Best Day!

[Barkme Wolf]

Had to take my RadWagon into Rad Power because my battery mount was slipping. Getting it back today and from what they say, they have done me R-I-G-H-T! I think they are hooking me up with new spokes and a tune up along with the battery fix. My spokes were trashed after 2,800 miles in the first 6 months. At a unbelievable value- compared to how much I thought I would end up spending. I might be back up and ready for a ride to work on Monday morning........and it's going to snow. (SAD FACE)
THANKS RAD POWER PEEPS!

 

[Lost]

Had to take my RadWagon into Rad Power because my battery mount was slipping. Getting it back today and from what they say, they have done me R-I-G-H-T! I think they are hooking me up with new spokes and a tune up along with the battery fix. My spokes were trashed after 2,800 miles in the first 6 months. At a unbelievable value- compared to how much I thought I would end up spending. I might be back up and ready for a ride to work on Monday morning........and it's going to snow. (SAD FACE)
THANKS RAD POWER PEEPS!

Excuse my ignorance, but how do spokes get trashed?
Awesome customer service from these folks. They took care of my issue right after getting my bike out of the box, and then some!
Bravo Zulu.

 

[windmill]

Issues with spokes are from then not being tensioned correctly initially, and/or retensioned within 50 to 150 miles. I narrowly avoided the same problem because I caught it in time.
No matter what brand bike, factory fresh wheels out of the box are not road ready. Typically bike shops true and tension wheels as part of new bike setup.

 

[Barkme Wolf]

I had mine trued after 150 but they still busted out. I need to learn how to tune them myself and I would get more distance with them. In 2,800 I has them trued twice but lost about 7 spokes to breakage and several bent. 40 miles daily with some hard hills. I do it in assist 2, 3 on the hills.

 

[windmill]

I had mine trued after 150 but they still busted out. I need to learn how to tune them myself and I would get more distance with them. In 2,800 I has them trued twice but lost about 7 spokes to breakage and several bent. 40 miles daily with some hard hills. I do it in assist 2, 3 on the hills.

If your wheels were like mine, tensioning them at 150 miles was over 100 miles too late. The spokes that broke were likely the ones bearing most of the load when it was loose, once they're replaced the wheels should stabilize and give you little if any trouble.

Its not hard to maintain wheels, lots of tutorials available on-line with a search, and the best way to learn is to "just do it".

 

[Barkme Wolf]

100 to 150 was a single day of travel. I will get a tool and watch some instruction.

 

[windmill]

That definitely would have been a problem for wheels that likely did not received their initial truing and tensioning during the bikes setup.

 

[Barkme Wolf]

I took the bike into a LBS right after I got it and had it set up right. Rode 120-150 miles got both tires trued. Spokes started breaking at about 1000 miles. Except for tire upgrades I didn't have much else done to the wheels. Have had to replace a few of the cables though. 40 mile daily commute 180 lbs max including rider.

 

[windmill]

That's good to know, I have some ugly hills, but only a little over 16 miles RT, at 220 lbs + cargo I will keep a close eye on my spokes.

 

[RyanConway]

IMO it's well worth it to replace the spokes all together. The stock ones are crap. You can get Sapim Strong spokes from thor for less than $50 a wheel. They are stronger, lighter and more forgiving to less than perfect tensioning-

http://www.thorusa.com/accessories/product10.htm

Only .80c each.

 

[Marc V]

IMO it's well worth it to replace the spokes all together. The stock ones are crap. You can get Sapim Strong spokes from thor for less than $50 a wheel. They are stronger, lighter and more forgiving to less than perfect tensioning-

http://www.thorusa.com/accessories/product10.htm

Only .80c each.

lol I just watched the youtube video on that link with the guy testing a bicycle wheel on a toyota corrolla! Crazy! haha

 

[Barkme Wolf]

IMO it's well worth it to replace the spokes all together. The stock ones are crap. You can get Sapim Strong spokes from thor for less than $50 a wheel. They are stronger, lighter and more forgiving to less than perfect tensioning-

http://www.thorusa.com/accessories/product10.htm

Only .80c each.

Need 12 gauge. 2.5mm-

 

[RyanConway]

There is no need for 12ga, even the nutz over at endless sphere are running butted 14ga spokes- One member there has a bike that completes the standing 1/4mile in 11.5 secs @ 110mph and he is one of the main advocates for not going to the bigger spokes unless you are going to moped rims and tires. The stock RW rims work just fine with the smaller nipples, the heads are still plenty big to fit in there. I have around 1000mi on the sapim strongs on my bike with the stock rims. I do plan to replace those rims soonish though, I ran solid airless tires for a while and they took a beating.

The rational that I read is that bike rims aren't generally strong enough to properly tension 12ga spokes anyway, so you would taco the rim before the spokes are actually correctly tensioned. I don't have as much experience as those ES guys, but I can tell you this for sure, the sapim 'strong' is MUCH harder to cut than the stock RW 12ga spokes.

 

[Barkme Wolf]

There is no need for 12ga, even the nutz over at endless sphere are running butted 14ga spokes- One member there has a bike that completes the standing 1/4mile in 11.5 secs @ 110mph and he is one of the main advocates for not going to the bigger spokes unless you are going to moped rims and tires. The stock RW rims work just fine with the smaller nipples, the heads are still plenty big to fit in there. I have around 1000mi on the sapim strongs on my bike with the stock rims. I do plan to replace those rims soonish though, I ran solid airless tires for a while and they took a beating.

The rational that I read is that bike rims aren't generally strong enough to properly tension 12ga spokes anyway, so you would taco the rim before the spokes are actually correctly tensioned. I don't have as much experience as those ES guys, but I can tell you this for sure, the Sapim 'strong' is MUCH harder to cut than the stock RW 12ga spokes.

Yes. I have been trying to find Sapim Strong in 12 g for a few months now. I have found a wheel builder in the area but he has the phone etiquette of an angry 12 year old so I will have to take the bike in and see what they say about the gauge difference. The shop has rave reviews so I assume they will do it right.

 

[Barkme Wolf]

Looks like Rad Power only replaced 3 of the 36 spokes they originally said they would replace. They trued the wheel (even though some on the spokes are still bent) and gave it a tune up. I figure this will give me a little time to figure out my next move.

 

[RyanConway]

Yeah I don't know about Seattle but I would guess it's the same as Denver in that a lot of bike shops are pretty snobbish about ebikes. One guy referred me to the moped shop down the street!

I decided to buy a cheap truing stand on ebay and give it a shot myself. Building the wheel is actually pretty easy, truing it is the harder part- but even getting it pretty True was not that hard and with disc brakes, double wall rims and spokes made for DH there is a lot of wiggle room. Maybe my first wheels won't last forever, but I've already got 1000+ miles on the back one and probably 600 on the front with no signs of trouble.