Wanted: Bulletproof Coaster Wheel Recipe

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slacker

slacker

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I have bad luck with broken spokes on coaster wheels. I lose several per year, making rear wheel maintenance my biggest cycling expense. The always pop at the hub end. What gives?

I know being 245 pounds doesn't help. I ride hard, but it's not like I'm abusing my bikes. Most of my riding is commuting on city streets. I know I am running some cheaper Chinese coaster wheels, so that is part of it.

So: If you were to have your dream bulletproof coaster wheel built, what would it be?
 
I know being 245 pounds doesn't help
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You're not the only Clydesdale in this forum (thats what the roadies call bike riders over 200 lbs). I'm at 230 and I've never broken a spoke at the hub. Hub quality, or that of the entire wheel components may play a part, but I suspect that weight is not the main issue.

I can only imagine that if the spokes are that loose that a truing wouldn't hurt, but if they're that loose then you'd almost be rebuilding the wheel anyway. I would suggest buying a new wheel set at a local bike shop who will true them for free before they leave the store-should be easy 'cuz Madison has more bike stores per capita than most other cities-and then true them yourself or at the bike shop every 4-5 months. I'd be willing to bet those don't break on you. Then you're free to enjoy all the chili dogs and ice cream you want! Oh wait, it's Wisconsin...make that all the beer and cheese curds you want! (I really miss the superior lagers, pilsners, and laid back vibe of the Capitol Brewery patio...and the Harmony Bar and Grill pizzas...sigh)

You could also look into the thicker spokes on the Schwinn Heavy Duti wheels, but I don't know if you can get just the wheel set with that or if you have to buy the whole bike.
 
I'd like to be able to jump curbs and stuff without constantly worrying.

I was more thinking of using a modern Sun or Mavic rim laced to a rebuilt vintage Bendix or similar coaster. Some have suggested using a modern Shimano coaster, for the simple reason that parts are available at almost any LBS.

You may be right about quality being the issue. As I said, I am breaking spokes on Chinese, machine built wheels. By the time first spoke pops, truing is pointless, as several more are fatigued and ready to go.

One option I had considered is using the Chinese coaster bikes for throwaway wheel sets. You can purchase an entire cruiser for $80 at the big box stores. After selling off parts or using them in other builds, the net cost is pretty low. Certainly cheaper than getting wheels trued at my LBS.

I have two friends who bartend at the Harmony. And I know the pizza guy personally. He's kinda a jerk.

Clydesdale? Are you calling me fat?
 
Clydesdale? Are you calling me fat?
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Absolutely not. The way I look at my own situation is that if I ever run into a hipster who's starved himself simply for peer pressure, or so he can fit into a pair of women's jeans when he's on a lightweight fixie, and I'm rolling on a 70+ pound cruiser, I'm going to be the one helping him off the ground, and he's going to be the one thinking about Darwinism while I'm enjoying a plate full of home-cooked goodness. That's just what the roadies call us, but I've only seen it used as a term of endearment rather than a negative connotation.

With the true bikers, it's not what you weigh or riding that is important, it's that you're riding. Period.

I'd like to be able to jump curbs and stuff without constantly worrying.
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I have to do that here in Cleveland because I ride at night a lot to avoid the daytime smog, and the night time bus drivers are either very aggressive or have anger management issues. I've used Bendix and Sturmey-Archer hubs with no problems for straight-on curb hops. If you want or need to jump curbs laterally like I sometimes have to, look at getting toe cages and using a lighter bike. Practicing bunny hops helps in that regard, too. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort but rather the right technique for lateral curb jumping bunny hops, and you don't want to test it out when there's two tons of steel and a pissed off flunky driving a bus bearing down on you.
 
Problem is that on factory made wheels there is not enough tension on the spokes. With more tension the stress evens out over more than one thin piece of wire. Tighten them up and true them before you use a new wheel. (As said before.)
You can use shims to let the spoke butts fit snugly on the hub, but then you have to rebuild the whole wheel, and in that case you could use stronger spokes as well. If they (thicker spokes) don't fit the rim and/or hub, drill out the holes with the correct size drill.

Try this for more information on building wheels (could be a bit too technical for some peoples taste):
http://www.geocities.com/spokeanwheel/lacinggw.htm

I'm not too fond of Shimano coaster hubs, I had to readjust mine more than once a year. I would say get an old one that's still good enough and just see how far it will go. Probably a few years.

On coaster hubs:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/coaster-brakes.html
 
slacker said:
GodHatesCleveland said:
Clydesdale? Are you calling me fat?
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I was joking.
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I know, I just didn't want to take a chance of offending anyone.....but if I did run into a self-starved fixie hipster while biking, as it almost happened a couple of weeks ago, they'd be the ones re-defining the term "critical mass". Hehehe.......
 
C.S. said:
Problem is that on factory made wheels there is not enough tension on the spokes. With more tension the stress evens out over more than one thin piece of wire. Tighten them up and true them before you use a new wheel.
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I second that. If there's not enough tension, they'll break at the elbow.You see, just about all of the rider weight is supported by the dozen spokes that go up vertically from the hub. The spokes that point to the sides or down aren't doing much. In fact, the spokes that point down are being compressed, not pulled.

If there's not enough tension on all the spokes, whenever a spoke reaches the "down" position its tension will go to zero. When the wheel rotates and the spoke reaches the "up" position, the tension reaches high values. For every wheel rotation, you have one cycle of maximum tension-no tension on each of the spokes. It's like grabbing the end of the spoke and pulling hard repeatedly, trying to yank it out of the hole. That causes fatigue on the elbow and its failure. So, sit on your bike and make sure that the spokes that point down have tension to keep the elbow from "banging" away at the hub hole every revolution. (yes, I have a wheel fetish)

Hugo
 

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