Bad day for my bike

Niv said:

Well, not that bad, nice enjoayable 45 mile jaunt.

Then, about 15 miles from home..... BANG, what the h*** was that.

100 yards later, with me struggling to move forward, got off to investigate, broken spoke. I
didn't realise they made so much noise breaking.

Anyway, slackened off rear brake & got home OK.

Now for the repair. Any hints anyone. I built the wheels from scratch about 18 months ago, but
spokes & rims were all new. What should I do for one broken spoke? Do slacken all off a lot,
replace spoke, and then re-true as if I was starting over, or what?

Remove the broken spoke if you haven't already. Reduce tension in the two spokes each side of the
broken one. That should enable you to have a true wheel without compromising strength to allow you
to continue riding (assuming you don't already have a new spoke). Remember to adjust your rear brake
before riding again.

Replace missing spoke asap and re-true using same principles you used when you built the wheel.

Unless the rim is actually damaged you should not have any problems.

John B

Niv said:

Now for the repair. Any hints anyone. I built the wheels from scratch about 18 months ago, but
spokes & rims were all new. What should I do for one broken spoke?

Fix it (drive side rear, I take it ?). Stuff one in, tension it up and the wheel ought to pull right
back into shape. Truing should be minimal.

But a spoke shouldn't break at 18 months, so there's something funny about the wheel build. You
might want to look at that. Did you stress relieve them ?

A look at www.sheldonbrown.com and Jobst's book wouldn't hurt.

I built them following Sheldons instructions & I've read Jobst's book several times. I'm hoping it
was just a rogue spoke. The wheels have been "true" for the whole 18 months without any need for
re-truing, despite some very large pot-hole encounters. Thanks for advice anyway. Niv. "Andy
Dingley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Niv said:

Now for the repair. Any hints anyone. I built the wheels from scratch

about

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

18 months ago, but spokes & rims were all new. What should I do for one broken spoke?

Fix it (drive side rear, I take it ?). Stuff one in, tension it up and the wheel ought to pull
right back into shape. Truing should be minimal.

But a spoke shouldn't break at 18 months, so there's something funny about the wheel build. You
might want to look at that. Did you stress relieve them ?

A look at www.sheldonbrown.com and Jobst's book wouldn't hurt.