hubs.

Cheers

Geoff

[MJF]

How many gears are you running on the rear?

[geoffs]

How many gears are you running on the rear?

9 speed - Dura-ace brifters with XT rear derailleur and Ultegra front derailleur. 54/44/26 - 11/32 on the 700c Santana and 53/39/26 - 11/34 on the 26" Mocha.
The spacing is the same whether it's 9 or 10 gears, though with the long cable runs and the chains being a bit thinner I'm not in any hurry to change to the 10 for the tandems.
The half bike has Dura-ace 10 speed with no problems

Cheers

Geoff

[europa]

We've a member here who busts spokes because he's pulling heavy loads in very low gears - it puts too much strain on the drive side of the wheel.
Although neither of you are doing that (not to his extent anyway), you have to wonder how down the food chain that effect extends.

Hmm, I've started hauling the dog around ... and suddenly my rear wheel needed retensioning. Coincidence?

Richard

[thomas_cho]

Regarding the R550s I have been using them for about 2 years now, my weight ranged from 105kg to 93kg during that time, and I have not had a problem with them.

Although I did true them, and balanced up the tension.

However, I still believe that 32 spoked, or 36 spoked rear wheels are most reliable, if and only if they are competently built. For a more robust wheel, build your rear wheel around a off-centre rim, so that the drive side and non-drive side spokes are similar in tension.

I still think that the straight pull spokes of the R550s have a lot going for them ... for one, they eliminate the place where most spokes break, at the elbow. Why? Because there is no elbow.

Mavic, and many other manufacturers have this design as well.

However, if the Paris-Roubaix riders still trust their livelihood on traditionally built 32 spoked, 3X wheels, that is also good enuf for me.

[MJF]

How many gears are you running on the rear?

9 speed

O.K. - got me buggered, as I'm also running a 9-speed. I'm breaking spokes on the non-drive side, which has (comparatively) stuff-all tension due to the 9-speed offset.

I've done a bit of research on the wheel-building, and I have NO idea how you are getting to 10K-km's, considering the bad luck I've had. Considering that the wheel did an amazing buckle last time, which hints at over-tensioning, I'm not sure how I can make my current setup better. The only difference I can think of is that you are running a quality rim, while mine is a cheapie. And are you running thinner spokes on the non-drive side??

[geoffs]

I'll only use good rims these days. The first touring bike that I had used Wolber rims and after one week of loaded touring the wheel resembled a square. I had it replaced under warrantee with a Mavic M3CD which lasted for the 10,000 kms around Europe. Mavic's have always lasted well for me and now as Velocity is made here and they have such a good reputation they are all I am using. Peter John White http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/index.html who gives the wheels he builds a lifetime guarantee now uses about 90% Velocity rims compared to Mavic's.

[mikesbytes]

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/index.html

He's got some good stuff