Spokes on Freego Eagle

[arthur49]

Seem to be chewing up the rear wheel spokes on our two Eagles!

Replaced under warranty but now a spoke has gone on my wife's bike. I was riding it at the time on the flat, low assist, low speed, when I heard the 'ping'.

I have a spoke key to tension spokes but wary of twisting the rim by getting it wrong. Is there a DIY technique for doing this?

Why are we shedding spokes? They all break at the hub where the retaining 'cap' shears off. Spokes are stainless steel I believe

Arthur

 

[ghouluk]

i bet the wheel isn't true - when your spokes were replaced, did they true the wheel or simply tighten them in?

I'd take the warranty claim back and get them to sort it.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Loose spokes is one reason why spokes break because it puts uneven tension on them instead of spreading the load. Sometimes it's because the spokes aren't made right, and other times the wrong spoke shape. The only guaranteed cure is a complete rebuild with new spokes, otherwise you need to get your present spokes properly tensioned and the wheel trued.

There's loads of Youtube videos on how to do it otherwise use Sheldon Brown's guide, which is pretty good.
Wheelbuilding

 

[arthur49]

They said they had re-torqued them all! We're off to France shortly and I'm taking spare spokes
Arthur

i bet the wheel isn't true - when your spokes were replaced, did they true the wheel or simply tighten them in?

I'd take the warranty claim back and get them to sort it.

 

[johnc461165]

I had about 15 spokes break over a 6 month period, did lots of research on the net. I am no expert but what I did was to alter the spoke elbow angle (tightened the bend) from the original 100 degrees to approx 95, I then fitted ss spoke washers under the head, 9 months later I have not had a single spoke break, it may be that spoke washers on their own will do the same job but as I say it's worked for me, good luck.

 

[jateureka2]

Seem to be chewing up the rear wheel spokes on our two Eagles!

Why are we shedding spokes? They all break at the hub where the retaining 'cap' shears off. Spokes are stainless steel I believe

Arthur

The rim, spokes, nipples and hub should be matched to work together. In addition to the quality of the spokes and other components, the way the wheel is laced is also important.

Most 26" FreeGo wheels that I have seen are double cross laced (X2) using 13 gauge spokes.
Spokes are normally laced over & under but I have seen some FreeGo wheels that have the lacing over + over instead, so the crossing spokes are not helping to tension each other. Loose spokes soon break at the elbow from fatigue.

Also, the optimum lacing pattern of spoke heads in/out on leading/trailing spokes is different for a disc/hub brake rear wheel compared to a rim brake rear wheel (refer Shimano tech docs and other wheel building sources) to take into account where the braking forces are being exerted. For example, the recommended lacing pattern for a rear wheel with disc brake should have LHS leading spokes with elbows out/heads in and the RHS leading spokes with the heads out/elbows in.
I have seen an Eagle with rear disc brake that had all leading spokes L & R with heads facing out and elbows in.

Most Bafang motors like the FreeGo uses are designed for up to 12 gauge spokes, so there is a little slop using a 13 gauge spoke at the spoke hole in the hub. If the wheel is correctly built with good components then this little bit of slop is normally not a problem. Brass spoke washers can be used to reduce the slop at the hub flange.

 

[Chainring]

I recently had a spoke break in the back wheel of my Santana. New spokes supplied by Hatti at Woosh, in usual speedy fashion. I fitted the replacement, after lots of reading-up on wheels etc. Lubrication at both ends of the spoke seemed to be a popular suggestion, which made sense to me. Slackened them all off, then worked round evenly. Seems okay so far. This happened at about 1100 miles. A week later, flat tyre. Fortunately, this was while at work, so workshop to hand, but a bit baffling, as it was a large hole. Same again a week later, so some head-scratching. You are never too old to learn, it would seem. I think I must have dislodged the rim tape, and the exposed spoke hole cut through the tube. My day off today, so will try and do a proper job. The OKO tube sealant does work, I can report from experience, both on my bike and the wife's.

 

[RobF]

Spokes can break on any bike, but the cheaper Chinese hub drive ebikes seem more prone to it.