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Old April 13th 18, 05:54 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Joerg[_2_]
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Posts: 6,016
Default Desperate needs = desperate but workable solution

On 2018-04-12 16:57, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 1:16:55 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-04-12 12:51, jbeattie wrote:


[...]


I bought some cheap Vuelta disc wheels from my commuter bike
expecting them to die in a month or two -- but no, they're
really tough. The QR is ****, so throw that away, and for some
reason, the axle ends don't bite into my rear dropout, so the
wheel can shift, which is a little odd but probably peculiar to
my bike. So far, the wheel has been a great value. Standard
J-bend spokes and replaceable cartridge bearings, so it is
reparable.


14 gauge spokes don't instill much confidence, I have 12 gauge
right now and even those sometimes pop. However, since you said
it's all sturdy I assume it would be ok for me. Bearings last a
while for me. What doesn't last is the freehub where I need to swap
in a new one every 10k miles or so. Assuming it's the usual 10mm
Allen deal where it can be replaced. I had a Formula hub where the
freehub wasn't replaceable, which was a real bummer but luckily
still under warranty.

What would be nice is a hub dynamo so I can ride with a smaller
vehicle battery and get that automagically recharged on fast
routes, plus maybe hook up a bigger MP3 player. But not popular in
the US and some dreams just have to remain dreams.


Like Frank says, I forgot you were you. I had 36H tandem wheels
built with 14/15 spokes and never broke a spoke -- with a total rider
weight of 300lbs.

If you're having problems with 14g and even 12g spokes breaking with
any regularity, then you need a new wheel builder or a different set
of rims -- or different spokes, or all of the above.

And you're also telling us that you paid someone to rebuild your
existing wheels. Old EX hubs had 2.4mm spoke holes, IIRC, and you
need 2.6mm for 12 gauge. How did you pull that off? If you didn't
drill the spoke holes, that must have been a massive PITA pulling 12
gauge spokes. They're probably breaking because the J bends are all
scraped up.


Probably they drilled or honed them out. They asked me a lot of
questions when building the bike, the most important one was where I
ride. I ordered the bike with a friend and his was built for normal road
racing, he weighed less than I and he wanted a very light bike while I
wanted sturdiness. After I answered eastern Belgium and forest roads the
guy said to me that I need wider rims and different spokes. This was a
pro shop and I am sure they knew what they were doing. Not surprisingly
the labor charged on my bill was higher than for my friend. Since the
spokes were non-standard back then I orderd a bunch of spares.

The spokes sometimes break at the bend, sometimes where the thread
starts. Which is always fun because then the tire also has to come off,
not just the cassette. Always in the rear and during climbs or uphill
starts.

Probably one of the reasons is ths stupid dishing of rear wheels. Why
can't bikes have sufficient asymmetry in the right stays so no
off-center dishing is required?

Drop-out shifting isn't so great either. I have that on my MTB and it
has wallered out the right rear a bit. The road bike has old-style
slanted slots so it can shift a lot. So far I only have to readjust once
per tire, at the most.

As I said, if you say the Vuelta wheels are sturdy I trust that. So they
are on my Dear Santa list.

--
Regards, Joerg

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