BROKEN SPOKES?

steve mercier

steve mercier

Well-Known Member
BROKEN SPOKES ; informal survey. If you have broken any spokes on your ebike let me know ; I have broken 3 spokes on the rear wheel of my rear hub type 500 watt bike. I broke one over a speed bump and one over a curb . The first one broke seemingly randomly. Each time I had the spoke replaced and the wheel tuned. Now I dont ride that bike much anymore. Anybody else with a rear hub bike that has broken spokes?
 
steve mercier said:
BROKEN SPOKES ; informal survey. If you have broken any spokes on your ebike let me know ; I have broken 3 spokes on the rear wheel of my rear hub type 500 watt bike. I broke one over a speed bump and one over a curb . The first one broke seemingly randomly. Each time I had the spoke replaced and the wheel tuned. Now I dont ride that bike much anymore. Anybody else with a rear hub bike that has broken spokes?
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I've broken many spokes on my conventional MTB's . I have one hub drive ebike with spokes and so far, no problems. The other two are equipped with mag wheels to avoid spoke problems.

Due to my weight (260), I was advised long ago to stick with wheels that use a 36 spoke format. Once I got rid of my older 34 spoke wheels, the problem disappeared. In some cases, switching to heavier gauge spokes can help.
 
This rather large 315 lb. rider hasn't broken any spokes on his hub drive bikes either.
 
I've broken probably 7 or 8 rear spokes this year; I attribute this to a poorly rebuilt rear wheel after an accident wrecked the original. It's still rideable, but over the winter I am having a new rear wheel made by a specialty wheel builder, which I expect will solve the problem. A well-constructed wheel is very strong and durable.

Edit: 2016 Specialized Turbo X
 
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steve mercier said:
BROKEN SPOKES ; informal survey. If you have broken any spokes on your ebike let me know ; I have broken 3 spokes on the rear wheel of my rear hub type 500 watt bike. I broke one over a speed bump and one over a curb . The first one broke seemingly randomly. Each time I had the spoke replaced and the wheel tuned. Now I dont ride that bike much anymore. Anybody else with a rear hub bike that has broken spokes?
Click to expand...
What's the make of that bike?
 
I was worried enough about spoke breakage when I bought my Crosscurrent S last year that I bought extra spokes to carry with me. There had been several reports of broken spokes on the Juiced Bikes subforum, and I'm a heavy guy, so it seemed prudent. Then they switched to Sapim spokes and the problem went away. Zero breakage for me.
 
Bruce Arnold said:
Then they switched to Sapim spokes and the problem went away.
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It seems to me that perhaps broken spokes problem with ebikes is caused by a bike being under-built for the stresses to be put on the bike? @JRA 's experience is telling here, on what he sees is needed in doing builds. If an ebike maker has a bike that is prone to spoke problems, perhaps they need to up their game, and use higher quality components?
 
ebikemom said:
It seems to me that perhaps broken spokes problem with ebikes is caused by a bike being under-built for the stresses to be put on the bike? @JRA 's experience is telling here, on what he sees is needed in doing builds. If an ebike maker has a bike that is prone to spoke problems, perhaps they need to up their game, and use higher quality components?
Click to expand...
They used to use 12 gauge spokes. They determined that the spokes weren't seating well in the hub flange. 13 ga. Sapim spokes fixed the problem. Sometimes less is more.
 
Yes, I've read that from a few sources. Bigger spokes can be the problem, sometimes more so than the cure.

Agree as well, some manf's could easily improve their game when it comes to spokes (Rad for instance).
 
I haven't had a spoke break on an ebike, it looks like the manufacturers are using larger and better spokes (36/12ga) and rims to compensate for the increased torque and weight. I had lots of spoke and rim issues when I was competing in MTN biking, every race I would have loose or broken spokes or a cracked rim.
 
LewSchiller said:
Thanks. Always good to know when somebody says they don't ride one of their bikes much any longer.
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I put 3500 km on it and it had a few great qualities like 17ah twin batteries and it was really powerful up any hill at full speed. Those are the good points. Everything else about it is not so good..Spokes break, frame flexes , chain keeps falling off ( even after replacement ) ,weighs too much at 65 lb. The cadence six sensor system is very crude ,causing dangerous forward lunging ( like when you pass thru a trail gate chicane ) making it so you need to cover the brakes at all time to be ready to shut off the motor quickly. Tracks so poorly you always need both hands on the grips anyway or the front end will wobble out of control. Stock tires were junk too. Basically Court nailed it in his review at the time, but it was my first foray into Ebikes and I got it super cheap.
 
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If you are riding on a well-made wheel using modern steel spokes and aren't riding down flights of stairs every day breaking a spoke should be vanishingly rare. Last time I broke a spoke was in the late 90's when I was riding an inexpensive ($325) no-name mountain bike I bought at a big-box sporting goods store. I'd break a spoke on that beast about every three days.

Usually a wheel will give you a lot of warning before a spoke will actually break (although not if you are riding down staircases). It is a good idea to check your wheels every few days, spinning them to see if they are wobbling (although you can usually tell if there is a wobble, and a wobble is a very bad sign). You can feel the spokes and it is pretty easy to identify if any spokes are loose and a little more difficult to tell if one is too tight. If you detect loose spokes or a too-tight spoke take the bike to your bike shop and have them true the wheels.

If you weigh more than about 200lbs or if you ride hard or bumpy have your bike shop check your wheels frequently.

Sometimes if you bend or twist the rim you can't really fix it and if you try to ride on it you will break spokes with great efficiency.

Rivendell Bikes has a great discussion on spokes.

One thing this thread brings to mind is that it is much easier and much less expensive to replace wheels on a mid-drive bike than a hub drive. This is a bummer for two reasons: one is that if you bend or twist your rear wheel it might well be cheaper to replace your bike, and the other is that putting lighter, better-quality wheels on your bike can make a dramatic difference both in how far and how fast you can ride and also they are more fun.

Oh, and carry a fiberfix spoke
 
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eBikes generate forces in both directions that ordinary bikes do not. Rad tries to overcome this with rather heavy 12ga spokes, but it is the responsibility of the owner to keep the spokes tightened, again...much more than an ordinary bike.
 
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