Dodgy Spoke Issue

[Graham O]

All,

I need a litte advice. One of the spokes in my the rear wheel of my dt swiss wheels keeps loosening. I did the black mountains ride at the weekend and in the space of 8 'painful' cycling hours it had loosened so much that I could wiggle it around.

Any advice from the wheelbuilders out there would be helpful. I have tried to tighten it up, but it seems to repeatedly want to loosen off...

Ta,

Graham....

[Grahame]

It sounds to me like the wheel isn't especially well built. Usually spoke(s) only repeatedly loosen if the wheel is slightly "out of balance" in its tensioning.

I'd take the wheel to a reputable wheelbuilder and have them look at the tensioning of the spokes.

[Sylv]

In the meantime try blue Loctite?

[Mike I]

I had similar problems on my fixie. The wheels were built by Condor less than a year ago.

Took them into GBs last week (if they're badly built, you don't want the same builder fixing the problem) for truing and tensioning. I've only ridden them into work this morning, but there is a noticeable improvement. My other GB-built commuting wheels were going strong for about 6 years before they needed any attention.

[Graham O]

Cheers guys....

The wheels were factory built by DT Swiss, so I guess that I could have got a dodgy pair. I also suspect that I am a little heavy for these wheels as they seem to flex quite alot under load.

Anyhow - I think that I will contact wiggle before trying anything else to sort these out. Its back to my Fulcrums for now...

Ta Ta...

[Graham O]

Right - Got the following response from wiggle....

'This wheelset uses standard DT spares and spokes which are replaceable by any cycle shop with wheel building experience - no return to the manufacturer should be required. If you take it to your local wheel builder they should be able to diagnose and sort the problem without the inconvenience of returning the wheelset to us. Any reasonable cost we can cover.'

How good is that. Guess I'll take it into GB's then....

[Sylv]

Fair enough on Wiggle. It's a nightmare to post wheels, and they might come back to you more damaged than to start with … they have offered to cover the cost which is good. Shop might be able to do it in minutes.