Broke a spoke, first long ride

Mod's please move if in the wrong forum: Hi everyone, well- I've had my bike for less then a week now and I'm hooked! (Bike purchased used) Today I went for my first long ride, on the way back I made a rookie mistake and changed gears on in incline, the chain popped which caused a crashing of some sort with the cassette and broke one of my spokes. I was able to wrap the broken spoke around another to finish the tour. How serious is this, meaning- do I have to replace the whole wheel or can I just replace the spoke? The PO pointed out the back wheel is not true and slightly bent when I purchased the bike from him so I knew i had to go in for a tune up/repair. Thoughts, comments & suggestions greatly appreciated! Sabeo. Bike info: Raleigh Competition Atomic 13 Shimano R540 wheel set Shimano Ultegra gear shifters ------------------------------------------ I am- 5'10 182lbs. -------------------------------------------

 

You can change gears on a climb. The wheel is so untrue because of it's paired spoke design. It's typical. I'd have your bike shop order a spoke from Shimano. If you don't feel comfortable lacing a spoke and truing the wheel, have the bike shop do it. You should inspect or have the wheel inspected for other damage.

 

The low-spoke count, non-traditional spoke patterns add visual intrigue, but also can be a challenge to keep properly tensioned and true. If you were ginger with it, a new spoke and truing will probably be the solution for your ills.

Pot holes and hard compressions are not your best friends with those wheels.

Have fun on the new bike!!

 

Thanks guy's! Can you guy's give me some wheel set recommendations for riding- Chicago area, bad road surfaces & potholes... I see a lot of mag style and disc type wheels, are those worth the money or is it again for asthetic's?

 

Well, the reasons for using disc wheels and "mag" wheels like a HED 3 wheel are many. Triathletes them as do road racers in time trials to reduce aero drag. Sadly, in big cities and elsewhere fixie riders and single riders use them as fashion statements. Unless you're going to be time trialling or doing a triathlon, I'd avoid them as such wheels are known for having a bit of harsh ride. As a bonus, they're typically very expensive. There are cheap wheels like Aerospoke wheels out there, but cheap in this case usually means crap. For bad roads as you describe I'd really advise you to have some custom wheels built. How much do you weigh?

 

Great info, I weigh 182 lbs.

 

I think you could have a custom built wheel with either 24f/28r spokes or 28f/32r spokes that would work fine. You could build such a wheelset with Shimano 105 or Ultegra hubs and your choice of a few different rims for $300-$600-ish, depending on the builder, the spokes chosen, and the rims chosen. There are also some companies that build up such wheels and have them in stock. Here are some examples of such wheels at Excel Sports: http://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?page=7&major=1&minor=24 Other folks might recommend Colorado Cyclist for such hand built wheels. I've not used Colorado Cyclist, but like Excel Sports they have an excellent reputation. Another benefit to custom wheels or wheels like those in the link above is that you'll likely get better after sale service, if needed, than you would with some of the larger wheel manufacturers. Years ago I had gent build some wheels for me on some new to the market rims. As it turned out, there was an engineering flaw with the rear rim that caused cracks to start forming at the spoke holes, or as in my case every drive side spoke hole. Not only did the wheel builder rebuild my rear wheel with new spokes onto a new rim free of charge, he did the same with the front (nothing at all was wrong with the front), unasked, just so that my wheels would match. I would say if you head down this road that you should get your current wheel repaired and then either keep that wheel set as a backup or sell it on eBay to reduce the overall cost of a new wheel set.

 

The above should read "single speed riders" not "single riders."

 

Wow great information, thanks! Well, I ended up buying a replacement wheel. I got a Mavic Aksium and a new tire for a good price from a bike shop that's literally down the street from me so I went for it. The Mec at the shop said it would be pretty difficult to track down a replacement spoke for my R540 and said I could probably find one on the Internet some where with time. The upside is I'm back in business and can ride worry free. The down side is it was more expensive than a spoke. Cheers!

 

105's are the way to go. I was busting spokes and enduing up with wobbly wheels. Then I got 105's on the front and rear...

Some guys freak out at the weight it adds, but I look at it this way:

1. I am on the bike to get fit so a little more weight makes me work harder, it's in my favor.

2. I am at least 30lbs overweight by the charts, so I could drop a few pounds long before I'm paying 2x or 3x for the lightest component out there.

 

is there such thing as a factory Shimano 105 wheelset ? it might be 105's hubs with matching rims and spokes

 

Please excuse my ignorance, I was referring to those big thick honking spokes as "105's"

I seem to recall they're named something like that.

 

Guys, thanks for all the feedback. I ended up buying a replacement wheel and new tire. My local shop didn't have a replacement spoke for my R540. I'm sure I can find one on the net. Good news is I'm back on the road.

 

well done, the best upgrade you can make on your bike is a spare set of wheels for occasions like this one, get some help from the bike shop in your search for that spoke, unfortunately you have what people call proprietary spoke on that shimano wheel, that means custom measurements and/or design, meaning hard to find in simple words,

 

Yes! Exactly was I was told at my local BS. I'm on a mission to find that spoke! I really dig the Shimano's. :0) although no biggie- it could always be worse.