Is it my fault?

[Wisper Bikes]

Sub standard parts

Hi Mussels

Sorry to see you are having problems. Please would you contact Doug doug@wisperbike.com and he will help you sort them out. We would be interested to hear which components your friend considers sub standard, we do try and use good solid well tried brands but if your are experiencing problems we would be grateful for your input.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards David

 

[Mussels]

Hi Mussels

Sorry to see you are having problems. Please would you contact Doug doug@wisperbike.com and he will help you sort them out. We would be interested to hear which components your friend considers sub standard, we do try and use good solid well tried brands but if your are experiencing problems we would be grateful for your input.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards David

Thanks for that. I think he was talking about the spokes being too fragile but at 13g I would think they are stronger than most, I will let Doug know if it happens again but for now it is just one of those things that can break. I've been over to TETS today and they have been most helpful, I have spare spokes now and advice on how to obtain more if needed.
I'll let Doug know about the rack, it doesn't need replacing but it may be useful to keep track of.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Spokes

Hi Mussels

The spokes can be a little fragile but that is mainly because we are using stainless steel which tends to be a little more brittle than standard spokes but will never rust think that judging by the very few problems we hear about concerning spokes it is a price worth paying.

I would be interested to hear your views on this.

Best regards David

 

[Saddlesore]

I've been using self sealing slime filled inner tubes for years and have found them to be a boon - admittedly on my Raleigh Pioneer Hybrid bike - I don't know whats tubes are inside my Forza tyres but they are the standard tyres supplied.

I once had a series of punctures and replaced the self sealing tube with standard tubes and blew 2 tubes within half an hour. Judicious inspection of the tyre finally revealed a tiny thorn which was removed and I put the old self sealer tube back in ( It must have previously deflated half a dozen times because of the thorn as I was merely pumping the tyre back up each time the tyre went flat and the thorn must have been penetrating the tube on each occasion) and I'm still running around with this tube in my back tyre and it still maintains good pressure - so I am a fan.

 

[Mussels]

Hi Mussels

The spokes can be a little fragile but that is mainly because we are using stainless steel which tends to be a little more brittle than standard spokes but will never rust think that judging by the very few problems we hear about concerning spokes it is a price worth paying.

I would be interested to hear your views on this.

Best regards David

I'd rather have stainless steel, I hate seized threads when I'm trying to service something. The spokes were quite easy to do and now I have some spares it's not a problem if they break occasionally. It's a 10 minute roadside repair even, that's good.
I had a call from Doug this afternoon and he came round to check the brakes, he was quite sure someone had deliberately damaged the rack.
Note for anyone getting a spoke wrench for a 905 - it's a rare size and probably has to be ordered, it is unlikely to be in a multitool. 13 guage is the right size for the back wheel.

 

[JohnInStockie]

.... he was quite sure someone had deliberately damaged the rack.

I must admit, I carry much more than that, about 10 - 15 Kg each way for nigh on 2 years , I have no marks at all anywhere on my rack.

 

[wisper new milton]

Common cycle issues

Hi Andrew, With regard to the rear rack I saw when I called on you yesterday, it was absolutely and definitely purposely bent. I couldnt even bend it straight with my full 19 stones! Someone has done this when you have parked it somewhere.

The spoke coming loose, unfortunately not uncommon in many bikes nowadays due to the poor state of the roads. I understand that It did not break but unscrewed.

I have mentioned this to many cycle shops and they say to me that the new materials and double skinned wheels which are dynamic, need more looking after and the fact that they have dozens of ordinary cycles in every week to have this sorted, to their minds proves this.

Another point they make is that the pollution in towns with dirt, grease fumes, diesel etc etc, neccesitates the de-greasing of disk and wheels where the calipers touch, at least twice a week! Without this the efficiency is grealy reduced.

The wheels and spokes on the 905se are of the highest quality and it is important to check the tightness of the spokes on all modern bikes after a week or so, exactly the same as on an electric bike which is heavier.

I hope that this answers some of your questions, but you have my number, just in case.

best regards Doug

 

[JohnInStockie]

Another point they make is that the pollution in towns with dirt, grease fumes, diesel etc etc, neccesitates the de-greasing of disk and wheels where the calipers touch, at least twice a week! Without this the efficiency is grealy reduced.

The wheels and spokes on the 905se are of the highest quality and it is important to check the tightness of the spokes on all modern bikes after a week or so, exactly the same as on an electric bike which is heavier.

I hope that this answers some of your questions, but you have my number, just in case.

best regards Doug

You are surely joking Doug, twice a week!!!! I'll just buy a car mate ?? (or a Ezee, Kalkhoff, Sparta)

John

 

[sopht]

tyres are puzzling

..to me

I had Continentals which started to wear after great service and I replaced these with the first recommendation from a shop, some Specialized ex nimbus.

I subsequently had 6 months of almost weekly punctures. I kept checking web reviews of these tyres and most reported excellent wear and puncture resistance, so I assumed it was bad luck, even though I thought the rubber was soft and sucking up glass.

Well I've replaced these now with Continentals again, and NO punctures

Are some tyres just dud batches?

 

[flecc]

Tyre materials vary with the type of resistance they have, so local conditions and risks can produce variable results. I also found the Continentals good in a high puncture risk area. (thorns and broken glass)
.

 

[sopht]

The plastic tape has a central filling of a small amount of slime. The plastic is far too soft to resist penetration, but the slime is supposed to ooze and seal the puncture. I think their worst product to date, and that's really saying something, given the failure rates of the others.
.

Which product is this Flecc? I can't find it.

When I put the new conti's in, I'd got so fed up with punctures I also put a slime tyre liner in at the rear. I assumed this must have slime in, but it doesn't - just a polyurethane strip. So far it hasn't been tested as nothing has got through the tyres, but hasn't caused any probs either.

 

[flecc]

I'd already answered this above Sopht. The extra touch of slime oozing was apparent when I did the drawing pin tests, so I concluded that it wasn't just a solid band but had some chambering from that, I didn't investigate further, just throwing it away. As said in this post, the plastic is too soft to stop anything sharp like a nail, pin or thorn, so if it's only depending on the resistance, it's useless. Anytime you have a liner band out, test it with a pin or similar and you'll see what I mean. With a bike and rider weight rolling over something sharp, it would go straight through, unlike the much better kevlar bands which are tough. Here's the post from above:

Slime band
.

 

[john]

I'd already answered this above Sopht. The extra touch of slime oozing was apparent when I did the drawing pin tests, so I concluded that it wasn't just a solid band but had some chambering from that, I didn't investigate further, just throwing it away. As said in this post, the plastic is too soft to stop anything sharp like a nail, pin or thorn, so if it's only depending on the resistance, it's useless. Anytime you have a liner band out, test it with a pin or similar and you'll see what I mean. With a bike and rider weight rolling over something sharp, it would go straight through, unlike the much better kevlar bands which are tough. Here's the post from above:

Slime band
.

I'm not sure what you tested but I have been using Slime Liners for some time and they do seem to be effective. I tested them with a sharp knife when I first got them and they certainly put up some resistance, deflecting but not breaking. I am pretty sure that there is no fluid in these.

 

[flecc]

It was a Slime product bought from Halfords just to try it. I could have been mistaken on thinking it oozed as the start section I tried was very slimy. A knife would meet more resistance of course, but seeing how soft the plastic was prompted me to test it first. The ease with which a drawing pin went through repeatedly with finger pressure means there's no useful protection against nails or thorns when a bike and rider's weight rolls over them, so useless for me. I didn't even bother to unroll it any more before binning it.

Kevlar bands are very much better than that for penetration resistance, so to me the Slime one is pointless.
.

 

[Mussels]

Another three broken spokes today, all my spares are gone.
Thankfully I've been reading and now know how to make a workable short spoke from a longer one. If I can find the tool that does it nicely then I can stop worrying about finding the parts.
Another puncture as well, it appears that Halfords patches are prone to a little bursting. Is this normal and is there such a thing as rubbish tyre patches - apart from self gluing ones?

 

[flecc]

Patch quality does vary, and I prefer the thin chamfered edge types. However, if the solution is applied to both patch and tube, allowed to dry fully before applying the patch, bursting shouldn't happen.

As you say, the self seal ones are rubbish, possibly just good enough for a temporary repair, but I don't see the point in that, doing the job twice.
.

 

[JamesC]

I have been riding 40 miles a day on my Wisper for the last 7 days. In those 7 days I have had:
2 punctures caused by Slime puncture preventers.
1 sheared valve caused by low pressure due to above.
1 broken spoke caused by big pothole I didn't see.
1 failed rear tyre, the bead has split from the sidewall.
2 blowouts, 1 due to tyre split and other 200 yards later as my temporary boot failed.
So I have got through 2 inner tubes, 1 tyre and several patches.

Thing is, is it something under my control or am I just unlucky?

Hi Mussels
Sorry that I have not followed your thread very closely, and sorry to hear that you lost another 3 spokes today.

My experience has been with a Torq 1 which uses a similar motor to the Wisper, albeit the motor being in the back wheel on the Wisper and the front wheel on the Torq.

Have all of your problems regarding punctures, split tyre walls and broken spokes been on the rear wheel of your Wisper ?

If so, one thing to think about is the throttle "return action" when the rear brakes are applied.

(I can't recall whether the Wisper has cut-out switches on the brake levers to kill the power to the motor when you pull on the brake lever).

I went through quite a few 13g spokes on the front wheel of my Torq, all breaking at the bend where they attach to the flange of the motor.

If the power to the motor is slow to die away when the brakes are applied to that wheel, it can put extra tension in the pulling spoke which then puts extra flexing in the pushing spoke where they cross.

Before I go on, can you confirm that the problems occur in the back wheel, and say where the spokes break ?

James

 

[Mussels]

Before I go on, can you confirm that the problems occur in the back wheel, and say where the spokes break ?

James

All the broken spokes were in the back wheel, the motor seems to cut out quickly when I apply the brakes but I haven't done any conscious timing.
There is a lot of stress at the back as I have occasional 1 in 4 hills to go up and with my 15 stones, my peddling hard and the motor action there would be a lot of strain on the spokes. Odd thing is that they seemed OK when I got to work but when I left to go home there were 2 broken ones, as if they had broken when cooling down. It may just be that I didn't notice on the way in.
What happened with yours?

 

[Mussels]

The spoke coming loose, unfortunately not uncommon in many bikes nowadays due to the poor state of the roads. I understand that It did not break but unscrewed.

They all broke near the hub, I haven't had any come loose.

 

[JamesC]

All the broken spokes were in the back wheel, the motor seems to cut out quickly when I apply the brakes but I haven't done any conscius timing.
There is a lot of stress at the back as I have occasional 1 in 4 hills to go up and with my 15 stones, my peddling hard and the motor action there would be a lot of strain on the spokes. Odd thing is that they seemed OK when I got to work but when I left to go home there were 2 broken ones, as if they had broken when cooling down. It may just be that I didn't notice on the way in.
What happened with yours?

At least 2 of my broken spokes occurred when the bike was static in the garage - one of them I heard, including the knuckle end flying across the garage.

Like you, I blamed the first broken spoke on a bad pothole, but then satisfied myself that all 36 spokes had become weakened by fatigue at the elbow into the motor, because I started losing one or two every 50 miles.

In my case, the bike had done about 1200 miles before the spokes started to give trouble, but it was a relief to decide that they should all be replaced and the wheel rebuilt with new spokes.


So, is the break point of the spokes at the motor end or the threaded end near the rim ?

James

PS Just seen your post confirming they break ay the motor end.