There are no precognizant warning signs that I have ever been aware of which will indicate that a spoke is about to break, outside of noting and taking head of recent breakage of any other spokes on the same wheel which more times than not is an indication of metal fatigue and has nothing to do whatsoever with the hub. This is not to say that some hubs may, by design, be more prone to spoke damage and this is definitely not to say that the Mallard is one of those having no direct experience with them.
But I will tell ya with total confidence, as most of you are surely aware, most spoke failures occur at the bend and are due to one of three things:
1) lousy wheel building (uneven tension)
2) wheels that have been unevenly tensioned due to repeated trueness (probably the biggest cause)
3) too many miles on the same set of spokes.
I've heard stories from people that they have been riding a same set of wheels for billions and billions of miles. Most of the individuals I've known who say this ride in more of a recreational manner than those who train to race (or race to train). If you're a hammer, you should not expect more than two seasons TOPS on any given set of wheels that are frequently used. We've all glanced at papers written up on the amounts of torque applied to spokes, especially during initial execration from a dead stop. I don't remember the number, but it's tremendous. We're talking about wire here. After a while, it's gone snap.
Excuse the non-vintage blathering here but if you want to thwart off the spoke Gods as long as possible, make sure your lacing pattern is compatible with the hub you're lacing (read: DON'T go radial on Shaman or Campy hubs or you will break the flange) or opt for hubs designed for straight (non elbowed) spokes, like those made from Edco, Velomax or found on Helium or Campy wheelsets. They will afford you higher tension per spoke which will allow for fewer overall spokes, rewarding you with less weight, less wind resistance and a lower audible tone when you clip baseball cards to your fork blades for that 'flap-flap' effect so sought after in group training rides. A definite plus.
ok, lemme have it.
Peter Grenader LA
c crocoll wrote:
> Dear List Members:
> I have heard scattered references to failure of Maillard Helicomatic
> hubs. I would like to ask:
> 1) How do they fail?
> 2) Are there any warning signs that this is about to happen or has
> begun to happen?
> Thank you in advance for any information you may have on this.
>
> -c. crocoll
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