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fastercyclist
Joined: 23 Oct 2009
Posts: 15
Location: East Devon
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 Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:02 pm |
Just checked my back wheel and one spoke is loose. Advice?
Planet X bike (sl carbon/ultegra), 7 weeks old!!!
I'm 73 KG so no fat bastard. Really confused about how this happened. It's still on the wheel edge but does not connect to the centre any more. Can't "shove" it back in, seems to be that the metal bit had a clean cut with it's connector to the hub.
I've only been cycling 2 1/2 months so I only average 17/18mph around Devon so I don't think it's outright abuse that caused this?
Is there a real danger of deforming the wheel if I carry on riding?
"normal" wheels so loads of spokes on it. Just checked my order form - it's a Modal B wheelset.
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Geoff_SS
Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 1045
Location: Derbyshire UK
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:10 pm |
Obviously it needs tightening but is the wheel still true? If so, that spoke wasn't doing any work before it came loose so the wheel needs a good going over.
If the bike's only 7 weeks old then I would assume the shop should offer a free service to check the bike over after it's settled down with a bit of use. Rather like a new car's 500 mile service.
Geoff
Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster |
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amaferanga
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1346
Location: Sheffield
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:24 pm |
if its not connected at the centre anymore (the hub) then presumably the spoke is broken and needs replaced?
Spokes break from time to time, just a fact of life.
More problems but still living.... |
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fastercyclist
Joined: 23 Oct 2009
Posts: 15
Location: East Devon
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:24 pm |
| Geoff_SS wrote: | Obviously it needs tightening but is the wheel still true? If so, that spoke wasn't doing any work before it came loose so the wheel needs a good going over.
If the bike's only 7 weeks old then I would assume the shop should offer a free service to check the bike over after it's settled down with a bit of use. Rather like a new car's 500 mile service.
Geoff |
Sorry I didn't mean it rattled about, I mean it isn't attached to the hub at all and it cant be placed back in because the metal connection is broken.
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Jamey
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 1582
Location: Croydon, UK
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:25 pm |
Your spoke has broken at the elbow - which is the most common place for a spoke to break if it's been subjected to excessive stressing/destressing cycles.
This doesn't happen because one spoke was fitted incorrectly, it only happens because a spoke gradually worked loose due to the whole wheel having uneven spoke tension.
For several tens of miles before that spoke broke it was a lot looser than all of the others, which will have created even more uneven spoke tension in your wheel so now there will be other spokes that are also beginning to loosen themselves.
You should not ride the bike for any distance and you should get the entire wheel rebuilt and properly tensioned/trued.
Broken spokes are not a problem in themselves, they are almost always a symptom of a bigger problem - a wheel that has been poorly built.
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Stealth commuter |
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amaferanga
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1346
Location: Sheffield
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:34 pm |
For a single spoke breakage I'd be tempted just to replace it and get the wheel trued. If more spokes break soon then it's time for a complete rebuild.
More problems but still living.... |
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Jamey
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 1582
Location: Croydon, UK
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:41 pm |
I disagree. On a brand new bike a single spoke breakage is pointing to a poor build of the wheel and needs looking at properly.
Please take a look at my photography by clicking here.
Stealth commuter |
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amaferanga
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1346
Location: Sheffield
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:52 pm |
You're probably right, but I'd still replace the one spoke and see what happens before spending significantly more on a complete rebuild. If you build your own wheels then you can often pick up spokes pretty cheaply online, but my LBS charge 75p each for DB spokes so for a 32 hole rim spokes alone would come to £24!
More problems but still living.... |
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Jamey
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 1582
Location: Croydon, UK
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 1:00 pm |
They don't need to buy new spokes to rebuild it. And to be honest they don't need to re-lace it either. It just wants slackening off completely and retensioning from scratch, I'd say.
75p for spokes from a bricks-and-mortar shop isn't too bad, depending on which ones they are.
Please take a look at my photography by clicking here.
Stealth commuter |
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oldnslowcp
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
Posts: 66
Location: Ireland
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Posted Thu Nov 5, 2009 1:09 pm |
Ring or e-mail Planet X, they'll ask you to return the wheel and they will sort it out and then refund your postage.
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Gav2000
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 294
Location: Northampton
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Posted Fri Nov 6, 2009 1:42 pm |
Those Planet X wheels have flat profile spokes, mine do anyway. I'm not sure where you'd get matching spokes from other than via Planet X.
I'd be interested to know how your resolve this as no spokes have broken in my wheels yet but I'd like to know where to get matching spokes from in case they do.
Gav.
Gav2000
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him ever'where you go. |
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fastercyclist
Joined: 23 Oct 2009
Posts: 15
Location: East Devon
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Posted Fri Nov 6, 2009 3:37 pm |
I emailed them and got a copy of a forwarded email (internal) instructing someone to tell me about returns proceedure. Just waiting for them now, bit annoying as the only other bike I've got is a giant (rincon) mountain bike. Looks like a week of hill repeats to keep up fitness...joy. 
Just hoping they don't try to fob me off to a LBS to get it done there instead.
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fastercyclist
Joined: 23 Oct 2009
Posts: 15
Location: East Devon
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 11:23 am |
Well here's an update, I emailed planet X on Thursday and they said they would inform me of returns procedure soon. Nothing by Monday so I just rang them now they've decided that spokes break as wear and tear on a 7 week old bike (funny how that never happened for many years on either of my previous mountain bikes ?!) and are sending me a spoke as a "good will" gesture.
Personally I'd of thought the good will gesture would of been taking back what appears to be a faulty product and fixing it rather then leaving me with the bill to get their wheel sorted. It's not even a third-party wheel, it's their own one they packaged with a bike which is really annoying me.
I'm not going to personally use Planet X again, simply because they provided me with something that broke in less then 2 months. If their products break as "wear and tear" so quickly then I don't want another item off of them.
Very disappointed. The cost of fixing my wheel was a lot less then I would of spent with them afterwards on equipment I've got my eyes on like some aerobars. Planet X's loss however.
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amaferanga
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1346
Location: Sheffield
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ride_whenever
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 8281
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 12:04 pm |
| Jamey wrote: | They don't need to buy new spokes to rebuild it. And to be honest they don't need to re-lace it either. It just wants slackening off completely and retensioning from scratch, I'd say.
75p for spokes from a bricks-and-mortar shop isn't too bad, depending on which ones they are. |
exactly what to do
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456!
silly little bike |
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Geoff_SS
Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 1045
Location: Derbyshire UK
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fastercyclist
Joined: 23 Oct 2009
Posts: 15
Location: East Devon
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 3:36 pm |
| amaferanga wrote: | To be fair, 7 weeks for some people could equate to over 2000 miles. Would you expect planet X to fix the spoke after you've done 2000 miles or maybe 3000 miles? It may have been down to a sub standard build or you might have bumped through a few too many pot holes (something folk that are new to light weight road bikes often do - not saying you did  ) |
I paid £1300 for a bike and in 7 weeks there's an issue with the wheel. Whilst the Planet X guys probably think they're being nice by sending me a spoke - I think they're failing to see the other side of the problem. A wheel with that is branded by them, was put together on a bike branded by them, sold directly by them to a customer and in 7 weeks it has a fault. I fail to understand how that can be construed as wear and tear - it should not be normal for a product to literally break in 7 weeks of use, by someone who has only been cycling about 2 1/2 months. I'm hardly Lance Armstrong. It's a carbon bike so I'm petrified of pot holes and as I like the bike itself I'm very careful around them.
Thanks for the advice guys, I'll just take the wheel along to a LBS with the spoke and ask them to repair it in front of me so I can see how to do it. For the record, I don't think they're bad people at Planet X - only that they're in a bit of a bubble about customer expectations on big purchases.
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amaferanga
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1346
Location: Sheffield
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 3:57 pm |
I suspect that if PX had a shop at the bottom of your street and you took the bike in they'd replace it cos it'd only take a minute, but expecting them to pay to have a wheel couriered back every time someone pops a spoke isn't a realistic expectation imo. If they did that then I suspect the prices would have to go up.
More problems but still living.... |
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Gav2000
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 294
Location: Northampton
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 4:02 pm |
You should ask them for a few spokes to keep you going! I've never had just 1 spoke break, once a spoke goes I am now quite certain that more will start to go. It's not hard to replace a spoke but if it's on the cassette side of the rear wheel (which it always seem to be for me) it is a faff to take the cassette off to replace it. After the 5th spoke on a wheel last winter I had to resort to a full rebuild!
Gav.
Gav2000
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whizzin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him ever'where you go. |
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