New City Commuter Motor/Rear wheel assembly issues

[Mike P]

I posted a few months ago about getting a new motor/rear wheel for my City Commuter directly from Pedego. Motor has been fine. Unfortunately, recently brought the bike to a new LBS for brake tightening and they found 2 broken spokes and 3 others cracked. Spoke with Pedego and they were great. Said they would pay for all repairs and discuss at upper management meeting to see if this is common. I asked LBS to find higher quality spokes and nipples to prevent this again. They couldn't find any that they felt would work well. So they are putting on new 12 gauge spokes and nipples similar to the original. Anyone know of an upgrade spoke/nipples that would work on my 5 year old city commuter? Thanks.

 

[Nova Haibike]

In my opinion, using thick straight gauge spokes is not the best way to build a long lasting wheel. While in theory more metal is better, butted spokes works better. A butted spoke is more elastic, which helps prevent fatigue at the elbow, which is where a spoke typically breaks. So I would recommend using either DT Swiss Alpine or Sapim Strong spokes.

 

[Mike P]

In my opinion, using thick straight gauge spokes is not the best way to build a long lasting wheel. While in theory more metal is better, butted spokes works better. A butted spoke is more elastic, which helps prevent fatigue at the elbow, which is where a spoke typically breaks. So I would recommend using either DT Swiss Alpine or Sapim Strong spokes.

Nova,
Thanks for the info. I'll definitely look into this.