12 replies to this topic

[ETW Grumpy]

I noticed that my spokes were making an occasional slight pinging noise when I was moving around the house. I thought some of the spokes might need adjustment so I took it to a local bike shop. The guy there said a couple of the spokes needed to be trued and a few were a little loose but not enough to worry about them breaking. He said he couldn't tighten them because of something to do with dish in the wheel or not wanting to dish the wheel. I am hearing a lot more of the noise now and I'm concerned about damaging the wheels or more importantly, having spokes break or collapse and leaving me on the ground or stranded somewhere. Am I worrying for nothing or is this a real concern? I should have a new chair from the VA within a couple of months, I just need to know if I should go to the rehab guys and get them to look at this one. Thanks. BTW, the new chair I'm getting is a Quickie Q7. Anyone have experience with these?

[Wicky]

ETW Grumpy, on 22 January 2012 - 03:40 AM, said:

I noticed that my spokes were making an occasional slight pinging noise when I was moving around the house. I thought some of the spokes might need adjustment so I took it to a local bike shop. The guy there said a couple of the spokes needed to be trued and a few were a little loose but not enough to worry about them breaking. He said he couldn't tighten them because of something to do with dish in the wheel or not wanting to dish the wheel. I am hearing a lot more of the noise now and I'm concerned about damaging the wheels or more importantly, having spokes break or collapse and leaving me on the ground or stranded somewhere. Am I worrying for nothing or is this a real concern? I should have a new chair from the VA within a couple of months, I just need to know if I should go to the rehab guys and get them to look at this one. Thanks. BTW, the new chair I'm getting is a Quickie Q7. Anyone have experience with these?

I have a Q7 and have owned it for over a year, and it has treated me very well, what you need to get instead of the spoke rims you need to talk to them about you getting some plastic rims, i got some of them on my chair and they hold up very well, i hope this helps you.

[A trophy guy]

ETW Grumpy, on 22 January 2012 - 03:40 AM, said:

I noticed that my spokes were making an occasional slight pinging noise when I was moving around the house. I thought some of the spokes might need adjustment so I took it to a local bike shop. The guy there said a couple of the spokes needed to be trued and a few were a little loose but not enough to worry about them breaking. He said he couldn't tighten them because of something to do with dish in the wheel or not wanting to dish the wheel. I am hearing a lot more of the noise now and I'm concerned about damaging the wheels or more importantly, having spokes break or collapse and leaving me on the ground or stranded somewhere. Am I worrying for nothing or is this a real concern? I should have a new chair from the VA within a couple of months, I just need to know if I should go to the rehab guys and get them to look at this one. Thanks. BTW, the new chair I'm getting is a Quickie Q7. Anyone have experience with these?

(bolding mine)

Why not? Better to be safe than be sorry, right?

[ETW Grumpy]

Thanx Wicky. I had plastic "mag" wheels on my first chair. The new chair will have Spinergy Spox which are supposed to be pretty good. Did you notice a significant difference in weight from your previous chair (if this is not your first chair)? I have a Quickie GT now so it's not radically different, just lighter.

Trophy Guy, I will have it checked out, like you said why not? I guess my main concern is immediacy. The VA doesn't work weekends so I have to wait until at least Monday. Thanx for your response.

[wheeliebear75]

I'm not sure what's so "different" about YOUR wheels. The bike shops here have never had a problem with mine. When you run your fingers along the spokes where they go into the tire/wheel, is there something obstructing the "spoke nut"? I've never heard of "dishing" in this regard. But at least the rehab folks can tell you if your wheels have something different or if that bike shop worker/owner just doesn't understand the similarities between OUR wheels & bike's wheels. But as for "peace of mind"....(prior to being with my B/F & having his full time transportation) I've had spokes get snapped from the clamps on public buses on several occasions & was still able to limp my chair from the trolly stop about 1/2 mile away to the nearest Trek bike shop with 2 snapped spokes & 2 bent ones....I didn't have it like that for long obviously but I didn't even notice any odd tilting or wobbling.

I've never had the Spinergy wheels yet. I did have the mag wheels on A chair, although they're "nice" in that spokes can bend or break MAGS do NOT....but to ME they seemed to weigh more than the standard spokes do.

ETW Grumpy, on 22 January 2012 - 04:06 AM, said:

Thanx Wicky. I had plastic "mag" wheels on my first chair. The new chair will have Spinergy Spox which are supposed to be pretty good. Did you notice a significant difference in weight from your previous chair (if this is not your first chair)? I have a Quickie GT now so it's not radically different, just lighter.

Trophy Guy, I will have it checked out, like you said why not? I guess my main concern is immediacy. The VA doesn't work weekends so I have to wait until at least Monday. Thanx for your response.

I'm sure you'll be fine putting around the house or going to Sunday services....just don't do any curb hopping & avoid cobble-stone if you can til you do get the wheels looked at.

Edited by wheeliebear75, 22 January 2012 - 08:01 AM.

[Tinbasher]

What he meant was that the design of the hub (with a deeper recess or "dish") probably wouldn't fit his wheel jig. I have come across this before. If you try another shop they may have a different jig or a worker skilled enough to do it freehand.

Slightly loose spokes can happen in very cold weather as the rim shrinks a little.

I once tighened up my spokes and went a little over-the-top resulting in a wheel collapsing while wheeling through the mall. Sounded like a exploding piano!

Tom

[ETW Grumpy]

Wheeliebear, I think it was something about the axle and his machine for mounting the wheel. I also have natural fit pushrims so that might be an issue as well. I agree that the mags are heavy and there is no worry about me curb hopping at all. I think they'll be ok for home and school untill I can get them looked at.

Tinbasher I hope that never happens to me. That would suck on so many levels.

[Wicky]

ETW Grumpy, on 22 January 2012 - 04:06 AM, said:

Thanx Wicky. I had plastic "mag" wheels on my first chair. The new chair will have Spinergy Spox which are supposed to be pretty good. Did you notice a significant difference in weight from your previous chair (if this is not your first chair)? I have a Quickie GT now so it's not radically different, just lighter.

Trophy Guy, I will have it checked out, like you said why not? I guess my main concern is immediacy. The VA doesn't work weekends so I have to wait until at least Monday. Thanx for your response.

i really wish i could get some spinergy spox those are really nice, the chair i had before this one was a quickie ti titanium, the frame was about 5 to 10lbs lighter than this one but the wheels were heavier, but the wheels on this chair are lighter than the ones on the quickie, so i almost equals out, but i still liked the titanium better.

[RZ94]

My ZR2 came wif Spinergy LX's (wire spokes) (I hate them wif a hot purple passion) they squeak, the spokes need tightnin' every day......they just suck.

I don't have a mountain of cash to buy better ones (also don't know what better ones there is) so I'm stuck.

Sorry fer the rant....please continue wif the discussion.

[Quad65]

I've used a manual chair for 46 years and tried a number of different wheels. At first it was regular spokes, then the mag wheels, finally plastic. At first I was concerned about the strength and durability of the plastic. After almost 20 years of the plastic, all I can say is I wish I had gone with them from Day One. Spoked wheels were the biggest pain in the ass I ever experienced. From loose spokes to broken spokes to wheels out-of-round and balance, it was one aggravation after another. I'm I quad and have 8 projections on each hand-rim for propulsion. The added weight of plastic wheels has never been an issue for me. I can't see where an extra 2-5 pounds would make any difference. For me, plastic all the way. Zero maintenance. Ever.

[araitn]

RZ94, on 23 January 2012 - 07:02 PM, said:

My ZR2 came wif Spinergy LX's (wire spokes) (I hate them wif a hot purple passion) they squeak, the spokes need tightnin' every day......they just suck.

I don't have a mountain of cash to buy better ones (also don't know what better ones there is) so I'm stuck.

Sorry fer the rant....please continue wif the discussion.

The Spinergy LX wheels do not use wire spokes. They use their PBO (fiber strands encased in a composite material) spokes which are stronger than steel and much lighter. They do have a base wire wheel, which must be the ones you have. I don't have any experience with their wire wheels and they might be junk. I know the wire wheels (sun rims?) I was issued out of rehab sucked and I will never use them again. I've never had any problems with my LX flex rims and when needed I will purchase them again.

[RZ94]

araitn, on 24 January 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

RZ94, on 23 January 2012 - 07:02 PM, said:

My ZR2 came wif Spinergy LX's (wire spokes) (I hate them wif a hot purple passion) they squeak, the spokes need tightnin' every day......they just suck.

I don't have a mountain of cash to buy better ones (also don't know what better ones there is) so I'm stuck.

Sorry fer the rant....please continue wif the discussion.

The Spinergy LX wheels do not use wire spokes. They use their PBO (fiber strands encased in a composite material) spokes which are stronger than steel and much lighter. They do have a base wire wheel, which must be the ones you have. I don't have any experience with their wire wheels and they might be junk. I know the wire wheels (sun rims?) I was issued out of rehab sucked and I will never use them again. I've never had any problems with my LX flex rims and when needed I will purchase them again.

Turns out the paper work reads LX on my chair, yet I have the wire spokes......I got screwed!! Thanks fer the info.....Me and the dme is gonna talk today.

[ETW Grumpy]

I got the Q7 finally and it seems like it's going to be a little better. Someone mentioned the spokes making noise and I experienced that too for a little while. I think it's about gone now. A question I have now is about wheel camber. This chair, while lighter, seems to be harder to push. A friend commented tonight that it looked like it had almost no camber. I think the old chair had 3 degrees. Would having less camber than I'm used to make this chair seem harder to push?