I finally got round to replacing the two broken spokes in the back wheel on my Cinzia folding bike, and found that three spokes had broken, not two! Mind you, the longer you leave a broken spoke, the more stress there is on the rest, so the more likely further breaks are.
The root of the problem is three-fold:
a) I have fairly lightly-built wheels, with only 28 spokes. A modern "general purpose" wheel has 36 spokes in it. More spokes, generally, equals stronger wheels. Folding bikes, in attempt to shave off a few ounces (grammes) often have only 28 spokes, although in the case of folders with a heavy steel frame like mine it is as much about fashion as it is about weight;
The root of the problem is three-fold:
a) I have fairly lightly-built wheels, with only 28 spokes. A modern "general purpose" wheel has 36 spokes in it. More spokes, generally, equals stronger wheels. Folding bikes, in attempt to shave off a few ounces (grammes) often have only 28 spokes, although in the case of folders with a heavy steel frame like mine it is as much about fashion as it is about weight;
