Change spokes?

[SteveV0983]

I have a set of Hed Belgium C2 wheels laced to Velocity Race hubs that was built for me by a forum member about 10 years ago. They still ride great, and I haven't had to even adjust a spoke in years. If everything is going fine, is there any reason I should consider having them re-laced? I've changed the hub bearings and cassette body a few times, so the hubs still seem good to me. The wheels have about 26k miles on them. Curious if replacing the spokes is recommended or would change the ride.

[dgauthier]

If the wheels are true and you have no complaints, I wouldn't touch them. If you break a single spoke some day, that's the time to change all of them.

If it ain't broke don't fix it...

It sounds like the forum member who built them did a good job. Can you message them? What do they say?

[fmradio516]

def dont think so. if anything needs to be replaced, id check the brake track of the rim.

[SteveV0983]

Thanks. Brake track still looks good because I live where there re no hills. Still have the little dimples on the rims.

[Peter P.]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[Mark McM]

Spoke breakages due to problems with spokes or with the wheel build tend to happen early in their life. If they've been going for tens of thousands of miles, then they've shown that they are reliable.

Jobst Brandt, author of the "The Bicycle Wheel" (the definitive book on bicycle wheel engineering) would replace his rims when they were worn out, but continue to use the same spokes. He was able to get more than 100,000 miles out of a set of spokes.

[unterhausen]

I wouldn't change anything unless a reason presented itself. Usually I wear out rims in about that much time and then I replace both rim and spokes, or maybe the entire wheel.

[redir]

26k miles is a lot but as others say if it aint broke.....?

[spoonrobot]

At that mileage each component has basically the same chance of failure to the limit.

26,000 is a lot for spokes. It's also a lot for the nipple seat in the rim, the hub flanges, and the nipples themselves.

Two solutions
1. Don't worry about it until something happens, you may well see another 26,000 without issue.
2. Buy/build a new wheel with new components, determining the lifetime of a wheel for yourself in the process.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by SteveV0983

I have a set of Hed Belgium C2 wheels laced to Velocity Race hubs that was built for me by a forum member about 10 years ago. They still ride great, and I haven't had to even adjust a spoke in years. If everything is going fine, is there any reason I should consider having them re-laced? I've changed the hub bearings and cassette body a few times, so the hubs still seem good to me. The wheels have about 26k miles on them. Curious if replacing the spokes is recommended or would change the ride.

Nope. Spokes don't really 'wear out'..They may break if the rim is wacked and the tension changes(lower). The only thing to watch is rim brake sidewalls. If they get concave, time for a new rim.

If you break a single spoke some day, that's the time to change all of them.

As mentioned, if you break a spoke, it's a rim issue, not a spoke issue. If you break one spoke, replace it, take tension off, retrue, round, tension, dish...But low tension breaks spokes from a 'wacked' rim.