Bad day for my bike



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Niv

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Well, not that bad, nice enjoayable 45 mile jaunt. However, firstly one bottle cage came unscrewed &
couldn't fine my 4mm Allen key, so it had to dangle about on its last remaing, loose, screw. 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?

TIA, Niv.
 
Niv wrote:

> 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
 
On Sat, 7 Jun 2003 20:44:03 +0100, "Niv" <[email protected]> wrote:

>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 protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 7 Jun 2003 20:44:03 +0100, "Niv" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >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.
 
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