SS 14g 36er Spokes breaking

[Rowan]

Is anyone else breaking way more spokes than they should on their Coker?
I've hardly broken any spokes until I got a 36" built with 14g spokes (the heavy steel ones are still going strong). Firstly the bike shop said the nipples are crap and they got decent brand name nipples instead.

After riding my wheel for only maybe 1000km (which isn't that long for a 36") I started breaking spokes. I only had 4 extra ones and within another 1000km I've been through 6 and had to buy another set of spokes to replace them with (because it is a custom length that the bike shop can't get). I'm not doing anything too strenuous on it- like riding slowly with a bit of shopping and accellerating slightly and "Ping". The guy at the bike shop says the reason is not his wheelbuilding but he blames the cheap no name spokes, since they are breaking near the hub end. I imagine the forces on the wheel are massive compared to smaller wheels but I don't think they should be breaking so much.

I'm planning to build another wheel sometime soon and I was just wondering if anyone else is going through spokes like there is no tomorrow. I guess it isn't a big deal as spokes are as replacable as seats tires and pedals.

[U-Turn]

Originally Posted by Rowan

Is anyone else breaking way more spokes than they should on their Coker?
I've hardly broken any spokes until I got a 36" built with 14g spokes (the heavy steel ones are still going strong). Firstly the bike shop said the nipples are crap and they got decent brand name nipples instead.

After riding my wheel for only maybe 1000km (which isn't that long for a 36") I started breaking spokes. I only had 4 extra ones and within another 1000km I've been through 6 and had to buy another set of spokes to replace them with (because it is a custom length that the bike shop can't get). I'm not doing anything too strenuous on it- like riding slowly with a bit of shopping and accellerating slightly and "Ping". The guy at the bike shop says the reason is not his wheelbuilding but he blames the cheap no name spokes, since they are breaking near the hub end. I imagine the forces on the wheel are massive compared to smaller wheels but I don't think they should be breaking so much.

I'm planning to build another wheel sometime soon and I was just wondering if anyone else is going through spokes like there is no tomorrow. I guess it isn't a big deal as spokes are as replacable as seats tires and pedals.

Prolly your builder built a soft wheel. That's where spokes break if they are moving around. However, what rim are you running, because most of them won't take much tension.

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by U-Turn

Prolly your builder built a soft wheel. That's where spokes break if they are moving around. However, what rim are you running, because most of them won't take much tension.

It definitely wasn't a soft wheel. I felt the spokes myself and they barely moved.

The same guy built Will Sklennars 36" wheel before he built mine. We both have the old Airfoils and wide hub and Will hasn't had any trouble with his- although I suspect he hasn't ridden as far as me yet.

I took it to a different cycle expert and he thought that the spokes were done up to the right tension and that it was likely to be just low quality spokes due to where they were breaking. I read a thread somewhere about geared 36" spokes breaking. I've gotta get one of those one day...

I've hocked off the Airfoil to my brother and I will build a Stealth Pro wheel once I'm sure there is black ones in stock. Maybe the eyelets will help to keep the spokes from breaking/moving.

[MT High]

I busted about 5 spokes on my Nightrider before getting the whole wheel rebuilt with better quality spokes, new nipples and spoke bindings. Haven't broken any spokes since and the wheel feels a lot more solid. Mine broke at the hub as well. Maybe there was a bad batch of spokes going around?

[ntappin]

Isn't the Airfoil drilled for 12g spokes, and so you have to use special nipples that fit into 12g holes but take 14g spokes?

If so then that would probably be the problem.

[unijuul]

If the spoke break it is a loose wheelbuild, if the nipple break it is wrong spoke length. But you will not break spoke after only 1000km on a loose wheelbuild.

[rob.northcott]

If spokes are breaking at the hub, could it be that the hooked end (I think it's called an elbow) is too long for the thickness of the flange, and it's sticking out a bit, putting more stress on the bend?

Roger at UDCUK built my Stealth Pro wheel with SS spokes and he put washers in to bring the spoke tight against the flange, which should be better.

I haven't done enough miles on my new wheel yet to say whether I'll get any spoke breakage problems though. One of the nipple heads sheared off after less than 20 miles, but I think that was just a bad nipple as I've had no problems since I replaced it. I've probably done about 100 miles on that wheel now, with a fair amount of quite rough xc and steep climbs, so hopefully that was just a one-off problem.

Rob