Spoke problems

[J_T]

Hey all...The other day I changed the rear tire and decided to check my spoke tightness while at it... Most were good except about 5 evenly spaced around the rim were in need of tightening...The problem comes in that crap that I have been riding in as gotten inside the rim and collected inside the spoke nipples enough that a few of the entire spokes were turing when trying to tightening...I was able to put vice grips on all that needed tightening to hold the spoke to tighten the nipple but there were still two that are corroded enough that even taking the nipple off and soaking it and cleaning it, it won't tighten fully...

A) Anyone have a fix for the current spokes besides replacing them?

My rides are fairly short receintly and off road and in woods so no high speeds but I still want to fix it all right!

OR

? Can I remove one spoke at a time and replace it and not have to worry about warpping the rim as long as I torgue it close before replacing another?

C) should I just buy the $2.88 each OEM spoke and replace just the damaged ones or is there aftermarket spoke that will go on OEM rims/hubs thats cheaper

I regret not keeping up with it b/c its a pain to have to remove the tire again. and this is time/money taking away from me working on my suspension which I have been wanting to do for a long time! any help would be appreciated! thanks!

JT

[J_T]

I'd attempt to upgrade all my spokes if I thought I could do it w/out having to retrue my rim...the TT store has complete Buchanan spoke kits for Retail $55.

[SaltyWalrus]

You can replace them individually, or redo your whole rim. I am no expert, but I have laced up a couple rims. It is actually pretty easy if you just take your time. Nothing to get nervous about.

[XR Dude]

I've laced dozens and they are time consuming but not all that difficult. You can replace one at a time just keep your tone (when you bang them with a spoke wrench they emit a tone) consistant all the way around. When your tone is close then put a rod or your axle through the hub and mount the rod it in a vise, careful if its a hollow axle not to squish it. Spin the rim around and place something like a screwdriver against the side of the rim so you can see if it has a wobble. Then make your fine adjustments at that point, to remove the wobble also put another screwdriver or rod across the end of the rim with the tire off of course to check for oblong or out of round. If your rim isn't bent your tone should be fairly consistant all the way around the rim and it should be straight, if it isn't you can keep with the adjustments until it is straight, saying its not got some big whack in it. This is one way to true a rim even if you relace the whole rim the process is the same once the spokes are in it. I hope this helps. Good luck!

[qadsan]

Nothing to get nervous about

...unless the rim is already out of round and true by a good amount. If the rim is fairly round and the side to side is fairly good, then just cut one out and replace it, then cut the next out and replace it as mentioned above. If you have quite a few spokes to do or several close together that need replacing, then you may have to fiddle with truing your wheel. Lacing a wheel isn't to hard to do if the wheel is already straight, but it its out of round and and the side to side is off by a good amount, then plan to order in and have some real fun.

[J_T]

Excellent!!! all of you! You are correct...I was nervous b/c I thought that you had to have a trueing stand or something but I can do one at a time no problem! the hardest part is removing the old tire! anyone use any sort of anti-thread seize so something like this doesn't happen again...or are aftermarket spokes better than OEM...

Oh yea... SHould I get OEM or go with aftermarket?

[qadsan]

I've just been using OEM because that's what I've had on hand and I know they work, but I wouldn't mind using aftermarket is they had an OEM size/fit. I always put a tiny amount of anit-seize on my spoke nipples to minimize galling and so they torque more evenly. The spokes still come loose sometimes, but not very often.

[XR4DEZ]

Have any of you guys had a problem with spokes breaking? Mine break at the hub on the sprocket side, usually have to change 2 to 3 at every tire change.

[J_T]

I thought it was loose or unevenly torqued spokes that cause them to break? At least thats what I thought I understood...by someone telling me why they'd spend so much on a spoke torque wrench.

I'm talking by what I hear...someone could easily prove me wrong. I don't have near the miles that ya'll out West put on the bike...I bought it in Jan2001 with a used Dunlop 756 on the rear and I just now replaced it last week and it actually wasn't bald yet but I wanted a better hill climbing tire. (I was out of the country for 2 years also)

[BrianVT]

I got all my old rear spokes off but didn't note which size was on which side.

Shorter ones on sprocket side or disk side ?

T.i.a.,

Brian

[qadsan]

The rear wheels uses two different spokes (left & right sides are different), so make sure you're using the correct spoke.

If you're using the correct spoke, then incorrect spoke tension can cause the spokes to break. Too loose of spoke tension can cause the wheel to flex side to side and the spoke will fatigue / break where it exits the hub. If they're aftermarket spokes that are breaking, then I'd compare the length of the spoke elbows with the stock spoke elbows using a dial gauge or digital caliper. The longer the spoke extends out from the hub's flange, the more it will flex under load and the quicker it will fatigue. If you are using aftermarket spokes and they are breaking and you find the elbow length to be longer than stock, you can place a small washer under the heads to take up the space so they don't extend from the hub flange as much.

[BrianVT]

I got all my old rear spokes off but didn't note which size was on which side.

Shorter ones on sprocket side or disk side ?

Bueller ? ... Bueller ?

Jeez, I thought this would be a quick and easy one for you gurus.

[XR4DEZ]

I use the spoke torque wrench to keep things tight. I've seen a number of other guys having the same problem with the stock spokes. I asked PC about it and they claim the stock set up does that no matter what and just keep an eye on it.I haven't broke one for 2 months this go around.