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I'm over the hill these days and still ride hard, but nowhere near the pace I did when I raced MX as a teen. Never once did I break a spoke back then. Now, I have two broken spokes on an Excel rim with matching Excel spokes that I laced up to the stock hub. I'm guessing that I messed something up when I laced it. Clue me in, what did I do wrong? Too tight?

A little more detail in spoke maintenance would help answer the question

Did you check/re-torque the spokes several times the first few rides ??

Did you use a Spoke Wrench ? , or a Spoke Torque Wrench ?? when assembling and checking tightness ??

What was the tightening procedure you used when tightening during assembly ?? , did you leave threads showing equally as you tightened ? , or did some have threads and some not ??

Did you make sure to follow the pattern (every 4th spoke) sequence ??

If you used just a Spoke Wrench , did you "ping" the spokes listening to the sound to make sure they were within the same tone range ??

When i build a wheel i check the spokes after every ride and if trail riding i check them during the ride (propping the bike on a log or laying it on its side so the wheel is free) , if i am at the track , i do 1 or 2 laps and re-check , then do a few more and re-check , then do about 10 laps then re-check , i do this the first 2 ride days , then the wheel/spokes should be pretty much set and you can go back to regular maintenance schedule for them (once every 5-10 rides give or take depending on terrain)

Riding rocky area's with square edge wheel slamming holes , will loosen spokes easier than most other terrain , for tracks , ones with flat landings or big jumps and hard pack square edge holes will require more checking of tightness even after the wheel has been laced for some time ,, for the record i have never broken a spoke , but have bent rims from slamming square edge holes at speed

Hope that helped some

I have seen a few broken spokes over the years and it is generally the tight ones taking the load as some others are loose.

You need to get even tightness over the wheel.

Jim-

Yes, kept up with re-tightening them for 3 rides and then forgot about it. I originally set them all by going in the same number of turns, then used an Excel torque wrench on alternating spokes. I probably went wrong there, as I didn't do every 4th spoke, as you mention.

It was my first MX wheel to lace up, so lesson learned. Eventually I'll replace my front rim with an Excel rim and give the process another try.

Thanks for the advice!

G

Torque a spoke , then go 4 then torque , do that till your back to the one you started , then do the opposing side from the first one , so on and so on , you will do this till they are all done (i believe its 4 times back and forth , each time alternate to other side) / \ / \ / then \ / \ / \ follow ??

And once everything is the same tension, all the way around, comes the fun part of adjustment to run true without any hop.
A tie wrap around the fork with the end near a convenient part of the rim works well. Just keep an eye on the gap. Remember, if you want the rim to move you need to loosen the diagonal opposite spokes a little first to tighten it in the direction you want it to go.