a mate has a 2008 specialized epic. Shock woes aside, his back wheel keeps breaking spokes, and always right at the nipple. I was not aware that this was comon and i understand that once one has broken, further breakages are likely, but i have only ever seen this at the elbow of the spoke. The wheel is a dt swiss 370 (i think) hub on dt x420 rim with black DT comp double butted spokes and 12mm nippples.
fwiw this has never happened on my other mate's identical wheel from an identical bike and he rides it like a loon.
Was it just a Friday afternoon wheel build?
It happens on alot of the specialized wheels from last year.
Its the alloy nipples that corrode and break, have to similar wheels lying in garage with multiple broken spokes, its from the gf's 2008 stump jumper.
Best advice is to have whole wheel rebuild with new nipples, they will most likely all break.
The one and only time I've ever broken a spoke was due to the alloy nipple cracking, the spoke itself stayed intact. Once I was home I just fitted another nipple and tightened the spoke into it. No further problems.
I tend not to build with alloy nipples though for that very reason, they can be a PITA for cracking and rounding off when truing them...
Sounds like a wheel rebuild is in order. Is the bike still in warranty? Have a chat to the shop, they may be able to sort out some kind of deal or new wheel on warranty if so.
Thanks for your replies,
haha, sounds like it was 'Friday afternoon' for all of 2008 for one of spesh's wheel builders!
I shall advise my mate to return to the shop and ask for new build. He is hoping to go no-tubes but pointless and very expensive if he replaces spokes every 2 weeks. He bought the bike as a discounted 'last year' model but brand new from a very very large and reputable specialized dealer last september so i would hope they will be understanding...
please let us know what they say.
Would like to know if they will replace the alloy nipples under warranty.
I suffered the same problem and know a few other spesh riders who have also had this problem ... only way around it for all of us was a complete wheel rebuild! No problems since then!