Rear wheel, spokes and bearings

[toytime]

About once a month I have rear wheel issues and today I found a second broken spoke. I have also found that "stock" bearings and hubs can't handle the output of an engine. Don't get me wrong, I use it all winter and understand that it needs servicing but I get every problem you can think of. One time my axle broke in half and to be honest, I'm thinking that my bearings may be wearing out as well. I tighten things up and two days later it will wobble a bit.
Can anyone tell me if I should get parts and have a bicycle repair shop put it together for me and what parts I would use? (thick spokes, hub, bearings)
Would I be better off just buying a brand new "heavy duty" wheel and what name brand would that be?

 

[paul]

i was having spokes break all the time. the rear sprocket i had was 5 hole. i went to a nine whole and they stopped breaking. not sure which sprocket your kit came with but thats a whole lot cheaper then a new wheel and spokes. standard wheel is 14 gage spokes and they say 12 is great. none of the bike shops around here carry 12ga

 

[deacon]

When I need a new wheel I go to the thrift shop and buy a bike its a darn sight cheaper.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Bearing wear and problems with spokes are attributed to a few things- If the bike and rider are heavier, ridden more frequently or on rougher surfaces, you will get more wear and breakage.

How old is the wheel you have?
What co./country manufactured it?

 

[toytime]

I am over two hundred , have used the wheel for about 9 months with the motor, I do go on snowmobile trails that are gravel/dirt trails and I use it as my only form of transportation, every day.
Just the thought of removing those rusty fine threaded bolts that hold the sprocket in place worries me and that is why I wanted to get a really good wheel that would last me another year or so. I just find that these wheels were not made for going 30 mile an hour down dirt roads.
I'm laughing as I write this because I guess what I am saying is that I should have bought a motorcycle....lol.
I guess I'll just go to the overly priced bike shop in town and ask for a mountain bike rim and suck up the fact that having down time is a fact of life.
I guess it may not have helped my spokes any by leaving the outer rubber off so that my sprocket was able to move inwards enough to allow me to eliminate the idler gear.
It could also be that I over tightened the bolts as the spokes break at that area where the sprocket is.

 

[Ilikeabikea]

Sometimes just writing it out makes you discover what the problem is. Seems like I do lots of that with these motorized bicycles. I bet that will solve your problem....................

 

[RedB66]

I have heavy duty rims on my stretch that I purchased from Revolution Cycles on Ebay. I inquiried about another pair and he has a set for $50 including shipping. He doesn't have them listed but you can contact him and ask him to email a picture if you are interested. They are heavier. He refers to them as 1020 or something like that , I call them 12 guage. I must say that I have not had any problems with Revolution Cycles but.......one of our members had some issues with a motor mount.

 

[toytime]

Thanks, I will have a look. That seems like a great price.
I found this today and have provided a link. I think you could spend a day looking around.
There is even a bicycle generator for a light and the generator never touches your tire.
I'm not sure if this spoke idea would make it stronger and it looks like it would take hours to make:


Twisted Spoke Bicycle Wheel Lacing - flowers! - Instructables - DIY, How To, art, ride

This is very interesting as well..who would have known you should not use a magnet on ball bearings as they magnetize and "draw" metel bits?

Properly pack/adjust bicycle hub bearings: Inspect the bearing surfaces - Instructables - DIY, How To, ride, tech

 

[Norman]

Toytime nice links on your post very good information.
Thanks
Norman

 

[Dave31]

I've been having this problem for a long time now, and it happened again today. After about 50-60 miles I break a spoke, and it's the very same spoke over and over again. I have re-laced my wheel several times and I have even taken to a bike shop three time's thinking I've been doing something wrong. My wheel is not bent and it is true. The spoke alway's break's right at the hub. I have no ideal what could cause the same spoke to break and alway's around the same amount of miles.
I alway's check before everyride and have not seen any problems to cause this before it happens. Any ideals?

 

[toytime]

Hard to tell from the pics but it looks like you are not using rubber on the inside as well as the outside. I did this for a few months and found that the spokes were breaking. If this is not the case in your build , could your chain be rubbing in just that spot as the wheel turns? Is your chain clean and shiny anywhere along the inside of the chain?
From the looks of your spoke, you are losing the head off the spoke, that is strange indeed. I drove all winter with 4 missing spokes and one spoke is not such a big deal but I know that it bugs you and you would like to figure it out. What I noticed is that the area that the spokes cross each other is being strained as our sprocket gets tightened up. This tends to make the spoke want to pop away from the hub.

 

[Dave31]

Do you mean the rubber to mount the sprocket? Yes I use both, just did not have it on for the pic. And yes it always break's the head of the spoke; i have that spoke marked and it is alway's that spoke that break's. My spoke's were just fine when I left, I rode a long way's with the broken spoke and now that I have gotten home the other spoke's look like they have been stressed. I have no ideal what's going on and I'm sick of fixing spoke's. My chain does not rub anywhere.

 

[toytime]

Is the spoke a little bent in the area that two spokes cross each other? As the sprocket is tightened it puts a strain on the spokes making the spokes tighter than they were when you begin the install. A bent spoke becomes shorter/tighter, if you know what I mean. From looking at the pics..two and three...that "X" is close to the rubber. I wonder if you should wait until the sprocket is installed before "truing" the spokes. I know this does not address the fact that it's always the same spoke but it's all I can offer.

 

[Dave31]

Thank's toytime for your input, but no spokes are bent; it just look's that way in the photo. Don't know what I'll do, I don't have anymore spoke's so I'll have to ride my pedal bike to work tomorrow.

 

[toytime]

Just drive the darn thing, I just paid $28 for a new wheel and find that my rear wheel lasts me about six months anyhow.

 

[HoughMade]

I got heavy duty wheels from Husky Bicycles- 11ga spokes that are almost 1/8" thick. Quality steel rims. $82.00 delivered to my door for front and back together.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

fair-

Maybe there is a burr or other sharp edge in the hole where the spoke goes through?

Also, have you tried using zip ties at each crossing of the spokes? It tightens up the wheel quite a bit for the half an ounce that it adds to the wheel.

 

[toytime]

Houghmade;What I was trying to find and gave up, I also noticed that they have a solid puncture proof tire for around $25. Good info and site, thanks.

 

[HoughMade]

You will not be disappointed by these wheels. These are the ones I got:

WHEEL 26x2.125 rear coaster brake, 120g, steel (HD-120): Husky Bicycles

WHEEL 26x2.125 front, 120-g spokes (HD-120), steel: Husky Bicycles

 

[paul]

i will be mounting my new sprocket on a disk brake mount and will let you all know what i think. i really do think it will be the hot ticket for motorized bicycles. the sprocket will be mounted alighned perfect this way without mounting on the spokes