had a mechanical

RocklinResident said:

so forty miles out, into a sixty mile run, my rear rim blows a spoke (the nipple slipped from what my mechanics told me). Walking to the nearest transit station was anything but fun. Any pointers on how to "true" a wheel on the side of the trail - or if kevlar spokes are worth the weight in your bag?

A product like this will get you home:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/store/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=299

RocklinResident said:

so forty miles out, into a sixty mile run, my rear rim blows a spoke (the nipple slipped from what my mechanics told me). Walking to the nearest transit station was anything but fun. Any pointers on how to "true" a wheel on the side of the trail - or if kevlar spokes are worth the weight in your bag?

What I do is loosen the brake adjuster/flip knob thing, allowing the wheel to at least rotate without hitting the brake pad. I've broken tons of spokes, too. I don't know about not being able to ride on it... I was always able to. Hitchhiking is always fun, though. I've been stranded plenty of times, and expect to be stranded plenty more. I always keep 100 bucks on me just in case, and I can't tell you how many times it's saved my ass... whether buying new tires, or anything else. There's always cab fares, if you can't call one of your friends. By the way, do you live in Rocklin, near Roseville (California)? I used to go to Sierra College, but didn't cycle when I lived there. Where do you ride, out there?

RocklinResident said:

so forty miles out, into a sixty mile run, my rear rim blows a spoke (the nipple slipped from what my mechanics told me). Walking to the nearest transit station was anything but fun. Any pointers on how to "true" a wheel on the side of the trail - or if kevlar spokes are worth the weight in your bag?

Just ride on it.

RocklinResident said:

so forty miles out, into a sixty mile run, my rear rim blows a spoke (the nipple slipped from what my mechanics told me). Walking to the nearest transit station was anything but fun. Any pointers on how to "true" a wheel on the side of the trail - or if kevlar spokes are worth the weight in your bag?

You can always coast home even with a broken spoke. I always have a spoke wrench handy or you can borrow a pair of pliers at the nearest gas station. Loosen up a bit the appropriate spoke (usually the one beside the broken one and on the opposite side of the rim). In your case since you slipped a nipple, unscrew the nipple and you can remove the spoke. If the spoke cant be removed cut it with the pliers or tie them against adjacent spokes. For a spoke broken in two, do the the same while removing the rim side broken spoke by removing the tire and pushing it out against the rim tape (if not punch a hole into the rim tape to get it out) and then remount the tire.

yes, near sierra college - riding up sierra blvd is good (there are a whole lot of really good rides out here - you can go all the way up to auburn, into folsm and down to old sac. - and from rocklin to auburn to old sac. if you're hard core).

As far as riding, I was rubbing up against the frame and didn't want to risk damage to the frame. Turns out the nipples on more than a couple of spokes went out (but what are you going to do?).

RocklinResident said:

so forty miles out, into a sixty mile run, my rear rim blows a spoke (the nipple slipped from what my mechanics told me). Walking to the nearest transit station was anything but fun. Any pointers on how to "true" a wheel on the side of the trail - or if kevlar spokes are worth the weight in your bag?

What kind of wheels?

Back in the olden days when men were men and bike wheels had 36 spokes, you had a number of options if you happened to pop a spoke. Low spoke count wheels look cool, but they aren't so forgiving. Breaking a spoke usually signals the end of that day's ride.