You'd think that three bikes would be enough, but it appears not. I went out for a ride on Tusday night on my FCR. result, two broken spokes in the rear wheel AGAIN...so its now in for a rebuild with double butted ones. The I noticed that my Cresswell folder also had a broken spoke in the rear wheel, and that one was only rebuilt a few months back. So now that needs a new spoke, but at least with a 16" wheel the rim hasn't gone out of true. I don't think that at 13.5 stone and 6 feet tall I could be considered a fat bloke on a bike, so whats going on? In the interim I've been restoring my Cheltenahm Pedersen, and it was only yesterday I discovered that a 26 x 1 1/4 tyre is a very different beast from a 26 x 1 3/8, which won't fit the rims........ Dare I take out the Moulton or is something terrible going to happen to that :-(
I don't think that at 13.5 stone and 6 feet tall I could be considered a fat bloke on a bike, so whats going on?
Simple. Whoever is building the wheels for you is doing a [censored] job. I weight more than you and am taller than you and don't break any spokes because I build the wheels myself and do it properly. Have a look at Sheldon Brown's wheelbuilding guide and do it yourself if you can't find a decent wheelbuilder.
-- Tony
"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)
On a similar note, do you use any grease on the nipples or just screw 'em onto the spokes. I was tempted, a bit of copper slip I thought, but I bottled it in the end.
Not grease but light oil on the spoke threads and in the rim eyelets to lubricate where the nipples sit. I use a small paint brush to apply it.
-- Tony
"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)
I used copper slip type grease on my spoke nipples (threads and seats). If the spokes have the proper tension, the nipples won't unscrew by themselves, and it's rather nice not to have corrosion get in there and either seize the thread or cause breakage.
