First broken spoke - What to do?

jsull14 said:

I have had my bike for 10 months and I just broke a spoke. The wheel is way out of true. Do I just take this wheel to the LBS and get it fixed? Are there typically warranties on rims?

Thanks

They'll fix it for you. And i won't cost you an arm and a leg. They replace spokes and true wheels all the time, so they should be pretty good at it and won't charge you too much.
As for warranties, I doubt it, although they break from normal use, it's expected to have a spoke snap from normal wear and tear from time to time.

[font=Comic Sans MS]Off course there are various reasons a spoke breaks and understadibly the LBS might not cover replacing the spoke for all of them.Take it to place you purchased the bike. Most bike shops over here would replace the spoke and true the wheel for free,if of course there is no other incriminating damage like pavment jumping or the like.That said replacing and trueing a wheel over here costs about R35 thats about 5 american dollars.[/font]

jsull14 said:

I have had my bike for 10 months and I just broke a spoke. The wheel is way out of true. Do I just take this wheel to the LBS and get it fixed? Are there typically warranties on rims?

Thanks

I'd take it back and ask them to fix the wheel under warranty. But, may be time to start saving now for that new wheelset. Particularly if the rim is way out of true now, believe the results of just replacing a spoke and retruing won't last very long.

When you do buy replacement wheels, suggest you consider something stronger and more durable than your OEM wheels. A good wheelset that fits your weight and road conditions should last a lot longer than a year before breaking spokes, IMO.

If it's a new bike with new wheels have the wheel inspected if the damage is not due to a pot whole or something. If you have ridden a ton of miles and the spoke is just fatigued, then consider replacing all the spokes since they all may have the same age. Otherwise you will continue to break them one at a time. You don't want to get stuck on a ride.

jsull14 said:

I have had my bike for 10 months and I just broke a spoke. The wheel is way out of true. Do I just take this wheel to the LBS and get it fixed? Are there typically warranties on rims?

Thanks

Thanks for the replies. The bike is a 2006 Specialized Roubaix and the wheelset is an Alex 298r. I have heard these wheels are not the greatest so maybe I should upgrade soon. I have about 2000 miles on the bike/wheels.

I broke it on a very remote decent in the mountains but thankfully it was during an event so they sagged me in.

If you are concerned about the long term durability of the wheel, get your LBS to not just replace the spoke that broke, but also tension balance all the spokes in the wheel so that it doesn't get unusually loaded in the future.

The quality of wheel build (including proper stress relieving and tension balancing of spokes) goes a long way towards its durability.

I second what folks are saying here. A broken spoke can be a sign of an overall tension problem on the wheel. The way to tell is if you hit each spoke with a spanner and can play the theme tune from Captain Corelli's Mandolin, it's time to head for the Local Bike Shop.