Out on the tandem a couple of days ago I was making a U turn and
as I braked to stop (having not turned tightly enough) I heard
that dreaded ping sound. I said, "That didn't sound good" and
sure enough a spoke on the front wheel had broken. I opened up
the front brake and we limped back to the start, some 12 miles or
so.
The break was right at the end of the threade section, so I have
to wonder if there might have been some irregularity at the finish
of the threading that caused a stress riser. On the other hand,
the wheels have quite a few miles on them and I suppose it could
have been more or less random.
The nipple and broken off spoke was rattling around in the rim,
and I spent quite some time seeing if I could shake it out. As I
thought I might need to try finding a magnet to help fish it out,
I shook the wheel again but couldn't locate the sound. Puzzling
over that, I looked down and saw the bit laying on my work bench.
Apparently it fell out while I was shaking things. Yay!
Looking through my assortment of spokes I found one that was the
right length, or at least within a mm of being right. Put it in
and trued the wheel, including strenuous stress relieving (made my
hands hurt a bit). Fingers crossed that the other spokes will be
okay.
On 8/19/2026 9:22 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
The break was right at the end of the threade section, so I
have to wonder if there might have been some irregularity at
the finish of the threading that caused a stress riser.
The nipple and broken off spoke was rattling around in the
rim, and I spent quite some time seeing if I could shake it
out. As I thought I might need to try finding a magnet to
help fish it out, I shook the wheel again but couldn't locate
the sound. Puzzling over that, I looked down and saw the bit
laying on my work bench. Apparently it fell out while I was
shaking things. Yay!
Uh, magnets won't help for a brass nipple with a stub of 301
stainless spoke in it.
I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a larger or
chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend near the
head.
On Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:53:10 -0500,
AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
On 8/19/2026 9:22 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
The break was right at the end of the threade section, so I
have to wonder if there might have been some irregularity at
the finish of the threading that caused a stress riser.
The nipple and broken off spoke was rattling around in the
rim, and I spent quite some time seeing if I could shake it
out. As I thought I might need to try finding a magnet to
help fish it out, I shook the wheel again but couldn't locate
the sound. Puzzling over that, I looked down and saw the bit
laying on my work bench. Apparently it fell out while I was
shaking things. Yay!
Uh, magnets won't help for a brass nipple with a stub of 301
stainless spoke in it.
Yeah, I wondered if the nipple was ferromagnetic. It was quite
shiny silver, so I assumed it was stainless steel.
I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a larger or
chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend near the
head.
Oh interesting. Now that you mention it, I think most of my other
broken spokes have all been near the bend. There haven't been all
that many though.
One exception was a stupid carbon fiber spoke on a set of wheels
that I think was a Santana offering. At least they came on the
Santana we bought on 2012. When one of those broke, I decided I
didn't want anything more to do with the wheels and just gave them
away.
On 8/19/2026 1:27 PM, Ted Heise wrote:
On Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:53:10 -0500,i think I have had 3 broken spokes in my riding years. Two
-a-a AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
-a On 8/19/2026 9:22 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
The break was right at the end of the threade section, so I
have to wonder if there might have been some
irregularity at
the finish of the threading that caused a stress riser.
The nipple and broken off spoke was rattling around in the
rim, and I spent quite some time seeing if I could shake it
out.-a As I thought I might need to try finding a magnet to
help fish it out, I shook the wheel again but couldn't
locate
the sound.-a Puzzling over that, I looked down and saw
the bit
laying on my work bench. Apparently it fell out while I was
shaking things.-a Yay!
-a Uh, magnets won't help for a brass nipple with a stub
of 301
-a stainless spoke in it.
Yeah, I wondered if the nipple was ferromagnetic.-a It was
quite
shiny silver, so I assumed it was stainless steel.
-a I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a larger or
-a chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend
near the
-a head.
Oh interesting.-a Now that you mention it, I think most of
my other
broken spokes have all been near the bend.-a There haven't
been all
that many though.
One exception was a stupid carbon fiber spoke on a set of
wheels
that I think was a Santana offering.-a At least they came
on the
Santana we bought on 2012.-a When one of those broke, I
decided I
didn't want anything more to do with the wheels and just
gave them
away.
of them at the nipple as expected but I had one once that
happened in the middle of the spoke. That is almost unheard
of and I think someone suggested it must have taken some hit
in the middle to weak it. I have not idea but there is was
right in the middle.
On 8/19/2026 1:27 PM, Ted Heise wrote:
On Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:53:10 -0500,i think I have had 3 broken spokes in my riding years. Two of them at
AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
On 8/19/2026 9:22 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
The break was right at the end of the threade section, so I
have to wonder if there might have been some irregularity at
the finish of the threading that caused a stress riser.
The nipple and broken off spoke was rattling around in the
rim, and I spent quite some time seeing if I could shake it
out. As I thought I might need to try finding a magnet to
help fish it out, I shook the wheel again but couldn't locate
the sound. Puzzling over that, I looked down and saw the bit
laying on my work bench. Apparently it fell out while I was
shaking things. Yay!
Uh, magnets won't help for a brass nipple with a stub of 301
stainless spoke in it.
Yeah, I wondered if the nipple was ferromagnetic. It was quite
shiny silver, so I assumed it was stainless steel.
I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a larger or
chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend near the
head.
Oh interesting. Now that you mention it, I think most of my other
broken spokes have all been near the bend. There haven't been all
that many though.
One exception was a stupid carbon fiber spoke on a set of wheels
that I think was a Santana offering. At least they came on the
Santana we bought on 2012. When one of those broke, I decided I
didn't want anything more to do with the wheels and just gave them
away.
the nipple as expected but I had one once that happened in the middle of
the spoke. That is almost unheard of and I think someone suggested it
must have taken some hit in the middle to weak it. I have not idea but
there is was right in the middle.
On 8/19/2026 3:01 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:
On 8/19/2026 1:27 PM, Ted Heise wrote:
-a-a AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
-a I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a larger or
-a chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend
near the head.
Oh interesting. Now that you mention it, I think most of my
other broken spokes have all been near the bend. There
haven't been all that many though.
i think I have had 3 broken spokes in my riding years. Two of
them at the nipple as expected
but I had one once that happened in the middle of the
spoke. That is almost unheard of and I think someone suggested
it must have taken some hit in the middle to weak it. I have
not idea but there is was right in the middle.
A woman dragged here bike in here a couple of years ago with
multiple front spokes broken in the middle. Turned out it was
corrosion from salt water splash off her car which parked near
the bike.
https://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfromthepast/failspok.jpg
On Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:09:49 -0500,
AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
On 8/19/2026 3:01 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:
On 8/19/2026 1:27 PM, Ted Heise wrote:
-a-a AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
-a I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a larger or
-a chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend
near the head.
Oh interesting. Now that you mention it, I think most of my
other broken spokes have all been near the bend. There
haven't been all that many though.
i think I have had 3 broken spokes in my riding years. Two of
them at the nipple as expected
At the nipple, really? I'm not sure that's "as expected" -- at
least as far as my experience and I what I understand Andrew to be
saying.
On 8/20/2026 10:14 AM, Ted Heise wrote:
On Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:09:49 -0500,
-a-a AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
-a On 8/19/2026 3:01 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:
On 8/19/2026 1:27 PM, Ted Heise wrote:
-a-a-a AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
-a-a I agree, some anomaly and unlikely to lead to a
larger or
-a-a chronic problem. The usual failure mode is at the bend
-a-a near the head.
Oh interesting.-a Now that you mention it, I think most
of my
other broken spokes have all been near the bend.-a There
haven't been all that many though.
i think I have had 3 broken spokes in my riding years.
Two of
them at the nipple as expected
At the nipple, really?-a I'm not sure that's "as expected"
-- at
least as far as my experience and I what I understand
Andrew to be
saying.
Agreed. The vast majority of my spoke breaks are at the bend
on the hub as Andrew noted. The only time it's happened
anywhere else is a result of some sort of impact with
something on the road/trail that gets tossed up into the
spokes. This happened to me just about a month ago on my MTB
- caught a small stick that managed to weave its way in
between the spokes and the chainstay and snapped the
nipple....ouch (freely associated double entendre)
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