Spoke lifespan

I have a front wheel that's about 2 1/2 years old that's done easily 20k miles probably closer to 25k. I've had it trued/tensioned at my lbs every 6 months and a few times here and there I've done it myself. The spokes are now fully into the nipples with no more thread to screw into. The wheel now has a silly amount of lateral flex, at least 3mm either way with minimal pressure, and is nearly dangerous to ride as any hard turn turns into a gamble and wet drain covers are now kryptonite to me. Is it now time to fuck these spokes off, get some new ones and get the wheel rebuilt?

it sound like the spokes were the wrong length to begun with.

go to another reputable bicycle shop and ask them to look at it, I think that's the best suggestion before doing anything further.

Well it's been trued in both Cavendish/Fitzrovia and Condor so I'm sure they would have said something at the time if they were the wrong length and the wheel has been fine up until a few months ago when it started getting less and less responsive whereupon I'd usually get it re-tensioned except I can't due to the spoke threads being as far in as possible

it seemed unlikely for the spokes to stretch and needed retensioned every now and then, IMHO, it does sound like whoever build it use the wrong spokes length.

I have wheels that lasted longer than that and never needed tensioning every now and then.

What rim have you got? After that mileage it should be almost toast anyway, assuming (probably wrongly) you have used brakes on it?

H+Son machined, yep used brakes on it but sparingly, definitely starting to get worn down but not to the level of the non machined bit of the rim

it seemed unlikely for the spokes to stretch and needed retensioned every now and then, IMHO, it does sound like whoever build it use the wrong spokes length.

I have wheels that lasted longer than that and never needed tensioning every now and then.

Bear in mind I'm riding approx. 40 miles a day 5 days a week

you could get new threads cut into the spokes and cut off the bits now sticking through. Do this every 2 1/2 years and your wheels will be super light!

Hah! Seeing as it's only affecting my front wheel I could end up with the lo pro I've always wanted

Spokes are only wrong length if they bottom out on thread or show thread when fully tight. It sounds like they're too long. May not have been noticed before if its now got more tension than before in it. But that doesn't really follow if its not very tense.

I don't imagine spokes can stretch to anything like a noticable amount. If you're up to it it can't hurt to strip it and rebuild. Or just do a new measurement and check against spokes currently in there.

Pretty much what I'm thinking as well.

I remember the H+Son (if it those one with deep section wall) were the new kids in the block at the time, and it does sound very much like the original wheelbuilder simply miscalculate the spoke length, or use the wrong length spokes because at the time they might not have such length in stock.

Obviously all this is heresay, I got my H+Son laced by Cavendish (now Fitzrovia) to system ex hubs and they were extraordinary stiff, I remember having to wait a while to get the right length.

By the way Festerban, if you need a spare front wheel while rebuilding the front wheel, give me a shout, got a beat-up langster one going spare.

Muchos gracias Eduardo, I was planning to go to Fitzrovia tomorrow anyway so I'll get their opinion, if something needs doing they've always been excellent at getting it done the same day so I hopefully won't need to take you up on the offer

You could save yourself a lot of money by learning how to true a wheel yourself. All you need is a good nipple wrench (park tools do some good ones) and a good eye. There's plenty of tuts about on youtube.

Except he can't true it any further...

Spokes don't stretch. Perhaps microscopically, but nothing that would require this frequent retruing.

Could be they're too loose and loosening off over time. If the rim is knackered and lots of metal worn off the sidewalls, that'll have an impact on wheel strength. The thickness of the wall at its thinnest point should be no less than .7mm on older school rims. You can measure it with a caliper or this wondrous tool which you can sometimes find on ebay as "watch caliper" for around a fiver - I use mine all the time checking rims. Fast, cheap, effective.

Re the earlier comment "bottom out on the thread" - that's a little misleading. A spoke nipple is usually 12mm long and the thread on a spoke is around 8 or 9mm. That means you can "bottom out" without any impact on wheel strength. However, if the spoke end is sticking up above the nipple any more than 1mm or mebbe 2mm (which can cause punctures on rims where the nipple holes aren't inset), then you're looking at spokes that are too long.

DoctorBike

Re the earlier comment "bottom out on the thread" - that's a little misleading. A spoke nipple is usually 12mm long and the thread on a spoke is around 8 or 9mm. That means you can "bottom out" without any impact on wheel strength.

It wasn't that I was referring too. More that if you tighten a nipple as far as it will go on the spoke (bottoming out) and the spoke doesn't have enough tension then it means your spokes are too long (tangent: how much it sticks out the end of the nipple does of course matter but also its determined by rim depth - ie deep section rims will have ample room for a spoke sticking 2mm + out of the nipple before fouling the tube)