Wisper 905 - rear spoke gorn

[allen-uk]

Coming home, about 10 mph, when per-dang, a rear spoke broke at the rim-end adjuster.

Anyway, stuck it in the car, took it to local bike shop, unfazed as ever, did it by the next day, and wanted me to pay £20 for the job (i.e. stripping rear wheel, making and fitting spoke). I gave him more, of course, but I wonder what reception I would have got down the road at Halfords?

(Oh, the hero is Adrian, and his shop is Broadway Bikes of West Hendon).


Allen.

 

[Mussels]

You may have more to follow, I hope not.

 

[JuicyBike]

Not unusual

This is not unusual Allen, with any hub-motor driven bike. The stresses on spokes are large and it is important to "play" your wheel like a harp occasionally, to check for those which may have stretched (dull sounding).

 

[eddieo]

well done! Adrian @ Broadway Bikes of West Hendon

Congrats to a bike shop not phased by a dreaded and infernal electrified cycling machine

 

[allen-uk]

Point taken about rear spokes in general.

In fact, about 150 miles ago (at 300 mile 1st service), Adrian checked and tightened all the spokes, front and back, and found that nearly every one had become loose. He gave them all a 'ping' yesterday, and couldn't find any more on the way out, but I will keep an eye on it.

I take it that if we 'catch' any before they break, they can be replaced with the wheel in situ, rather than the nasty strip-down and tyres off job this one was.

Allen.

 

[JuicyBike]

It's very rare for a spoke to break; much more likely the thread becomes stripped (perhaps by overtightening), or more likely still the spoke nut becomes loose and falls off, after the spoke has stretched.

To repair should take a bike "geezer" no longer than 30 mins: let air out, peel back tyre and tube, remove the old spoke nut, feed in new spoke and fix new nut. Tighten to a ping or a pong, not a ting or a dung!

Allow 45 mins for bike "dudes". The rest of us should also allow time for a cup of tea, before, during and afterwards!

After thought...
In the case of a first electric bike encounter, advise the repairer to securely attach a metal band to each arm, and ensure that each is grounded to earth via 6mm copper cable. This should reduce suffering from any inevitable electric shock.

 

[z0mb13e]

Having recently rebuilt my rear wheel and taken great care over checking and tensioning the spokes every two weeks for the last few hundred miles and having not heard any pinking sounds for the best part of 500 miles I thought I had seen the last of broken spokes but got another one today

I had to remove the freewheel to fit a new one which is a pain...

The head sheared off at the elbow. I think this is the third one to do that.

Do Panasonic drive bikes suffer broken spokes?

The review of the kalkhoff sahel pro disc has got me wondering.

 

[Rad]

It's very rare for a spoke to break; much more likely the thread becomes stripped (perhaps by overtightening), or more likely still the spoke nut becomes loose and falls off, after the spoke has stretched.

My bike must be the exception to the rule then. I've had no end of rear spokes go at the hub. About half a dozen or so have had to be replaced.
Front one's have gone at the rim as you've described but only a couple.

Luckily, I've also discovered an LBS who's not scared of electric bikes.
Molly's Cycles in Norwich if anyone's interested?

 

[JuicyBike]

What bike Rad?

 

[Rad]

Juicy Bike, it's an Ezee Torq II. Bike shop guy reckons I've just ended up with a Friday afternoon wheel.

 

[flecc]

Do Panasonic drive bikes suffer broken spokes?

I've not known it normally and have no reports into my Panasonic website that it's a specific problem.

However, models with minimally spoked wheels can be a problem. The Pro Connect was initially released with Shimano 24 spoke wheels and they promptly started losing rear wheel spokes. That 24 hole hub gear and wheel was withdrawn by Shimano so only a few bikes were affected, all subsequent Pro Connects having reliable wheels.
.

 

[flecc]

Juicy Bike, it's an Ezee Torq II. Bike shop guy reckons I've just ended up with a Friday afternoon wheel.

The Torq 1 wheels with their powerful SB motor versions did give spoke trouble for many, causing member JamesC to research the problem. Much of what he found will apply to the Torq 2 wheel so his solution is worth checking out.

You'll find it in his highly detailed thread in the Technical section:

Front Wheel Rebuild - Torq 1
.

 

[Rad]

Flecc, the problem wheel is the rear one. LBS guy reckons it'll need a new rim next time.

 

[flecc]

Flecc, the problem wheel is the rear one. LBS guy reckons it'll need a new rim next time.

That is odd, the Torq rear wheel isn't usually a problem.

Why the rim replacement need, I believe you have the usual roller rear brake that's specified on the Torqs?
.

 

[Rad]

That is odd, the Torq rear wheel isn't usually a problem.

Why the rim replacement need, I believe you have the usual roller rear brake that's specified on the Torqs?
.

I can only go by what the mechanic says, Flecc. He informed me that the rim won't take another trueing. And that a new wheel is required. You're correct in your assumption that my Torq has the roller brake. Just out of interest why do you ask?

PS: Apologies to the original poster for somewhat derailing your thread.

 

[tillson]

However, models with minimally spoked wheels can be a problem. The Pro Connect was initially released with Shimano 24 spoke wheels and they promptly started losing rear wheel spokes. That 24 hole hub gear and wheel was withdrawn by Shimano so only a few bikes were affected, all subsequent Pro Connects having reliable wheels.
.

I can confirm that having been the owner of one of the 24 spoke wheels. They were awful and caused a lot of problems. The current wheel, which I now have, transforms the bike in terms of ride quality and reliability.