Was doing a few test drops in prep for a 7 stair jump. First drop went ok, but on the second one, all Hell broke loose…to the tune of SIX BUSTED SPOKES! Lesson learned: Not a good idea to do biggish drops on a uni with a Disc brake Hub! They are narrower so the disc can fit, making it inherently weaker than a regular hub, which distributes impact to a wider area and offers better support to the spokes and rim. Found out the hard way! Who knows, maybe it’s an omen, telling me that people almost 61 should stop doing this stuff while they’re still in one piece?
G’day Terry, Glad to see you are still “in one piece”. Do look after yourself, but I have no doubt that you will continue to enjoy this sport we all love.
Glad you walked out of this one (bones are slower to replace than spokes ).
Another thing that comes into play for wheel strength is the length of the spokes (because of the rim diameter). Maybe big drops are the realm of smaller wheels
Where did those spokes break? one side of the wheel, or both sides(left or right) ? I am still very sceptical of the whole “narrow hubs are not made for bigs drops” deal, so I would love some more data.
Amazing work by the way, I hope I will still be doing big drops when I am over 60 too.
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