On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 16:23:19 GMT, bcsst26
may have said:Thanks for the help. If I remove the spoke and do a quick fix on the
wheel will it hurt the rim or put me in danger. I was just thinking that
I would straighten it out the best I could and ride it until more spokes
break. Suggestions on this? Thanks in advance.
Your mileage may vary, but...
If this is a low-spoke-count wheel, like a 20 or 24-spoke, I'd get it
respoked properly and completely. In my case, I'd do it myself. It's
not rocket science, really.
If it's a 32 or 36-spoke wheel, I'd try one intermediate step first.
I'd replace the broken spoke, closely inspect the remaining ones for
signs of trouble and replace any that seem suspicious, and then
stress-relieve *all* of them. Even at this late date, with a year of
usage, it's been my (admittedly limited) experience that this can keep
a wheel in service. An embarassing number of years ago, I had a wheel
that broke three spokes for no obvious reason in a period of a few
months riding loaded on a paper route. After the third spoke let go,
I took the wheel with me to the lbs to ask the guy there what I should
do. He showed me how to use a lever to "prestretch all the spokes",
after truing the wheel, and I did so. That bike went another 33 years
on those spokes. (The *rim* didn't; it rotted and had to be replaced,
but most of the spokes survived to the next one.) I didn't know until
much later that what he called "prestretching" was really
stress-relieving. (In fact, I didn't even recall the incident until
this past couple of years, when someone else's question prompted it.)
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