Riding with a missing spoke

Dont you use the same spoke tool that you used to true the wheel to
replace the broken spoke?

With a spoke missing, your wheel is not tensioned correctly, and more
spokes will break.

Jules said:

So what do you do when you're out on a ride and you break a spoke?

Today I rode home.. Didn't seem to matter too much, but I didn't have to
go far.

What's the consensus - will more spokes break if I keep riding until I
get time to replace it?

BTW I've now trued the wheel, but can't replace the spoke until my fancy
new toolkit arrives.

Cheers,
Jules

"Jules" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So what do you do when you're out on a ride and you break a spoke?

Today I rode home.. Didn't seem to matter too much, but I didn't have to
go far.

What's the consensus - will more spokes break if I keep riding until I get
time to replace it?

BTW I've now trued the wheel, but can't replace the spoke until my fancy
new toolkit arrives.

Cheers,
Jules

I have broken quite a lot of spokes over the years as I am 193 cm and over
95 kg's and a powerful sprinter, so my wheels take quite a bit of a bashing.

I have a heap of spares that I got off the DT importer back in 1989, so I
can easy replace one when I get home.

When you trued up the wheel with the missing spoke you have now unbalanced
the spoke tensions, as if you had simply just replaced the spoke you would
have only needed to get the new spoke up to the correct tension and then
some minor adjustments would have the wheel back to being true.

Riding with a missing spoke on 32 or 36 spoked wheels should not be a
problem, but on wheels with less spokes it would be.

Jules said:

So what do you do when you're out on a ride and you break a spoke?

If it's not interfering with braking (disc brakes are cool) then ignore it
and try to be nice on the ride home (easy on the road, tricky offroad if
you're in the habit of finding fun lines). Fix it ASAP.

If it's causing problems and you've got a spare, replace it. If you don't
have a spare then you can muck with the tensions around that area to get
it mostly straight, but then you have to undo those changes when you put
the new spoke in.

I've ridden 32 spoke wheels with about 29 or 30 spokes due to having the
new wheel parts at home and being too lazy to bother fixing the old one.
Again, disc brakes are good.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory

Jules said:

So what do you do when you're out on a ride and you break a spoke?

Wrap the spoke around another, or remove it if you can, to stop it
bashing into things, then baby the bike home.

Quoted message said:

Today I rode home.. Didn't seem to matter too much, but I didn't have to
go far.

What's the consensus - will more spokes break if I keep riding until I
get time to replace it?

Yes, the spoke tensions are now all over the shop, you risk warping a
rim if it's a low spoke count wheel, but with a standard wheel, it'll
just be more likely to ping more spokes.

Quoted message said:

BTW I've now trued the wheel, but can't replace the spoke until my fancy
new toolkit arrives.

What's fancy about a cassette removal tool? 🙂

Quoted message said:

Dont you use the same spoke tool that you used to true the wheel to
replace the broken spoke?

I do, once I've removed the sprocket cassette and brake disc ;-)

Jules said:

So what do you do when you're out on a ride and you break a spoke?

I think you've started a trend. One of my spokes went ping today as
well. Only thing to do if you don't have a replacement spoke, spoke
key and chain whip on you is just wind the spoke around its neighbors
to stop it getting stuck in the derailler or something and ride
carefully home.

Quoted message said:

Today I rode home.. Didn't seem to matter too much, but I didn't have to
go far.

I've got about 18.6 km if I take the freeway/roe hwy bike path, or 15km
if I take the back roads. I'm going to take the bike path I think
because its a better surface. No potholes or broken bottles...

Quoted message said:

What's the consensus - will more spokes break if I keep riding until I
get time to replace it?

Yes, probably. It puts more stress on other spokes, unbalances the
tensions and stuff. I wouldn't ride it again until you get the spoke
fixed.

Quoted message said:

BTW I've now trued the wheel, but can't replace the spoke until my fancy
new toolkit arrives.

If its a spoke on the front wheel or the rear wheel opposite the hub
you probably only need a spoke key to do the repair. Also, it isn't
impossible to remove a casette without the proper tools, its just a
pain in the neck. You'll get filthy hands trying to hold on to the
casette while someone tries to unscrew the thing with a spanner.
Proper tools are recommended, but you can do without them if you
urgently need to do it.

Or you could just pay your LBS $20 to do it...

Travis

Travis said:

If its a spoke on the front wheel or the rear wheel opposite the hub
you probably only need a spoke key to do the repair.

That's what I've done for the last three spokes which have snapped on my
bike. I carry a spare spoke and spoke wrench, due to having been caught
several times before. Fortunately, rear wheel spokes seem to break more
often on the side opposite to the chain.

Cheers,

Vince

Yikes! 3,000 year-old butted spokes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke

Vincent Patrick said:

Travis said:

If its a spoke on the front wheel or the rear wheel opposite the hub
you probably only need a spoke key to do the repair.

That's what I've done for the last three spokes which have snapped on my
bike. I carry a spare spoke and spoke wrench, due to having been caught
several times before. Fortunately, rear wheel spokes seem to break more
often on the side opposite to the chain.

Cheers,

Vince

Yikes! 3,000 year-old butted spokes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke

How many ppl have EVER broken a spoke on their front wheel? I have done
plenty on the drive side of the rear wheel of the MTB, and None on my
Campag wheels.
Me. None. Nup. Nada.
I have now invoked the spoke demon and I shall pay.
Steven

"Gumby" <stevendigitmckiernan@iinet-dot-net-dot-au> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Vincent Patrick said:

Travis said:

If its a spoke on the front wheel or the rear wheel opposite the hub
you probably only need a spoke key to do the repair.

That's what I've done for the last three spokes which have snapped on my
bike. I carry a spare spoke and spoke wrench, due to having been caught
several times before. Fortunately, rear wheel spokes seem to break more
often on the side opposite to the chain.

Cheers,

Vince

Yikes! 3,000 year-old butted spokes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke

How many ppl have EVER broken a spoke on their front wheel? I have done
plenty on the drive side of the rear wheel of the MTB, and None on my
Campag wheels.
Me. None. Nup. Nada.
I have now invoked the spoke demon and I shall pay.
Steven

But hopefully not during the Wandi TT on Sunday.

Grazza said:

"Gumby" <stevendigitmckiernan@iinet-dot-net-dot-au> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Vincent Patrick said:

Travis wrote:

>If its a spoke on the front wheel or the rear wheel opposite the hub
>you probably only need a spoke key to do the repair.

That's what I've done for the last three spokes which have snapped on my
bike. I carry a spare spoke and spoke wrench, due to having been caught
several times before. Fortunately, rear wheel spokes seem to break more
often on the side opposite to the chain.

Cheers,

Vince

Yikes! 3,000 year-old butted spokes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke

How many ppl have EVER broken a spoke on their front wheel? I have done
plenty on the drive side of the rear wheel of the MTB, and None on my
Campag wheels.
Me. None. Nup. Nada.
I have now invoked the spoke demon and I shall pay.
Steven

But hopefully not during the Wandi TT on Sunday.

You are quite right there. My campag wheels were built during the
confluence of planets, tides, and not even coriolis will tear them asunder.
May Dog strike me dedd. innit?

Gumby said:

Vincent Patrick said:

Travis said:

If its a spoke on the front wheel or the rear wheel opposite the hub
you probably only need a spoke key to do the repair.

That's what I've done for the last three spokes which have snapped on my
bike. I carry a spare spoke and spoke wrench, due to having been caught
several times before. Fortunately, rear wheel spokes seem to break more
often on the side opposite to the chain.

Cheers,

Vince

Yikes! 3,000 year-old butted spokes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke

How many ppl have EVER broken a spoke on their front wheel?

Hands up to that one. I've had one or two break on the front.

Quoted message said:

I have done
plenty on the drive side of the rear wheel of the MTB, and None on my
Campag wheels.
Me. None. Nup. Nada.
I have now invoked the spoke demon and I shall pay.
Steven

You might have invoked the spoke demon, but my cheap wheels came with the
small god of spokes hovering, which 'helpfully' protects me from thinking
that my spokes don't break. I'm sure there is an up-side for me somewhere.

Cheers,

Vince

Vincent Patrick said:

You might have invoked the spoke demon, but my cheap wheels came with the
small god of spokes hovering, which 'helpfully' protects me from thinking
that my spokes don't break. I'm sure there is an up-side for me somewhere.

Possibly a bit late now, but an extra $10 for a decent spoke key can turn
[censored] wheels into OK wheels. They're still not light, and may not roll
quite as well as the blingily ones, but they should be reasonably strong.

I know an el cheapo wheel I retensioned for a friend is still straight,
and it's had a reasonable amount of off road use. Not a harsh rider, but
one of the few rims I've seen that can be distorted by spoke tension well
before you start rounding off nipples.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"Coming to work with a faraway look and a really heavy gym bag starts to
look like a marvellously good idea." - Dan Rutter