Spare spokes worth it?

Does spoke breakage only happen to poorly built or age-old wheels? (I guess one could count my
self-maintained wheels as potentially "poorly built"

If I plan on doing some touring, should I bring some extra spokes with me (3 or so?). Does it even
make sense to own extra spokes? The vehicle is a trike with 20" wheels.

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi

 

Risto,

Let me try this again . . . ugh!

In my humble opinion, whether or not to carry spare spokes during a tour depends (1) on how far you are likely to be from a bike shop at any given time and (2) how much weight you're carrying.

Adventure cycling carries a nice alternative to a spoke . . . and it will fit any wheel. I carry two of these at all times while touring. They weigh almost nothing and might get me out of trouble in a pinch.

https://www.adventurecycling.org/cg...rod.html?p_prodid=555&p_catid=32&sid=4n5Pe0l9

Enjoy your tours. I'm about to begin a 500 mille tour next Tuesday.

Ben
>>>>Burley Canto>>>>

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Does spoke breakage only happen to poorly built or age-old wheels? (I guess one could count my
> self-maintained wheels as potentially "poorly built"
>
> If I plan on doing some touring, should I bring some extra spokes with me (3 or so?). Does it even
> make sense to own extra spokes? The vehicle is a trike with 20" wheels.

Touring loads place greater requirements upon wheels. If the wheels are not strong enough for the
load, breakage can occur.

Lightweight racing wheels are not built to sustain touring loads. 32H rims on 622mm & 559mm wheels
are inadequate for touring. 28H rims for 406mm wheels are also problematical. IMO the reason that
spokes break is because the wheel was designed for speed and not load. radial lacing of wheels might
be fine for racing but not for touring.

I would definitely recommend using a touring tool kit made up of many additional tools not normally
required to fix a flat. This would include Spare tires as well as tubes, extra bolts, chain repair
parts (links and chain tool), Cassette cracker, and of course spare (correctly sized) spokes. (You
probably have three different lengths spokes on your trike).

When I tour, I ask myself, "Will I be in places where I can not get replacements for any critical
part of my bike that might prevent me from getting home." Will I be able to walk into a local store
and get a new tire to fit or a new wheel? These are the spares that I carry for that tour.

Note that inside spokes on the drive wheel are impossible to replace unless the cassette is removed.
This requires a special tool normally found in a bike mechanics tool kit. There is an on-the-road
substitute tool available called the NBT. http://www.tubus.nl/shopg.htm Murphy's Law dictates that
these inside spokes are the first to break.

In this country, there is an emergency spoke called Fiber-Fix
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fiberfix.htm. Thet may be available locally to you also.

--

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager http://www.clee.org
- Bellaire, TX USA -

 

Cletus Lee <[email protected]> wrote:

: Lightweight racing wheels are not built to sustain touring loads. 32H rims on 622mm & 559mm wheels
: are inadequate for touring. 28H rims for 406mm wheels are also problematical. IMO the reason that
: spokes break is because the wheel was designed for speed and not load. radial lacing of wheels
: might be fine for racing but not for touring.

Then one could have two sets of wheels, if not even two different bents (heck, many of us have
more Multiple wheelsets could make sense because then you don't need to replace the rear
cassette or tyres.

: I would definitely recommend using a touring tool kit made up of many additional tools not
: normally required to fix a flat. This would include Spare tires as well as tubes, extra bolts,
: chain repair parts (links and chain tool), Cassette cracker, and of course spare (correctly
: sized) spokes. (You probably have three different lengths spokes on your trike).

Nice points, I'll have to add to my (eventual?) tour packing list/notes.

: Note that inside spokes on the drive wheel are impossible to replace unless the cassette is
: removed. This requires a special tool normally found in a bike mechanics tool kit. There is an
: on-the-road substitute tool available called the NBT. http://www.tubus.nl/shopg.htm Murphy's Law
: dictates that these inside spokes are the first to break.

: In this country, there is an emergency spoke called Fiber-Fix
: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fiberfix.htm. Thet may be available locally to you also.

To my knowledge, spokes tend to break in series. So just one spare might not be enough (of course
you could pack a dozen fiberfixes... or maybe you can't ) I think Murphy's law dictates that if
you carry 3 spares, 4 spokes break before you reach the LBS. If you do, they don't have that size of
spokes in stock

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi

 

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does spoke breakage only happen to poorly built or age-old wheels? (I guess one could count my
> self-maintained wheels as potentially "poorly built"
>
> If I plan on doing some touring, should I bring some extra spokes with me (3 or so?). Does it even
> make sense to own extra spokes? The vehicle is a trike with 20" wheels.
>
It's a good idea to carry spares. They are easy to carry and weight little.

For a long time I didn't carry them because I *never* broke spokes, but once I did and I was in the
middle of nowhere without a bike shop within any reasonable distance. One of the local folks
suggested I try the town lawnmower shop and fortunately they had a 26" spoke. With that spoke I was
able continue on without additional wheel trouble.