I recently pulled an old road bike out of storage (probably 20 years old at this point). I have been riding 80-100 miles a week for a little over 2 months. Yesterday, for the second time, I had a spoke on my rear wheel break on a ride.
Is it worth replacing all of the spokes on the wheel at once? Or should I replace them as they break? Or are the wheels old enough to consider replacing them altogether?
by saeoner
6 Comments
You don’t need to replace them all. It would be worth checking the tension of the spokes is correct and adjusting them if that is an issue that’s causing the failures, especially now two have gone, but the spokes themselves are probably fine.
Wheels can be weird. Some are utterly indestructible, happy rolling for years. Others seem fine, but then become ‘sickly’ and nothing you can do can save them. It sounds a bit like yours fall in the latter camp. Fix the next spoke and get the shop to ensure that the tension is consistent. If they keep snapping spokes, it may be time to move on to new wheels (saving you cash in the long run).
Replace the broken one and check the tension of the other ones. The spokes probably a bit loose, which causes the defects.
Several others have touched on it. The #1 reason for broken spokes, by far, is **uneven spoke tension**. Get the wheel to an experienced wheelbuilder and have him retension the entire wheel. Call around – not every shop has a good “wheel guy”.
There is never a reason to replace all of the spokes in a wheel. They’re made of stainless steel so they don’t “wear out”. Just like a steel frame lasts forever even though it’s always flexing, spokes are the same. They have a theoretically infinite lifespan. And broken spokes don’t mean you need a new wheel. It just means the existing wheel needs to be serviced properly.
rule of thumb is more than 3 spoke broken replace them all. if the hubs unique or really nice and the brake track isn’t scalloped you can just replace spokes and nipples. if they’re OEM or the bearing feel rough, consider picking up a set of, Shimano WH-RS100, whole set is 175 to 140 just a rear is ~90.
Front/rear? Driveside/nondriveside?