Wheel help

enoonan

Hello All,
I'm looking for some advice on my back wheel. A few months after buying my road bike the rear wheel (Alex Rims s500 32h) went out of true. So I took it to my LBS and they sorted it out for me and that seemed to last a few weeks.
However now every time I go out it seems to go out of true and its different spokes each time that loosen. The front wheel has never given me any trouble.
Is there anything I can do about this? I'm riding on relatively good roads and avoid most holes etc when possible. I am about 15st weight though and I know that doesn't help. However this is driving me nuts at this stage.
Can it be sorted or should I be investing in a decent set of wheels/stronger rear wheel?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Eoin

Lumen

Alex rims are fine, I think.

For a number of reasons, rear wheels are much more susceptible to going out of true than front ones, but maybe the shop just isn't very good at fixing up wheels.

petethedrummer

These are the ones that come on Giants right? I had these and replaced them cos I was sick of the spokes breaking. "You have a talent for breaking spokes", I was told by the mechanic.

I moved to mavic aksiums and the only problems I have with them are due to my own stupidity.

blorg

The Alex Rims that come with Giants are a nightmare in my experience. Constant spoke breakages and going out of true; a problem I have not had with my multiple other sets of wheels.

This is not necessarily all Alex rims, the ones that came with my Tricross have been absolutely bomb-proof. But the Giant ones very bad. Likely a build quality issue rather than anything inherent in the rim.

After about the third or fourth time they went back in the bike shop I think the mechanic completely retensioned them; they have been absolutely fine since.

Single Malt

OP, you have 2 options.

1, replace wheel. Warranty may be an option.

2. pay good money, get the wheel rebuilt with new spokes (make sure the are double butted, as plain spokes lack elasticity and fatigue faster), using head washers. If the shop does not know what spoke head washers are, then find another shop that has a clue about wheel building. If you upgrade to high end hub, then you can leave washers out of the equation, as the flanges and holes are precise enough to build a good wheel

If its a wheel from a defy, then its 28 spoke, a little light for a cheap wheel. In that case only a rebuild by a skilled builder or new wheel will give permanent remedy (in my experience)

Signal_ rabbit

These came as standard with my Trek 1000, they were a nightmare, always going out of true and breaking spokes, only on the rear wheel though, replaced them inside of six months!

enoonan

Thanks for all the advice lads.

The rims came on my Specialized Allez.

I might try going to a different LBS and getting them to sort it out but I reckon a decent set of wheels might be an option if that doesn't work.
Budget will be limited though. For a guy my size(6'2" & 15st) should I be looking at a 32+h rear wheel or with a decent set of wheels should I get away with less?

Thanks again

E

doozerie

I've never used those wheels/rims but if random spokes keep loosening on a wheel my guess would be that the spoke tension is too low to start with (though it could also be poor quality spokes/nipples/rims too).

As a (poorly thought-out) experiment I once built up a rear MTB wheel and tensioned the spokes less than I normally would. They were still reasonably taut but a few notches less than usual. 12 miles of on-road riding later and I just about made it home before the entire wheel fell apart from all of the spokes working their way loose. I've never encountered bunches of spokes coming loose other than this one time.

I'd look for a bike shop that has a wheel builder with a good reputation, if you can find one locally, and ask them to look at the wheel. Or do it yourself if you have the confidence (working on wheels is quite straight forward, despite the aura of mystery and magic that tends to surround it).

Lumen

enoonan wrote: »

For a guy my size(6'2" & 15st) should I be looking at a 32+h rear wheel or with a decent set of wheels should I get away with less?

There is no right answer to this. All things being equal more spokes will produce a stronger, stiffer wheel...but it depends on a lot of things - some 32h wheels will need more regular truing than some 24h ones.

cython

Signal_ rabbit wrote: »

These came as standard with my Trek 1000, they were a nightmare, always going out of true and breaking spokes, only on the rear wheel though, replaced them inside of six months!

+1

I picked up a Trek 1000 second hand last year, but only really started using it back in January, and I've had 4 spokes break since then. It was March before the first one went, but given that I wouldn't be putting up massive mileage, they've been frequent enough. I have a set of Aksiums to go onto it now, once I get tyres and a cassette, and then will use them for long spins, but keeping the alexrims for short hops around town. In case some toerag decides to have a go while I have it locked up, I'd prefer they only get a shot at those wheels.

enoonan

Thanks again for all the advice and help guys.

I am dropping the bike into a different LBS in the morning and will get them to sort out the wheel but I think I am going to pick up a new set of wheels.

Any idea if I would pick up something decent for about €200-250? Really on a budget at the moment.

Thanks again

Eoin

blorg

Yes, you would easily pick up something decent for that money.

Mavic Aksium
Fulcrum Racing 5

enoonan

Finally got my back wheel sorted. Thanks again to Joe and the lads in The Bike Shop in Limerick.

E